{"id":298,"date":"2026-05-20T17:38:51","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T17:38:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=298"},"modified":"2026-05-20T17:38:51","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T17:38:51","slug":"nbc-wins-tv-season-in-total-viewers-for-the-first-time-since-2002","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=298","title":{"rendered":"NBC Wins TV Season in Total Viewers for the First Time Since 2002"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tFor the first time since 2008, a network other than CBS can claim the title of the most-watched broadcaster in primetime. NBC will win the first 2025-26 season in total viewers \u2014 the first time that\u2019s happened since the latter days of Must-See TV.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018The Boys\u2019 Creator Says \u2018Vought Rising\u2019 Spinoff Has a More Gritty Tone<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tWith the September-to-May TV season coming to a close, NBC will finish with an across-the-board win among all viewers, adults 18-49 and adults 25-54. The victory is thanks in no small part to two-plus weeks in February, when the second most-watched Super Bowl ever and a resurgent Winter Olympics put NBC out of reach of its fellow broadcast networks.<\/p>\n

\n\tThrough May 17, NBC has averaged 5.83 million viewers in primetime this season, up about 14 percent from 2024-25. CBS \u2014\u00a0which had won every season since 2008-09 in total viewers \u2014\u00a0is second with 4.63 million (down 19 percent), a little ahead of ABC\u2018s 4.33 million (up 1 percent). Fox rounds out the big four networks with 3.41 million viewers (down 11 percent). Unless otherwise noted, all figures in this story are Nielsen linear ratings only and don\u2019t include streaming (which would bump up the averages for all four networks by a significant amount).<\/p>\n

\n\tThe total viewer win for the season is NBC\u2019s first since the 2001-02 season, when Friends<\/em> and ER<\/em> were two of the top three shows on TV. The network also had the top show this season in Sunday Night Football<\/em>, which extended its record of consecutive No. 1 finishes to 15 seasons. SNF<\/em> averaged 21 million viewers on NBC and 23.5 million including streaming on Peacock and other digital platforms. <\/p>\n

\n\tCBS fell the farthest, partly because of some declines in individual shows. But the network also rested most of its scripted series, including strong performers like Tracker, NCIS<\/em> and Georgie & Mandy\u2019s First Marriage<\/em>, in January and most of February, two of the higher-use TV months of the year.<\/p>\n

Read more How Does \u2018The Boys\u2019 End? Where Every Character Stands After the Season 5 Finale<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tABC edged up, and measuring entertainment programming only (i.e., not sports and news), it\u2019s the only network to grow year to year in total viewers. Fox had some successes with shows like Best Medicine<\/em>, Doc<\/em> and Fear Factor: House of Fear<\/em>; its year-to-year decline is explained mostly by having had the Super Bowl last season and not this season.<\/p>\n

\n\tNBC also led the key ad-sales demographics of adults 18-49 and 25-54. In the 18-49 demo, it scored a 1.01 rating (equivalent to about 1.37 million viewers in that age range) in primetime for NBC\u2019s first win in that measure since the 2021-22 season (also a Super Bowl\/Winter Olympics year). Fox came in second with a 0.64 rating\/871,000 viewers, followed by ABC (0.57\/776,000) and CBS (0.45\/613,000).<\/p>\n

\n\tAmong adults 25-54, NBC posted a 1.32 rating, equivalent to 1.66 million viewers. Fox (0.83\/1.04 million) edged ABC (0.77\/968,000) for second place, and CBS was fourth at 0.64\/804,000.<\/p>\n

Read more Kerry Washington to Receive Spotlight Tribute at Gotham TV Awards (Exclusive)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fueled by the Super Bowl and Winter Olympics, NBC will win the 2025-26 TV season in total viewers, taking the title for the first time in 24 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":297,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[342,301,343,344,345],"class_list":["post-298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting","tag-abc","tag-cbs","tag-fox","tag-nbc","tag-tv-ratings"],"yoast_head":"\nNBC Wins TV Season in Total Viewers for the First Time Since 2002 - US Property Moves<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=298\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NBC Wins TV Season in Total Viewers for the First Time Since 2002 - 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