With 2018-2019 broadcast season wrapping up, certain shows stand head and shoulders above their competition in the Nielsen Live+7 rankings.
Live+7 data is currently available only through May 5, but the top dogs will likely see little change once the final numbers are in for the traditional September-May season. The top gainer in adults 18-49 was NBC’s “This Is Us” with an average lift of 1.8 ratings points. The number two spot was a tie between CBS’ “Big Bang Theory” and NBC’s “Manifest,” with both of those shows adding 1.5 ratings points on average. These numbers do not include “Big Bang Theory’s” series finale, however, which pulled in a 3.1 rating and 18 million viewers in Live+Same Day alone on May 16.
In addition to “Manifest,” other freshman shows to make it to the top of the Live+7 list include NBC’s “New Amsterdam” (average lift of 1.2), ABC’s “A Million Little Things” (average lift of 1.1) and Fox’s “The Masked Singer” (average lift of 1.2).
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Turning to total viewers, “Manifest” was the biggest gainer overall, on average adding 6.1 million viewers per episode. ABC’s “The Good Doctor” was second with an average viewer lift of just under 6 million. “New Amsterdam” (5.2 million viewer lift) and “A Million Little Things” (3.5 million viewer lift) were also among the top gainers in this measure, as was ABC’s “Whiskey Cavalier” (3.2 million viewer lift).
Read the top 25 shows of the season in both measures below. Shows are ranked by gains in Live+7.
Adults 18-49
| SERIES | NETWORK | L+SD Adults 18-49 | L+7 Adults 18-49 | +7 Actual Gain | +7 Percent Gain |
| THIS IS US | NBC | 2.0 | 3.8 | +1.8 | +90% |
| THE BIG BANG THEORY | CBS | 2.2 | 3.7 | +1.5 | +68% |
| MANIFEST | NBC | 1.3 | 2.8 | +1.5 | +115% |
| THE GOOD DOCTOR | ABC | 1.1 | 2.5 | +1.4 | +127% |
| GREY’S ANATOMY | ABC | 1.6 | 2.9 | +1.3 | +81% |
| 911 | FOX | 1.3 | 2.5 | +1.2 | +92% |
| THE MASKED SINGER | FOX | 2.6 | 3.8 | +1.2 | +46% |
| NEW AMSTERDAM | NBC | 1.1 | 2.3 | +1.2 | +109% |
| A MILLION LITTLE THINGS | ABC | 0.9 | 2.0 | +1.1 | +122% |
| MODERN FAMILY | ABC | 1.3 | 2.4 | +1.1 | +85% |
| CHICAGO PD | NBC | 1.1 | 2.1 | +1.0 | +91% |
| YOUNG SHELDON | CBS | 1.7 | 2.6 | +0.9 | +53% |
| CHICAGO FIRE | NBC | 1.2 | 2.1 | +0.9 | +75% |
| LAW AND ORDER:SVU | NBC | 0.9 | 1.8 | +0.9 | +100% |
| CRIMINAL MINDS | CBS | 0.8 | 1.7 | +0.9 | +113% |
| HOW TO GET AWAY W/MURDER | ABC | 0.7 | 1.5 | +0.8 | +114% |
| THE ROOKIE | ABC | 0.7 | 1.5 | +0.8 | +114% |
| THE ORVILLE | FOX | 0.7 | 1.5 | +0.8 | +114% |
| THE GOOD PLACE | NBC | 0.8 | 1.6 | +0.8 | +100% |
| WILL & GRACE | NBC | 0.7 | 1.5 | +0.8 | +114% |
| THE PASSAGE | FOX | 0.9 | 1.7 | +0.8 | +89% |
| SURVIVOR | CBS | 1.5 | 2.2 | +0.7 | +47% |
| STATION 19 | ABC | 1.0 | 1.7 | +0.7 | +70% |
| BULL | CBS | 0.8 | 1.5 | +0.7 | +88% |
| NCIS | CBS | 1.2 | 1.9 | +0.7 | +58% |
Total Viewers
| SERIES | NETWORK | L+SD Total Viewers (in millions) | L+7 Total Viewers (in millions) | +7 Actual Gain | +7 Percent Gain |
| MANIFEST | NBC | 6488 | 12607 | +6119 | +94% |
| THE GOOD DOCTOR | ABC | 6682 | 12642 | +5960 | +89% |
| THIS IS US | NBC | 8337 | 13798 | +5461 | +66% |
| NEW AMSTERDAM | NBC | 5977 | 11184 | +5207 | +87% |
| BULL | CBS | 6712 | 11407 | +4695 | +70% |
| THE BIG BANG THEORY | CBS | 12798 | 17432 | +4634 | +36% |
| BLUE BLOODS | CBS | 8433 | 12837 | +4404 | +52% |
| 911 | FOX | 5841 | 10124 | +4283 | +73% |
| THE ROOKIE | ABC | 4137 | 8314 | +4177 | +101% |
| CHICAGO PD | NBC | 7132 | 11249 | +4117 | +58% |
| NCIS | CBS | 12147 | 15938 | +3791 | +31% |
| FBI | CBS | 9131 | 12744 | +3613 | +40% |
| CRIMINAL MINDS | CBS | 4616 | 8217 | +3601 | +78% |
| CHICAGO FIRE | NBC | 8159 | 11742 | +3583 | +44% |
| NCIS: NEW ORLEANS | CBS | 7335 | 10913 | +3578 | +49% |
| A MILLION LITTLE THINGS | ABC | 4263 | 7779 | +3516 | +82% |
| YOUNG SHELDON | CBS | 11104 | 14617 | +3513 | +32% |
| SEAL TEAM | CBS | 5070 | 8514 | +3444 | +68% |
| THE MASKED SINGER | FOX | 8136 | 11566 | +3430 | +42% |
| GREY’S ANATOMY | ABC | 6833 | 10195 | +3362 | +49% |
| S.W.A.T. | CBS | 5298 | 8622 | +3324 | +63% |
| BLACKLIST | NBC | 3875 | 7191 | +3316 | +86% |
| WHISKEY CAVALIER | ABC | 3339 | 6569 | +3230 | +97% |
| LAW AND ORDER:SVU | NBC | 4227 | 7446 | +3219 | +76% |
| CHICAGO MED | NBC | 8312 | 11366 | +3054 | +37% |
Note: An earlier version of this story included incorrect numbers for adults 18-49 and total viewers. These have now been corrected.