Primetime Ratings: Dem Debate Leads NBC to Win

NBC won the Wednesday ratings, as the Democratic debate led the network to a 1.3 in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and a 7 share. That beat the 0.9/4 that CBS scored.

Ten presidential hopefuls faced off Wednesday on NBC, MSNBC and Telemundo, and 10 more debate Thursday.

On NBC, an Ellen’s Game of Games repeat started off prime, and the debate from 9 to 11 p.m. did a 1.6.

CBS had Big Brother at 1.1, down a tenth of a point from the night before, and the two-hour Amazing Race finale at a flat 0.8.

ABC did a 0.6/3 and Fox got a 0.5/3.

ABC had Press Your Luck down 20% at 0.8, Card Sharks off 33% at 0.6 and Match Game down 25% at 0.6.

Fox saw MasterChef go up 17% at 0.7 while First Responders Live fell 33% to 0.4.

Univision did a 0.4/2 and Telemundo a 0.3/1.

The CW got a 0.2/1. It had a Penn & Teller: Fool Us repeat and Jane the Virgin rated a level 0.2. 

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.