NBC is getting its proverbial clock cleaned by FOX, CBS, and ABC when it comes to primetime average viewership. According to the latest Nielsen ratings, NBC average viewers fell below 6 million for the week ending March 22. At 5.74 million, that doesn’t compare very favorably to leader of the pack CBS at 11.5 million, second place FOX at 10.3 million, and third place ABC at 9.2 million.
The problem is especially noticeable in the 18-34 demo where NBC fell below Spanish-language channel Univision in average primetime viewership for the week. Yes, you read that right. Univision soundly surpassed NBC in a highly coveted demo by almost 200K average viewers last week. That is not a good position for the peacock network to be in with FOX and CBS showing no signs of giving up their iron grip atop the rankings.
The big problem right now is that NBC doesn’t appear to have an answer for the ratings disaster that is their Spring season. I’m not sure adding 5 hours of Leno to primetime every week really counts. And with Heroes continuing to slip every week with lower and lower ratings, the only real wins for the network are Law and Order SVU, The Biggest Loser, and The Office. All other shows continue to struggle and are bringing overall ratings for the network down with it. Only The Office and Law and Order SVU made it on to the Top 20 list for last week. The list is dominated by Fox and ABC at the top and CBS through the middle.
From a TVLoop perspective, we’ve definitely seen a sharp drop-off in Heroes over the last several months. This chart would seem to mirror the general malaise that has overtaken Heroes fans for most of this season. If this continues, it will be interesting to see how long NBC sticks with it’s current lineup of shows.
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