Game, Set, Match: Wimbledon Wins for TV Viewership
Welcome to our weekly snapshot of TV by the numbers, highlighting the most-watched shows and networks for July 3-9, with insights from Inscape, the currency-grade smart TV ACR data provider and data technology division of Vizio. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).
As the oldest and most prestigious tennis tournament in the world, Wimbledon continues to captivate viewers year after year, and 2023 is no exception: The first week of matches accounted for 1.70% of all live, linear minutes watched July 3-9, making it the only program during the week to rise above a 1% viewership share — MLB games took second place with 0.95% of watch-time. With the finals taking place this weekend, we’ll have to wait and see if Wimbledon aces Inscape’s ranking again next week.
Some additional insights about the top programming on TV:
Rerun marathons on ION fueled watch-time for three of the top ten programs: NCIS (No. 3 with 0.95% of minutes watched), Law & Order: SVU (which slips to fifth from first last time with 0.84%) and Chicago P.D., which rockets up 20 slots into seventh place (0.70%).
Two additional summer sporting events made the top 25 ranking that haven’t previously appeared: the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open Championship (No. 9, 0.65%) and NBA Summer League Basketball (No. 14, 0.56%).
Additional ranking newcomers include Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (No. 19, 0.46%), SpongeBob SquarePants (No. 22, 0.43%) and Ridiculousness (No. 24, 0.42%).
CBS yet again takes first place on the network ranking, although its viewership share slipped to 5.87% from 6.49% previously. The Price Is Right, CBS Mornings and PGA Tour golf were three of the programs driving watch-time on the network.
Additional insights around the most-watched networks from July 3-9:
ABC moves into second place from third week-over-week, although its watch-time dipped to 5.82% from 6.12% previously. Good Morning America, ABC World News Tonight With David Muir and Wimbledon were three of the top programs on the network.
For the fifth week in a row, Fox News, Fox and ESPN retain their ranking positions at No. 4-6, respectively.
ESPN2 sprints into No. 20, up from No. 50 previously, thanks largely to NBA Summer League games.
Other week-over-week ranking newcomers include Oxygen (No. 21, 1.13% of watch-time), TNT (No. 22, 1.12%) and Discovery (No. 23,1.12%).
