Ratings: ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Finale Tops Tuesday; ‘Chicago Med’ Solid
ABC won the final Tuesday of November in key demos behind annual holiday special “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” and the season finale of “Dancing With the Stars,” which was at a fall high but down double digits from last year’s especially strong finish. NBC’s “Chicago Med,” meanwhile, had a good week-two performance despite a smaller lead-in and opposite tougher competition.
According to preliminary national estimates from Nielsen, “Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” opened the night a winner for ABC (2.2 rating/8 share in adults 18-49, 7.5 million viewers overall), on par with CBS veteran “NCIS” for the 8 o’clock hour’s 18-49 lead. ABC put the special in a higher-profile slot this year (instead of Thanksgiving Eve or Thanksgiving itself) and it paid off with a good result against potent competition, matching the show’s best demo rating since 2008.
It led into the two-hour “Dancing With the Stars” finale (2.4/8 in 18-49, 13.4 million viewers overall), which was up 14% (0.3) from its performance finale on Monday even if it couldn’t approach last year’s big closing numbers (3.0 in 18-49, 16 million viewers). Where it finished last night was up a bit from last spring’s finale and on par with two falls ago, so that’s a very solid showing for the long-running series. For the night, ABC prevailed in every under-55 age group and also edged past CBS in total viewers.
NBC had the night’s No. 1 regular lineup in demos, led by “The Voice” (2.1/7 in 18-49, 9.9 million viewers overall), which was down from last week as typically happens in the days leading up to Thanksgiving — but within 0.2 from its year-ago performance on this night. “Chicago Med” (1.8/6 in 18-49, 7.6 million viewers overall) retained a solid 82% of its week-ago premiere rating in 18-49 despite a lead-in that was half a point lower (2.1 vs. last week’s 2.6 for “The Voice”) and more difficult ABC competition in its hour (“Dancing” vs. “Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD”); a year ago NBC settled for a 1.1 average with comedies behind “The Voice” on this night. And at 10 p.m., “Chicago Fire” (1.8/6 in 18-49, 7.3 million viewers overall) was within a tenth of last week and up 0.2 from its score on the same night a year ago.
CBS was just about even week to week with “NCIS” (2.1/7 in 18-49, 16.0 million viewers overall) and “NCIS: New Orleans” (1.6/5 in 18-49, 11.7 million viewers overall), but “Limitless” (1.3/4 in 18-49, 6.5 million viewers overall) fell a tenth to its low opposite the final portion of “Dancing With the Stars.” “NCIS” tied with “Dancing” as the night’s No. 1 program in adults 25-54 (3.2/9) while standing as Tuesday’s most-watched program overall.
Fox had a quiet night, with “Grandfathered” (0.9/3 in 18-49, 2.8 million viewers overall), “The Grinder” (0.7/2 in 18-49, 2.3 million viewers overall) and “Scream Queens” (0.8/3 in 18-49, 2.0 million viewers overall) all at season lows.
CW aired a the special “Greatest Holiday Commercials Countdown” (0.4/1 in 18-49, 1.5 million viewers overall) and a special 9 p.m. repeat of “The Flash” (0.3/1 in 18-49, 0.9 million viewers overall).
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