Ratings Watch: ‘Game of Thrones’ Premiere Gives Rivals Summer Chills, But ‘America’s Got Talent’ Still Wins The Week
To paraphrase everyone’s favorite “Game of Thrones” star, Ed Sheeran: HBO is on its way to another castle on Nielsen hill.
(Apologies for that.) After three days worth of time-shifted DVR and VOD usage, last Sunday’s Season 7 premiere of “Game of Thrones” jumped to a 5.6 rating among adults 18-49, obliterating everything in its path. That was up 19% from the show’s already strong live+same day number.
What’s more, the rebroadcasts that night of last year’s finale, as well as the premiere (which repeated at 10:05 p.m. ET) also made it into the week’s top 25 adults 18-49 chart.
Earlier in the week, HBO reported that the Season 7 premiere reached a gross audience of 16.1 million viewers (Linear Plays + Same Day DVR Playback + HBOGO/HBO NOW) up 50 percent from last year’s premiere. Per HBO, that performance set a record as the most watched premiere night in HBO’s history for any series.
But, hold the door: NBC’s summer stalwart “America’s Got Talent” is still a powerful force in total viewers, scoring enough viewers to win the week – 15.3 million vs. “Game of Thrones” (at 12.2 million). Both saw healthy 21% gains with time shifting.
America’s pasttime also had a good week, as ESPN’s coverage of the “Home Run Derby” averaged 8.3 million viewers and a 2.7 rating in the demo (putting it in third place). And Fox’s “MLB All-Star Game” averaged 9.4 million viewers and a 2.4 in the demo.
Besides “Game of Thrones,” the week’s other big premiere in the adults 18-49 demo was Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of OC” (1.1 rating). CBS’ “Salvation” made the top 25 total viewers chart in its debut, with 6.2 million viewers. Just bubbling under: FX’s “Strain,” which averaged a 0.9 rating in the demo (which “Salvation” also achieved).
Here are this week’s rankers:
Total viewers ranker, week ending July 16, 2017:
|
RANK |
SHOW & NETWORK |
LIVE+3 |
WATCHED |
|
1 |
America’s Got Talent NBC |
15.29 |
12.59 |
|
2 |
Game of Thrones HBO |
12.20 |
10.12 |
|
3 |
MLB All-Star Game Fox |
9.38 |
9.28 |
|
4 |
World of Dance NBC |
8.88 |
7.07 |
|
5 |
Home Run Derby ESPN |
8.33 |
8.18 |
|
6 |
America’s Got Talent (Thursday) NBC |
8.14 |
7.10 |
|
7 |
Big Brother (Wednesday) CBS |
7.60 |
6.46 |
|
8 |
Big Brother (Sunday) CBS |
7.42 |
5.96 |
|
9 |
Big Brother (Thursday) CBS |
7.41 |
6.12 |
|
10 |
The Bachelorette ABC |
6.86 |
5.66 |
|
11 |
Celebrity Family Feud ABC |
6.83 |
6.22 |
|
12 |
NCIS CBS |
6.81 |
6.55 |
|
13 |
The Wall NBC |
6.56 |
6.05 |
| 14 |
Little Big Shots: Forever Young NBC |
6.53 |
6.08 |
|
15 |
The Big Bang Theory CBS |
6.37 |
6.14 |
|
16 |
American Ninja Warrior NBC |
6.25 |
5.62 |
|
17 |
60 Minutes CBS |
6.23 |
6.02 |
|
18 |
Salvation CBS |
6.19 |
4.90 |
|
19 |
Night Shift NBC |
5.75 |
4.41 |
|
20 |
ESPY Awards ABC |
5.55 |
5.32 |
|
21 |
NCIS: New Orleans CBS |
5.48 |
5.16 |
|
22 |
$100,000 Pyramid ABC |
5.02 |
4.50 |
|
23 |
Dateline Friday NBC |
4.99 |
3.99 |
|
24 |
Steve Harvey’s Funderdome ABC |
4.62 |
4.43 |
|
25 |
Masterchef Fox |
4.53 |
3.50 |
| Total viewers; in millions |
Adults 18-49 ranker, week ending July 16, 2017:
|
RANK |
SHOW & NETWORK |
LIVE+3 RATING |
WATCHED RATING |
|
1 |
Game of Thrones HBO |
5.6 |
4.7 |
|
2 |
America’s Got Talent (Tuesday) NBC |
3.2 |
2.5 |
|
3 |
Home Run Derby ESPN |
2.7 |
2.6 |
|
4 |
Big Brother (Sunday) CBS |
2.5 |
1.8 |
|
5 |
MLB All-Star Game Fox Big Brother (Wednesday) CBS |
2.4 2.4 |
2.3 1.9 |
|
7 |
Big Brother (Thursday) CBS |
2.3 |
1.8 |
|
8 |
World of Dance NBC |
2.2 |
1.7 |
|
9 |
The Bachelorette ABC |
1.9 |
1.4 |
|
10 |
Love & Hip Hop Atlanta 6 VH1 |
1.7
|
1.3 |
|
11 |
American Ninja Warrior NBC |
1.6 |
1.4 |
|
12 |
ESPY Awards ABC America’s Got Talent (Thursday) NBC |
1.5 1.5 |
1.4 1.3 |
|
14 |
Game of Thrones (S6 Finale Repeat) HBO Basketball Wives 6 VH1 |
1.4 1.4 |
1.4 1.1 |
|
16 |
Masterchef Fox The Wall NBC |
1.3 1.3 |
1.0 1.2 |
|
18 |
Celebrity Family Feud ABC Spartan: Team Challenge NBC Copa Oro 2017 12 Univision |
1.2 1.2 1.2 |
1.1 1.0 1.2 |
|
21 |
Real Housewives of OC Bravo Game of Thrones (S7 Premiere Repeat) HBO Power Starz WWE Raw (8 p.m.) USA WWE Raw (9 p.m.) USA WWE Raw (10 p.m.) USA |
1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 |
0.6 1.0 0.7 1.0 1.0 1.0 |
| Adults 18-49; ratings points |
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