Wednesday Overnights: ABC Dominates with the ‘ESPY Awards’

WEDNESDAY, JULY 18, 2018

Household Rating/Share
ABC: 3.3/ 6, CBS: 3.1/ 6, Fox: 2.4/ 5, NBC: 1.8/ 3, CW: 0.5/ 1

Percent Change from Tuesday July 4, 2017:
CW: +50, NBC: +33, Fox: +20, CBS: + 6, ABC: -55

Ratings Breakdown:
Annual “The ESPY Awards” led ABC to Wednesday overnight victory, with a 3.3 rating/6 share in households from 8-11 p.m. Comparably, however, this was a loss of 13 percent in household rating from the year-ago Wednesday night telecast (3.8/ 7 on 7/12/17).

In series-finale news, CBS medical drama “Code Black” won the 10 p.m. hour with a 3.5/ 7, which was more than triple the overnight rating of competing drama “Reverie” on NBC (1.1/ 2). It was also 59 percent above week two of lead-in “TKO: Total Knock Out” (#3: 2.2/ 4 at 9 p.m.). And, as I have been mentioning all summer, CBS, or another outlet, should greenlight “Code Black” for a fourth season. It earned its keep.

Comparably, “TKO: Total Knock” slipped by 12 percent from its week-ago debut (2.5/ 5 on July 11), and that 2.5 overnight rating translated into 3.99 million viewers and a 0.9 rating/4 share in adults 18-49 (based on the Live+Same Day data).

Earlier in the evening on CBS was “Big Brother” at a dominant 3.6/ 7 in the household overnights in the 8 p.m. hour.

Also original last night was Fox’s combination of “MasterChef” (#3: 2.7/ 5 at 8 p.m.) and “Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell and Back” (#2: 2.3/ 4 at 9 p.m.); and 8 p.m. CW special, “Girl Got Game” (#5: 0.4/ 1).

What follows are the household overnight ratings for Wednesday, July 11 broken out by half-hour:

8:00 p.m.
ABC – “2018 ESPY Awards”: 3.4/ 7 (#2)
CBS – “Big Brother”: 3.7/ 7 (#1)
NBC – “Ellen’s Game of Games” (R): 2.5/ 5 (#4)
Fox – “MasterChef”: 2.6/ 5 (#3)
CW – “Girl Got Game”: 0.4/ 1 (#5)

8:30 p.m.
ABC – “2018 ESPY Awards”: 3.1/ 6 (#2)
CBS – “Big Brother”: 3.5/ 7 (#1)
NBC – “Ellen’s Game of Games” (R): 2.7/ 5 (#3t)
Fox – “MasterChef”: 2.7/ 5 (#3t)
CW – “Girl Got Game”: 0.3/ 0 (#5)

9:00 p.m.
ABC – “2018 ESPY Awards”: 3.2/ 6 (#1)
CBS – “TKO: Total Knockout”: 2.1/ 4 (#3)
NBC – “World of Dance” (R): 1.9/ 3 (#4)
Fox – “Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell and Back”: 2.2/ 4 (#2)
CW – “The Originals”: 0.6/ 1 (#5)

9:30 p.m.
ABC – “2018 ESPY Awards”: 3.0/ 5 (#1)
CBS – “TKO: Total Knockout”: 2.2/ 4 (#3)
NBC – “World of Dance” (R): 1.8/ 3 (#4)
Fox – “Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell and Back”: 2.3/ 4 (#2)
CW – “The Originals”: 0.6/ 1 (#5)

10:00 p.m.
ABC – “2018 ESPY Awards”: 2.9/ 5 (#2)
CBS – “Code Black” (series finale): 3.4/ 6 (#1)
NBC – “Reverie”: 1.2/ 2 (#3)

10:30 p.m.
ABC – “2018 ESPY Awards”: 2.8/ 5 (#2)
CBS – “Code Black” (series finale): 3.5/ 7 (#1)
NBC – “Reverie”: 1.0/ 2 (#3)

Source: Nielsen Media Research