Another milestone for NBC’s ‘This is Us’

NEW YORK (AP) - NBC’s personality-oriented drama “This is Us” received the latest confirmation of its status as a freshman yet, ranking as the No. 1 prime-time show last week for the first time among youthful viewers desired by advertisers

Counting all viewers, the Nielsen company said the show ranked fifth.

In a cluttered marketplace where it is hard for new programs to break through and get attention, “This is Us” is a rarity for the broadcast networks for its status as an instant hit. The show had 9.6 million viewers on NBC last Tuesday and, in a sign viewers are making a habit of seeking it out, gained nearly 5 million more viewers each of the last two weeks when people who watched on a delayed basis within three days are counted in.

Oddly, another freshman series that airs at the same time - CBS’ “Bull” - had more viewers last week. “Bull” has the edge of airing directly after television’s most popular show, “NCIS.”

ABC newsman David Muir landed in the top 10 with his interview of President Donald Trump, which was seen by 7.5 million people.

CBS easily won the week in prime time, averaging 7.5 million viewers. ABC had 5 million viewers, NBC had 4.2 million, Fox had 3.6 million, Univision had 1.9 million, the CW had 1.52 million, Telemundo had 1.51 million and ION Television had 1.4 million.

Fox News Channel was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 3.35 million viewers in prime-time. ESPN had 2.31 million, HGTV had 1.67 million, BET had 1.66 million and TBS had 1.64 million.

NBC’s “Nightly News” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 9.4 million viewers. ABC’s “World News Tonight” was second with 9.1 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 7.9 million viewers.

For the week of Jan. 23-29, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: “NCIS,” CBS, 16.21 million; “60 Minutes,” CBS, 11.51 million; “NCIS: Los Angeles,” CBS, 11.29 million; “Bull,” CBS, 11.18 million; “This is Us,” NBC, 9.63 million; “Grey’s Anatomy,” ABC, 9.59 million; “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 9.35 million; “NCIS: New Orleans,” CBS, 9.18 million; “Madam Secretary,” CBS, 8.71 million; “Kevin Can Wait,” CBS, 8.62 million.

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ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co. CBS is owned by CBS Corp. CW is a joint venture of Warner Bros. Entertainment and CBS Corp. Fox is owned by 21st Century Fox. NBC and Telemundo are owned by Comcast Corp. ION Television is owned by ION Media Networks.

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Online:

https://www.nielsen.com