The top ratings performer on New Year’s Eve — as usual on every New Year’s Eve since the 1970’s — is “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” in late night from New York’s Times Square as the clock struck midnight on the East Coast.
In prime time, a new ratings winner emerged: ABC’s fellow Disney partner ESPN with their college football playoff semifinal doubleheader: the “Orange Bowl: Clemson vs. Oklahoma”, then the “Cotton Bowl: Alabama vs. Michigan State”.
On the surface, ESPN was a juggernaut relative to other New Year’s Eve programming, as it nearly doubled ABC (its closest competitive network) in total viewers and adults 18-49.
However, the shift from New Year’s Day to New Year’s Eve for the playoff games proved costly. Compared to the year-ago semifinals’ total viewership which took place on Jan. 1, 2015, the late afternoon contest fell 45 percent while the evening matchup had a 34 percent drop.
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Thursday, December 31, 2015 | ||||||
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PROGRAM | HH/Share | Viewers (000) |
Adults 18-34 |
Adults 18-49 |
Adults 25-54 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
8-11 | Network Average | 4.7/9 | 9445 | 2.2/11 | 2.8/11 | 3.3/10 |
8:00 | Primetime New Year’s Rockin’ Eve (s) | 4.1/8 | 8132 | 1.8/8 | 2.3/9 | 2.8/9 |
9:59 | Primetime New Year’s Rockin’ Eve (s) | 6.0/12 | 13015 | 3.1/15 | 3.9/14 | 4.5/14 |
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PROGRAM | HH/Share | Viewers (000) |
Adults 18-34 |
Adults 18-49 |
Adults 25-54 |
8-11 | Network Average | 2.3/5 | 3940 | 0.4/2 | 0.6/2 | 0.9/3 |
8:00 | Big Bang Theory (r) | 3.8/7 | 6016 | 0.6/3 | 1.0/4 | 1.7/5 |
8:31 | Life in Pieces (r) | 2.3/4 | 3785 | 0.4/2 | 0.7/2 | 1.0/3 |
9:01 | Mom (r) | 2.1/4 | 3267 | 0.3/1 | 0.5/2 | 0.8/3 |
9:30 | 2 Broke Girls (r) | 1.8/4 | 2845 | 0.3/1 | 0.5/2 | 0.8/2 |
10:00 | Elementary (r) | 1.8/4 | 2815 | 0.2/1 | 0.5/2 | 0.6/2 |
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PROGRAM | HH/Share | Viewers (000) |
Adults 18-34 |
Adults 18-49 |
Adults 25-54 |
8-11 | Network Average | 2.6/5 | 4795 | 0.7/3 | 1.0/4 | 1.4/4 |
8:00 | Toast to 2015 (s) | 2.8/6 | 4777 | 0.7/3 | 1.0/4 | 1.4/4 |
10:00 | New Year’s Eve Game Night with Andy Cohen (s) | 2.1/4 | 3718 | 0.8/4 | 1.0/4 | 1.3/4 |
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PROGRAM | HH/Share | Viewers (000) |
Adults 18-34 |
Adults 18-49 |
Adults 25-54 |
8-10 | Network Average | 1.5/3 | 2629 | 0.7/3 | 0.9/3 | 1.1/3 |
8:00 | Pitbull’s New Year’s Revolution (s) | 1.5/3 | 2629 | 0.7/3 | 0.9/3 | 1.1/3 |
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PROGRAM | HH/Share | Viewers (000) |
Adults 18-34 |
Adults 18-49 |
Adults 25-54 |
8-10 | Network Average | 0.5/1 | 838 | 0.2/1 | 0.2/1 | 0.3/1 |
8:00 | iHeartRadio Music Festival (r) | 0.5/1 | 838 | 0.2/1 | 0.2/1 | 0.3/1 |
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PROGRAM | HH/Share | Viewers (000) |
Adults 18-34 |
Adults 18-49 |
Adults 25-54 |
8-11 | Network Average | 0.9/2 | 1620 | 0.6/2 | ||
7:00 | Premio Lo Nuestro 2015 (s) | 0.6/1 | 1097 | 0.3/1 | ||
8:00 | Feliz 2016 (s) | 0.8/2 | 1536 | 0.5/2 | ||
10:00 | Feliz 2016 (s) (thru 12:30am) | 1.0/2 | 2065 | 0.8/3 |
Sub-Demo Breakdowns – Thursday 12/31/15
ABC’s “Primetime New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” (8pm) (Women 18-34: 2.0/9; Men 18-34: 1.5/7; Women 18-49: 2.6/9; Men 18-49: 2.0/8)
ABC’s “Primetime New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” (9:59pm) (Women 18-34: 3.7/16; Men 18-34: 2.6/13; Women 18-49: 4.4/16; Men 18-49: 3.5/13)
NBC’s “Toast to 2015” (Women 18-34: 0.7/3; Men 18-34: 0.6/3; Women 18-49: 1.2/4; Men 18-49: 0.8/3)
NBC’s “New Year’s Eve Game Night with Andy Cohen” (Women 18-34: 0.8/4; Men 18-34: 0.7/3; Women 18-49: 1.1/4; Men 18-49: 0.9/3)
Fox’s “Pitbull’s New Year’s Revolution” (Women 18-34: 0.9/4; Men 18-34: 0.5/2; Women 18-49: 1.0/4; Men 18-49: 0.7/3)
ESPN’s “Orange Bowl: Clemson vs. Oklahoma” (Women 18-34: 2.56; Men 18-34: 4.90; Women 18-49: 3.04; Men 18-49: 6.37)
ESPN’s “Cotton Bowl: Alabama vs. Michigan State” (Women 18-34: 3.29; Men 18-34: 5.06; Women 18-49: 4.21; Men 18-49: 6.83)
CNN’s “New Year’s Eve with Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin” (Women 18-34: 0.31; Men 18-34: 0.28; Women 18-49: 0.44; Men 18-49: 0.46)
Cable Rankings – Thursday 12/31/15
What follows are the top 20 most-watched shows in prime time on cable for Thursday, December 31:
- “College Football Playoff: Cotton Bowl: Alabama vs. Clemson” (ESPN, 8:20-11:31 p.m., 9.60 household rating, 5.51 adults 18-49 rating): 18.552 million
- “College Football Studio” (ESPN, 8:08-8:20 p.m., 9.54 household rating, 5.45 adults 18-49 rating): 18.090
- “College Football Studio” (ESPN, 8:01-8:08 p.m., 8.91 household rating, 5.07 adults 18-49 rating): 16.764
- “College Football Playoff: Orange Bowl Classic: Clemson vs. Oklahoma” (ESPN, 4:10-8:01 p.m., 9.05 household rating, 4.70 adults 18-49 rating): 15.640
- “WWE SmackDown” (Syfy, 8 p.m., 1.00 household rating): 1.658
- “New Year’s Eve with Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin” (CNN, 8 p.m.-12:38 a.m., 0.94 household rating, 0.45 adults 18-49 rating): 1.623
- “The Big Bang Theory” (TBS, 9:30 p.m.): 1.389
- “American Dad” (Adult Swim, 10:30 p.m.): 1.298
- “Liv and Maddie” (Disney Channel, 8 p.m.): 1.256
- “Jessie” (Disney Channel, 8:30 p.m.): 1.244
- “American Dad” (Adult Swim, 10 p.m.): 1.193
- “The Big Bang Theory” (TBS, 9 p.m.): 1.187
- Movie: “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King ” (2003) (TNT, 8 p.m.): 1.177
- “American Pickers” (History, 9 p.m.): 1.153
- “American Pickers” (History, 10 p.m.): 1.140
- “American Pickers” (History, 8 p.m.): 1.124
- “Caribbean Life” (HGTV, 10 p.m.): 1.120
- “Caribbean Life” (HGTV, 10:30 p.m.): 1.075
- “Caribbean Life” (HGTV, 9:30 p.m.): 1.055
- “Liv and Maddie” (Disney Channel, 10:30 p.m.): 1.030
Source: Live+Same Day data, Nielsen Media Research