100 Most-Watched TV Shows of 2018-19: Winners and Losers

As traditional ratings continue to decline, so do the networks’ reliance on those numbers as a benchmark. Nowhere was it more noticeable than at this month’s upfronts presentations in New York, where the “r” word on everyone’s tongues wasn’t “ratings” — it was “reach.”

Sure, everyone still touted their No. 1 status when they could — but what does that even mean in an age where live + same day ratings, or even live + 7 stats (covering the first seven days of time-shifted viewing on demand and via DVRs) only tell part of the story?

“We went from households to demos and now we’re going from demos to more data-driven decisions,” said CBS Entertainment president Kelly Kahl. “The business has always been more complex than melting a network’s health down to an 18-49 number. This is the industry saying, yeah, there’s something more than just boiling things down to one number.”

Fox executive vice president/head of research Will Somers said as ratings diminish, he still sees them as “part of what’s an increasingly fragmented puzzle, but an incomplete one. What you’re seeing is continued progression away from conventional metrics.”

“Reach” is one way to guide advertisers, he added, but it’s not a perfect stat either.

But ratings remain the most common way to compare the linear performance of shows both on broadcast and cable. And with another TV season drawing to a close, Variety looked at the season-to-date rankers for broadcast and cable, using the most recent live+7 ratings (which include seven days’ worth of DVR and video on-demand usage).
Here’s a final look at some of the hits and misses of 2018–2019, followed by our complete list of the 100 most-watched shows of the season, according to both adults 18-49 and total viewers.

WINNERS

“The Masked Singer”: Who would have thought that a campy show about celebrities attempting to sing pop hits, while under heavy masks and costumes, would be this year’s primetime sensation? Fox’s “The Masked Singer,” based on a South Korean format, blew audiences away as the No. 1 new TV show of the year. And not just that, it’s the top-rated entertainment series overall, tied with “This Is Us,” on the broadcast networks. It’s also the highest-rated reality show in four years.

“It’s the kind of confirmation that it’s still possible to launch new hits, especially with fresh formats,” said Fox research head Will Somers. “The talent competition and singing competition genre was ripe for a breath of fresh air.”

Fox is taking advantage of the hit, scheduling two cycles next year and also airing an edition after the Super Bowl. “The Masked Singer” also flew counter to most talent competition shows this season: “The Voice” and “American Idol” are down, while CBS’ “The World’s Best,” despite premiering after the Super Bowl, was a flop.

“Game of Thrones”: Plenty has been written about the success of the final season of HBO’s juggernaut, but nonetheless it’s remarkable to see a show available to a fraction of TV households — about 35 to 40 percent of the country — rank No. 1 among adults 18-49, and beat all but two broadcast shows (available in nearly 100 percent of the country) in total viewers.

NFL football: Remember all that talk about football ratings declining? The erosion of NFL viewership has been greatly exaggerated, as NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” ended the year as the most-watched program for the 8th year in a row, and its 19.3 million viewers is up from last year’s 18.3 million. Also up: Fox and NFL Network’s “Thursday Night Football” package, and ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” lineup. In demos, “Game of Thrones” took the crown — but after that, football took the second, third, and fourth positions.

LOSERS

Comedy: As TV’s No. 1 comedy, CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory,” goes away, the networks are finding it difficult to make viewers laugh. Among adults 18-49, CBS’ “Young Sheldon” and ABC’s “Modern Family” and “The Conners” are the only other sitcoms in the top 25, while the total viewers top 25 only features “Big Bang,” “Young Sheldon” and “Mom” in the top 25. Perhaps it’s another example of audiences shifting to other platforms: At the upfronts, NBC proclaimed that “The Good Place” is actually its most-viewed series — thanks to non-linear viewership. In the traditional total viewers ranker, which does feature seven days of time shifting, the comedy barely squeaks into the top 100.

“Comedy is something we’re all trying to figure out,” said one network exec. “That’s been a recurring theme for a long time. We’re trying to break the comedy code, and we’re all going to give it a shot in our own way next season. Hopefully someone finds the right DNA for a comedy hit.”

The remake trend: Last year’s No. 1 show, “Roseanne,” didn’t return — for reasons everyone’s pretty familiar with by now. Its replacement, “The Conners,” did very well, all things considered: It’s broadcast TV’s top-rated new comedy, if you consider it a brand-new show, averaging a solid 2.3 rating in the demo — justifying ABC’s desire to bring the show back even without star Roseanne Barr. But it’s no “Roseanne,” which ended the 2017-2018 TV season with a 6.2 rating.

Still, that number was destined to come back to earth, similar to NBC’s high-flying launch of its “Will & Grace” reunion, followed by that show’s sharp downward turn. “Will & Grace” averaged a 1.5 rating in the demo, vs. 2.8 last year. Meanwhile, CBS’ “Murphy Brown” return never got off the ground, averaging a 1.3.

“The Passage” and “Life in Pieces”: The Fox drama “The Passage” was this season’s highest-rated series in adults 18-49 not to secure a renewal, while CBS’ comedy “Life in Pieces” is so far the most-watched series to be canceled. (Some shows, however, remain on the bubble, as the networks haven’t announced the fates of several late-season series.)

R. Kelly: The disgraced pop crooner is finally getting his due in the court of public opinion. Accused by multiple women of sexual assault and statutory rape, Kelly was the subject of Lifetime’s “Surviving R. Kelly,” a six-part series that told the story of his victims and was a smash for the channel. “Surviving R. Kelly” was the No. 3 non-sports series on cable this season among adults 18-49, behind just AMC’s “The Walking Dead” and FX’s “American Horror Story.”

Appointment TV: Perhaps that’s a bit harsh, but it is a sign of the times that two of linear TV’s biggest hits, “Game of Thrones” and “The Big Bang Theory,” are both departing in the same year. In other words, this ranker will look much different next season.

“I don’t believe this is the end of mass appeal shows,” Kahl said. “There are still plenty of shows in the top 20 that are getting tens of millions of viewers every week. Perhaps this opens the door for the kind of next cultural phenomenon show to step up and get some traction. Is it harder these days with so many choices? Yeah, it probably is. But I don’t think by any means it’s the end of an era.”

TOP 100 SHOWS OF 2018-2019, ADULTS 18-49

America’s most-watched series of the 2018-2019 season in the key advertising demographic (measured in ratings points) are …

TOP 100 SHOWS OF 2018-2019, TOTAL VIEWERS

America’s most-watched series of the 2018-2019 season are …