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Clean Wednesday Overnight Sweep for NBC

'Christmas in Rockefeller Center' and Second Dolly Party Made-for Television Combination is a Winning Combination

What follows are the metered market (overnight) results in households by network and by half-hour for Wednesday, November 30:

Household Rating/Share
NBC: 6.5/11, Fox: 4.9/ 8, CBS: 4.6/ 8, ABC: 3.9/ 6, CW: 1.6/ 3

Percent Change from the Year-Ago Evening:

NBC: +62, ABC: – 5, CBS and Fox: -16 each, CW: -20

-Winners:
“Christmas in Rockefeller Center” (NBC), “Survivor” (CBS), “Arrow” (CW), “Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love” (NBC), “Empire” (Fox)

-Losers (excluding repeats):
“Frequency” (CW)

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Ratings Breakdown:
It was a clean overnight household sweep for NBC care of annual special “Christmas in Rockefeller Center” (#1: for the night: 6.7 rating/11 share at 8 p.m.) and made-for television movie “Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love,” which scored a 6.4/11 from 9-11 p.m. ET. Comparably, “Christmas in Rockefeller Center” increased by 16 percent from the 5.8 overnight rating last year, while this second Dolly Parton movie (opposite Fox’s “Empire”) was down by 19 percent from the 7.9/13 for the first one on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015. That 7.9 overnight household rating translated into 13.03 million viewers and a 1.8 rating/6 share in adults 18-49, based on the Live + Same Day data. And my crystal programming ball tells me there will be a potential third Dolly Parton movie next year.

On CBS, “Survivor” has to settle for second opposite “Christmas in Rockefeller Center,” but a 5.4/ 9 in the household overnights keeps it in the “winners” category. Once again, that was another memorable tribal council last night. Next on the eye net was veteran “Criminal Minds” at a diluted 4.6/ 7 from 9-10 p.m. (#3), followed by sophomore medical drama “Code Black” at an also third-place 4.0/ 7 at 10 p.m. Upcoming Katherine Heigl drama “Doubt” will replace “Code Black” effective on Feb. 15, 2017.

It isn’t that often you see Fox’s “Empire” finish second in the 9 p.m. hour, but facing Dolly Parton is no easy feat! It averaged a 5.3/ 8 in the overnights, dipping by 33 percent from the 7.9/12 on the year-ago evening. Lead-in “Lethal Weapon” finished third with a 4.4/ 7 at 8 p.m.

Elsewhere, The CW continues to benefit via the four superhero series crossover event this week, with the 100th episode of “Arrow” above average at a 2.6/ 4 at 8 p.m. Departing lead-out “Frequency,” however, slipped to a 0.7/ 1 at 9 p.m. despite the stronger lead-in support.

ABC, meanwhile, was below average with its midweek combination of “The Goldbergs” (#4: 3.9/ 6), “Speechless” (#4: 3.3/ 5), “Modern Family” (#3: 4.8/ 7), ‘black-ish” (#4: 3.6/ 6) and “Designated Survivor” (#2: 4.1/ 7), which has lost a lot of “oomph” factor since its highly rated debut in September.

What follows are the household overnight results for Wednesday, Nov. 9 by half-hour:

8:00 p.m.
ABC – “The Goldbergs”: 3.9/ 6 (#4)
CBS – “Survivor”: 5.4/ 9 (#1)
NBC – “Christmas in Rockefeller Center”: 6.5/11 (#1)
Fox – “Lethal Weapon”: 4.2/ 7 (#3)
CW – “Arrow” (100th episode): 2.6/ 4 (#5)

8:30 p.m.
ABC – “Speechless”: 3.3/ 5 (#4)
CBS – “Survivor”: 5.3/ 8 (#1)
NBC – “Christmas in Rockefeller Center”: 6.9/11 (#1)
Fox – “Lethal Weapon”: 4.6/ 7 (#3)
CW – “Arrow” (100th episode): 2.6/ 4 (#5)

9:00 p.m.
ABC – “Modern Family”: 4.8/ 7 (#2)
CBS – “Criminal Minds”: 4.6/ 7 (#3)
NBC – “Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love”: 6.7/11 (#1)
Fox – “Empire: 5.3/ 8 (#2)
CW – “Frequency”: 0.7/ 1 (#5)

9:30 p.m.
ABC – “black-ish”: 3.6/ 6 (#4)
CBS – “Criminal Minds”: 4.5/ 7 (#2)
NBC – “Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love”: 6.4/10 (#1)
Fox – “Empire: 5.4/ 9 (#2)
CW – “Frequency”: 0.6/ 1 (#5)

10:00 p.m.
ABC – “Designated Survivor”: 4.1/ 7 (#2)
CBS – “Code Black”: 4.0/ 7 (#3)
NBC – “Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love”: 6.3/11 (#1)

10:30 p.m.
ABC – “Designated Survivor”: 4.0/ 7 (#2)
CBS – “Code Black”: 3.9/ 7 (#3)
NBC – “Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love”: 6.2/11 (#1)

Source: Nielsen Media Research