Television in 2016 was all about court rooms, cat fights and comebacks. There was also an oversupply of sports narratives where the underdogs came out on top. U.S viewers were witnesses to historic comebacks against even more historic odds–from LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers beating the bookmakers to best the Golden State Warriors to the curse-breaking Chicago Cubs defeating the Cleveland Indians to Peyton Manning challenging Father Time himself for a chance to ride off into the sunset with the Lombardi Trophy (in front of one of the largest U.S. TV audiences ever).
While the Super Bowl held the top spot for another year in a row, other sporting events, such as the Olympics and World Series cracked the top 10 after being held out in years past.
Underdogs thrived in hit TV dramas as well, extending the reign of what critics suspect is the second golden age of content. These underdogs crawled from swirling, suffocating masses during the heat of battle in an effort to reclaim a throne. They made names for themselves in legal dramas, both based on fiction and not-so-distant actual events.
In the end, viewing audiences were the real winners, as they were able to enjoy some compelling content and watch what and when they wanted to via time-shifting. While the usual drama heavy weights still benefit greatly from Live+7 viewing, reality TV offerings prove it’s not all zombies and dragons. In fact, the reality genre accounted for almost one-third of the Top 10 list when ranking on the percent lift from time shifted viewing. Last year’s Top 10 time-shifted programs only included one reality show. Additionally, the lift that time-shifting has given the top shows continues to grow. This year, the top time-shifted show gained a 279% lift from seven days of viewing, compared to the 240% that last year’s top time-shifted show gained.
TOP TV PROGRAMS OF 2016 – SINGLE TELECAST
| Rank |
Telecast |
Originator |
Date Aired |
Persons 2+ Rating |
Average No. of Viewers |
| 1 |
SUPER BOWL 50 |
CBS |
02/07/2016 |
37.9 |
112,576,000 |
| 2 |
SUPER BOWL 50 POST-GAME |
CBS |
02/07/2016 |
23.7 |
70,261,000 |
| 3 |
FOX WORLD SERIES GAME 7 |
FOX |
11/02/2016 |
13.3 |
40,267,000 |
| 4 |
OSCARS, THE |
ABC |
02/28/2016 |
12.0 |
35,609,000 |
| 5 |
SUM OLYM TUE PRIME 1 |
NBC |
08/09/2016 |
11.8 |
35,003,000 |
| 6 |
NBC NFL PLAYOFF GAME 1/16 |
NBC |
01/16/2016 |
11.4 |
33,954,000 |
| 7 |
SUM OLYM THU PRIME 1 |
NBC |
08/11/2016 |
11.0 |
32,665,000 |
| 8 |
AFC WILDCARD PLAYOFF |
CBS |
01/09/2016 |
10.6 |
31,371,000 |
| 9 |
AFC DIV-PLF-POST-GAME-SU |
CBS |
01/17/2016 |
10.5 |
31,275,000 |
| 10 |
NBA FINALS ON ABC-GM 7 |
ABC |
06/19/2016 |
10.5 |
31,271,000 |
| Source: Nielsen NNTV Program Report. All Broadcast and Cable. 1/01/2016 – 11/06/2016. Live+7. Broadcast Prime. P2+. Excludes Breakouts, Duration
Read as: The Oscars on ABC averaged 35.6 million viewers who watched live or via time-shifted viewing within seven days. |
TOP 10 PRIMETIME TV PROGRAMS OF 2016 – REGULARLY SCHEDULED
| Rank |
Program |
Originator |
Persons 2+ Rating |
Average No. of Viewers |
| 1 |
BIG BANG THEORY, THE |
CBS |
6.7 |
19,938,000 |
| 2 |
NCIS |
CBS |
6.7 |
19,885,000 |
| 3 |
NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL |
NBC |
6.4 |
19,283,000 |
| 4 |
WALKING DEAD |
AMC |
6.3 |
18,824,000 |
| 5 |
BULL |
CBS |
5.8 |
17,645,000 |
| 6 |
NCIS: NEW ORLEANS |
CBS |
5.2 |
15,618,000 |
| 7 |
SUNDAY NIGHT NFL PRE-KICK |
NBC |
5.0 |
14,952,000 |
| 8 |
DESIGNATED SURVIVOR |
ABC |
4.9 |
14,915,000 |
| 9 |
CBS+NFLN THU NT FOOTBALL |
CBS |
4.9 |
14,785,000 |
| 10 |
BLUE BLOODS |
CBS |
4.8 |
14,414,000 |
| Source: Nielsen NNTV Program Report. All Broadcast and Cable. 1/01/2016 – 11/06/2016. Live+7. Broadcast Prime. P2+. Excludes Breakouts, Specials, Repeats, Duration
Read as: NBC Sunday Night Football averaged 19.3 million viewers who watched live or via time-shifted viewing within seven days. |
TOP SPANISH-LANGUAGE PROGRAMS – REGULARLY SCHEDULED
| Rank |
Program |
Originator |
Persons 2+ Rating |
Average No. of Viewers |
| 1 |
HASTA QUE TE CONOCI |
TEL |
5.3 |
2,785,000 |
| 2 |
POR SIEMPRE SEBASTIAN WED |
UNI |
4.7 |
2,421,000 |
| 3 |
PASION Y PODER THU |
UNI |
4.7 |
2,413,000 |
| 4 |
POR SIEMPRE SEBASTIAN MON |
UNI |
4.7 |
2,378,000 |
| 5 |
PASION Y PODER MON |
UNI |
4.5 |
2,322,000 |
| 6 |
PASION Y PODER WED |
UNI |
4.5 |
2,318,000 |
| 7 |
PASION Y PODER TUE |
UNI |
4.5 |
2,308,000 |
| 8 |
POR SIEMPRE SEBASTIAN TUE |
UNI |
4.4 |
2,264,000 |
| 9 |
SENOR DE LOS CIELO IV – M |
TEL |
4.3 |
2,215,000 |
| 10 |
PASION Y PODER FRI |
UNI |
4.3 |
2,193,000 |
| Source: Nielsen NNTV Program Report; Hispanic Sample. Spanish-Language Networks. 1/01/2016 – 11/06/2016. Live+7. Ranked on Live+7 Proj(000). Broadcast Prime Span. P2+. Excludes Breakouts, Specials, Repeats, Duration
Read as: Hasta Que Te Conoci on Telemundo averaged nearly 2.8 million viewers who watched live or via time-shifted viewing within seven days. |
TOP 10 TIME-SHIFTED TV PROGRAMS OF 2016 (RANKED BY % CHANGE IN VIEWERS)
| Rank |
Program |
Originator |
% Increase in Viewers from Time-shifted Viewing |
| 1 |
BETTER CALL SAUL |
AMC |
278.7% |
| 2 |
AMERICAN HORROR STORY |
FX |
245.5% |
| 3 |
ACS: PEOPLE V. OJ SIMPSON |
FX |
238.6% |
| 4 |
SUITS |
USA NETWORK |
233.4% |
| 5 |
REAL HOUSEWIVES OF OC |
BRAVO |
217.0% |
| 6 |
PREACHER |
AMC |
206.5% |
| 7 |
GAME OF THRONES |
HBO PRIME |
192.6% |
| 8 |
LAST SHIP, THE |
TURNER NETWORK TELEVISION |
188.1% |
| 9 |
TEEN MOM II SSN7 |
MTV |
186.3% |
| 10 |
REAL HOUSEWIVES BEV HILLS |
BRAVO |
184.5% |
| Source: Nielsen NNTV Program Report. All Broadcast and Cable. 1/01/2016 – 11/06/2016. Live & Live+7. Broadcast Prime; Primetime TSV%: Percent increase is based on absolute difference between Live & Live+7 Proj(000). P2+. A program must reach at least a 1.0 Live+7 P2+ rating. Excludes Breakouts, Specials, Repeats, Duration
Read as: The TV viewing audience to Better Call Saul on AMC increased nearly 279% from the live audience with time-shifted viewing (within seven days). |
TOP 10 TIME-SHIFTED TV PROGRAMS OF 2016 (RANKED BY ABSOLUTE DIFFERENCE)
| Rank |
Program |
Originator |
Absolute Difference in Viewership |
| 1 |
WALKING DEAD |
AMC |
10,435,000 |
| 2 |
BIG BANG THEORY, THE |
CBS |
9,160,000 |
| 3 |
DESIGNATED SURVIVOR |
ABC |
8,980,000 |
| 4 |
GAME OF THRONES |
HBO PRIME |
6,986,000 |
| 5 |
THIS IS US |
NBC |
6,886,000 |
| 6 |
NCIS |
CBS |
6,817,000 |
| 7 |
EMPIRE |
FOX |
6,511,000 |
| 8 |
BULL |
CBS |
6,454,000 |
| 9 |
BLACKLIST |
NBC |
6,396,000 |
| 10 |
X-FILES |
FOX |
6,226,000 |
| Source: Nielsen NNTV Program Report. All Broadcast and Cable. 1/01/2016 – 11/06/2016. Live & Live+7. Broadcast Prime. Rank based on absolute difference beween Live & Live+7 Proj(000). P2+. A program must reach at least a 1.0 Live+7 P2+ rating. Excludes Breakouts, Specials, Repeats, Duration
The TV viewing audience of The Walking Dead on AMC increased by about 10.4 million viewers from the live audience with time-shifted viewing (within seven days). |
