In a bit of news that will likely shock no one who remotely follows television ratings, NBC’s summer juggernaut America’s Got Talent took the top spot for the week ending July 12, pulling in 11.9 million viewers with its Wednesday night edition. The show’s Tuesday night episode came in at No. 3, with 10.6 million viewers, as a repeat episode of CBS’ NCIS stole the No. 2 spot with 11.0 million viewers. Last week, Talent took the top two spots, but the ratings from two weeks ago saw the same 1-2-3 line-up as this week.
As has been the case pretty much all summer, repeats — especially those on CBS — have dominated the Top 20. In the new-episode column this week, however, you’ll find a Michael Jackson-themed episode of ABC’s Primetime: Family Secrets (8.7 million viewers) at No. 8; ABC’s Wipeout (8.2 million viewers) at No. 11; two episodes of Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance (7.9 million and 7.6 million viewers) at Nos. 12 and 15; ABC’s The Bachelorette (7.7 million) at No. 13; and a Michael Jackson-centric episode of NBC’s Dateline (6.3 million) at No. 20. CBS’ summer staple Big Brother (6.6 million viewers) finally launched and debuted its 11th season at No. 18, representing an 8 percent increase over last summer’s premiere.
Overall, the summer has been difficult for the broadcast networks. Only CBS has grown its audience from last summer, and that’s only been by a rather meager 2 percent. (In fact, CBS was the only broadcast network to grow its audience during the past season, as well.) So far this summer, NBC and ABC are down 12 percent from the comparable period last year, while Fox is down a startling 20 percent. Many of the viewers are undoubtedly moving over to scripted dramas on cable networks like TNT, USA, and Lifetime.
The full Top 20 on the broadcast networks for the week is after the jump.
1. America’s Got Talent Wednesday | NBC | 11.9 million
2. NCIS (R) | CBS | 11.0 million
3. America’s Got Talent Tuesday | NBC | 10.6 million
4. Two and a Half Men (R) | CBS | 9.4 million
5. The Mentalist (R) | CBS | 9.2 million
6. 60 Minutes (R) | CBS | 8.8 million
CSI: Miami (R) | CBS | 8.8 million
8. Primetime: Family Secrets | ABC | 8.7 million
9. The Big Bang Theory (R) | CBS | 8.3 million
The Mentalist (R) | CBS | 8.3 million
11. Wipeout | ABC | 8.2 million
12. So You Think You Can Dance Thursday | Fox | 7.9 million
13. The Bachelorette | ABC | 7.7 million
CSI (R) | CBS | 7.7 million
15. So You Think You Can Dance Wednesday | Fox | 7.6 million
16. CSI: NY (R) | CBS | 7.3 million
17. Criminal Minds (R) | CBS | 7.1 million
18. Big Brother 11 | CBS | 6.6 million
America’s Got Talent Wednesday (R) | NBC | 6.3 million
20. Dateline NBC | NBC | 6.3 million
More ratings news from EW:
Ratings: ‘Big Brother’ continues its reign
Ratings: ‘Big Brother,’ ‘SYTYCD’ dominate Thursday
Ratings: Michael Jackson special, ‘NCIS’ highlight slow summer Tuesday
Times sure have changed. I remember when all the CSI shows use to do 14 and 15 million viewers in REPEATS. CBS’ Big Brother had a decent premiere rating but ABC’s Primetime newsmagazine came back bigtiming!!!
DID NOT WATCH ANY OF THE GARBAGE THAT IS CALLED THE TOP 20…
Last Friday USA Today gave “Meteor” a pretty scathing 1-star review. So I thought to myself, “How bad could it possibly be?” Well, as it turns out, GLARINGLY bad. EMBARRASSINGLY bad. SO bad, in fact, that it made me downright ANGRY that one of the venerable “Big Three” broadcast networks would actually air it … and in this era of Reality TV, that’s really saying something.
There was absolutely nothing remotely redeeming about “Meteor.” The acting and direction were both about as awful as it gets. The special effects were cheap, and there was absolutely no attempt made at scientific accuracy. Bad enough for you? Well, how about that SCRIPT? According to USA Today, the screenwriter for “Meteor” was one Alex Greenfield, whose last major writing credit was for “WWF Smackdown,” if you can believe that. And BOY, did it show. The script for this film was so laughably, eye-rollingly BAD that for the first time in my life I felt geniunely ashamed of myself for tuning in to watch a TV show.
I can’t believe the America’s Got Talent judges sent home that poor woman that had the disease since childhood that messed up her face. She was a great singer and her hole life she’s been crapped on and they just crapped on her some more I’m pissed!!