NBC Wins Season in Demo for Second Straight Year

With help from Super Bowl XLIX, NBC won the 2014-15 TV season among the adults 18-49 demo, its second consecutive season victory.

With three nights left to count, NBC finished with a 2.4 rating (Live+7) this season, which was down 11% from last season. NBC’s win was primarily on the backs of Sunday Night Football – again the top primetime show – and reality hit The Voice. NBC also aired its 40th anniversary special for Saturday Night Live this season, which drew massive ratings.

CBS took second in the demo with a 2.3 rating, down a tenth from last season, while ABC improved a tenth to take third with a 2.2 rating. Despite the huge success of Empire, Fox tumbled 24% from last year to fall to fourth with a 1.9 rating, mostly due to its lackluster fall schedule (outside of Gotham) and the continued erosion of American Idol.

CBS won among total viewers for the 12th time in the last 13 years, improving 5% from last year with 11.3 million viewers. NBC took second with 8.6 million (down 8%), while ABC placed third with 8 million (up 5%). Fox took another sizeable dip in total viewers as well, dropping 21% to just 5.8 million viewers for the season.

The CW capped off its strongest season in its history averaging a 0.8 rating in the demo and 2.1 million total viewers.