Primetime Ratings: CBS Rides ‘Big Brother’ Growth to Win

CBS was on top in terms of Thursday prime ratings, posting a 1.4 score in viewers 18-49, per Nielsen’s overnights, and a 6 share. That beat NBC’s 1.1/5 numbers. Following a lead-in of repeated comedies, CBS saw Big Brother go up 16% to 2.2, then Zoo climb 60% to 0.8.

The week before, shows were up against pre-season football on NBC.

On NBC, it was The Wall up 20% over its last fresh airing at 1.2, then the premiere of Saturday Night Live: Weekend Update at a hearty 1.7. A repeat of Great News followed, then a new Night Shift at 0.9, up a tenth of a point.

Fox did a 1.0/4. Beat Shazam climbed 38% to 1.1, and Love Connection, which Fox renewed for season two, went up 67% to 1.0.

ABC scored a 0.9/4. Boy Band shot up 40% to 0.7, then The Story of Diana did a 1.0 across two hours.

Telemundo rated a 0.7/3 and Univision a 0.5/2.

The CW rated a 0.5/2. Penn & Teller: Fool Us weighed in at 0.5 and Whose Line Is It Anyway? at 0.5. Both were up a tenth of a point over last week.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.