Ratings: ‘Grinch’ Grabs Victory for ABC on Christmas Night
Grinch stole a primetime ratings victory for ABC over its rivals on Christmas, with both the animated classic and the Jim Carrey theatrical based on the Dr. Seuss character winning their timeslots in key demos.
According to preliminary national estimates from Nielsen, the 1966 animated half-hour “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas” averaged a 1.9 rating/7 share in adults 18-49 and 5.9 million viewers overall — a five-year high for the special in the demo. It certainly helped the net’s cause that it aired a well-rated NBA game (Cleveland-Miami in LeBron James’ return to Miami) up until about 7:50 p.m. ET.
From 8:30 to 11 p.m., the 2000 feature film “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas” averaged a 1.8/6 in 18-49 and 5.0 million viewers overall).
For the night, ABC dominated among the broadcast networks in key demos and even beat out CBS in total viewers. TNT led among the cablers, earning a 2.3 overnight household rating.
For CBS, which went with repeats of its regular Thursday lineup, “The Big Bang Theory” led the way as usual (1.2/5 in 18-49, 6.8 million viewers overall). The comedy placed second among the Big Four in its timeslot, as did the rest of the night for the Eye: “Mom” (1.0/3 in 18-49, 5.2 million viewers overall), “Two and a Half Men” (0.9/3 in 18-49, 4.7 million viewers overall), “The McCarthys” (0.7/2 in 18-49, 3.8 million viewers overall) and “Elementary” (0.6/2 in 18-49, 4.3 million viewers overall).
NBC stayed in the Christmas spirit one last night, but earned low ratings for encores of specials “How Murray Saved Christmas” (0.3/1 in 18-49, 1.4 million viewers overall), “Elf: Buddy’s Musical Christmas” (0.3/1 in 18-49, 1.1 million viewers overall) and “Christmas in Rockefeller Center” (0.4/1 in 18-49, 1.9 million viewers overall).
Fox went with “Bones” repeats at both 8 (0.6/2 in 18-49, 2.2 million viewers overall) and 9 (0.5/2 in 18-49, 2.5 million viewers overall), and CW aired a repeat of the movie “The 12 Dogs of Christmas” (0.2/1 in 18-49, 0.9 million viewers overall).
Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: ABC, 1.8/6; CBS, 0.8/3; Fox, 0.5/2; NBC, 0.3/1; CW, 0.2/1.
In total viewers: ABC, 5.2 million; CBS, 4.9 million; NBC, 2.4 million; Fox, 1.5 million; CW, 0.9 million.
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