NBA Playoffs Continue to Dominate Weekly TV Watch-Time
Welcome to our weekly snapshot of TV by the numbers, highlighting the most-watched shows and networks for May 8-14, 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).
Watch-time for NBA playoff games increased from 5.07% to 5.42% week-over-week. NHL takes second place on the ranking for the second week in a row, but saw a slightly smaller viewership share compared to the previous week (1.12% vs. 1.17%).
Some additional insights about the top programming on TV:
PGA Tour golf squeaks into the top ten, up from No. 11 previously, capturing 0.61% of minutes watched.
Multiple news programs saw week-over-week ranking increases, including CBS Mornings, Fox and Friends, America’s Newsroom, CNN News Central, ABC World News Tonight With David Muir, America Reports and NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt. Of those, two are week-over-week ranking newcomers (America Reports and NBC Nightly News).
The Golden Girls is the only non-news ranking newcomer for the week, landing at No. 24 with 0.39% of watch-time.
While it doesn’t make the top 25, the inaugural week of Jeopardy! Masters captured 0.38% of watch-time and is the No. 28 program for May 8-14.
Yet again the network ranking is notably stable, with 14 networks holding steady week-over-week. ABC remains in first place, with its 7.08% viewership share fueled in part by NBA games, Jeopardy! Masters and American Idol.
Additional insights around the most-watched networks from May 8-14:
CBS moves into second place with 6.93% of minutes watched, up from 6.86% the previous week. PGA Tour golf and daytime stalwarts (The Price is Right, The Young and the Restless) contributed to its viewership share.
The networks in the No. 4-10 positions retain their ranking positions, but each of them saw a larger viewership share week-over-week. TNT had the biggest increase, up to 4.13% from 3.78% previously, thanks primarily to NBA games.
Bravo is the sole week-over-week ranking newcomer, landing at No. 25 with 0.88% of watch-time. Nearly a quarter of its viewership share came from Vanderpump Rules, while Below Deck Sailing Yacht and The Real Housewives of New Jersey round out the top three shows for the network.
