Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

story

'Dancing with the Stars' Finale Scores Big Ratings

Associated Press
Published | Updated

NEW YORK – Networks spent millions developing and promoting new series this fall, when all they really needed was Emmitt Smith dancing across a stage.

The final two episodes of "Dancing with the Stars," where the former football star won a more unlikely championship, proved to be the two most-watched shows of the TV season so far, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Smith's final dance-off against actor Mario Lopez was seen by 26.8 million viewers, Nielsen said. The next night, 27.5 million people tuned in to see who won.

Click Here for the Television Center

In its third version, "Dancing with the Stars" has emerged as a dependable hit for ABC, drawing a family audience and filling a void left until "American Idol" premieres in January.

The game's performance enabled ABC to win last week among the 18-to-49-year-old age group, the demographic it most cares about. But among all viewers, even the strength of "Dancing" could not overcome the overall popularity of CBS.

CBS was helped by "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" scoring a solid win over ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" last week in head-to-head competition; the medical soap had usually been winning this year.

For the week, CBS averaged 13.4 million viewers (8.6 rating, 14 share), while ABC had 13 million (8.4, 13). NBC averaged 10.1 million viewers (6.5, 10), struggling Fox had 6.6 million (4.1, 6), the CW 3.7 million (2.4, 4) and the i network 730,000 (0.5, 1).

Among the Spanish-language networks, Univision led with 3.3 million viewers (1.9, 3), Telemundo had 820,000 (0.5, 1) and TeleFutura 660,000 (0.4, 1).

NBC's "Nightly News" won the evening news ratings race, averaging 9.4 million viewers (6.4, 12). ABC's "World News" had 8.9 million viewers (6.3, 12) and the "CBS Evening News" 7.8 million (5.5, 10).

A ratings point represents 1,114,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation's estimated 111.4 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show.

For the week of Nov. 13-19, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: "Dancing with the Stars Results," ABC, 27.52 million; "Dancing with the Stars," ABC, 26.8 million; "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 24.11 million; "CBS Football Post Game," CBS, 23.76 million; "Desperate Housewives," ABC, 21.63 million; "Grey's Anatomy," ABC, 20.92 million; "60 Minutes," CBS, 19.16 million; "CSI: Miami," CBS, 18.77 million; "Deal or No Deal" (Monday), NBC, 18.07 million; "Criminal Minds," CBS, 16.48 million.

Click Here for the Television Center