There Are Good Reasons CBS Dominates The American TV Nielsen Ratings

Below are the Nielsen Ratings for the week ending December 21, 2014. This was the last week before TV went into mostly re-run and specials mode, due to Christmas.

Has CBS ever dominated the ratings at the level CBS is currently beating ABC, NBC and FOX?

Previously I blogged about being perplexed as to Why Must We Now Have A TV Provider To Watch Most Network & Cable TV Online? 

In that blog post I made note of the fact that CBS was not playing along with the insistence that one needed to log in to ones TV cable provider in order to watch a CBS show online, on ones smart phone or on a tablet.

In addition to not requiring a cable provider, CBS is now also going the Netflix-type route with the option of giving viewer's next day online access to current programs along with access to the entire CBS library dating back to the age of I Love Lucy in the 1950s.

CBS next day and library access cost $5.99 a month.

CBS seems to play the TV game much smarter than the other networks. And I am not just referencing the quality of the CBS programming.

For instance, before I bailed on the AT & T U-Verse service CBS had caused me to get hooked on multiple CBS shows I had not had a habit of watching. Shows such as CSI, NCIS,  NCIS: Los Angeles, Undercover Boss, Hawaii Five-O, Bluebloods, Elementary and others.

How did CBS cause me to watch its shows on AT & T U-Verse? Well, with the CBS version of Viewing On Demand, on AT & T, CBS had minimal commercials, with most of those being promos for other CBS shows. Plus CBS allowed fast forwarding. None of the other On Demand networks allowed fast forwarding. Eventually, prior to cancelling U-Verse, CBS had joined the others in disabling fast forwarding.

Or maybe AT & T did the disabling.

Anyway, it is no surprise to me that CBS is by far the dominant American TV Network.

Rank	Shows	R=Repeat S=Special P=Premiere	Net	Viewers (Live +SD) (000)
1	NBC Sunday Night Football-12/21		NBC	19293
2	NCIS-12/16		CBS	17530
3	NCIS: NEW ORLEANS-12/16		CBS	14137
4	60 Minutes-12/21		CBS	13179
5	CBS+NFLN SAT NT FOOTBALL-12/20	S	CBS	12962
6	VOICE-TUE-12/16		NBC	12880
7	VOICE-12/15		NBC	12074
8	Big Bang Theory, THE-12/18	R	CBS	10605
9	SCORPION-12/15		CBS	10070
10	MOM-12/18		CBS	10011
11	SURVIVOR-12/17		CBS	9786
12	FOOTBALL NT AMERICA PT 3-12/21		NBC	9713
13	NCIS: LOS ANGELES-12/15		CBS	9542
14	Person Of Interest-12/16		CBS	8937
15	Two and a Half Men-12/18		CBS	8796
16	Mentalist, THE-12/21		CBS	8677
17	Undercover Boss 12/21-SP-12/21	S	CBS	8189
18	MIKE & MOLLY-12/15		CBS	7849
19	2 Broke Girls-12/15		CBS	7807
20	Elementary-12/18		CBS	7574
21	MICHAEL BUBLE XMAS IN NY-12/17	S	NBC	7528
22	CSI-12/21		CBS	7340
23	SURVIVOR REUNION-12/17	S	CBS	7310
24	MCCARTHYS, THE-12/18		CBS	6941
25	Dateline FRI-12/19		NBC	6768

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Nielsen Rating's Top 20 TV Shows for April 6 - April 12

The Nielsen Rating's Top 20 TV Shows for April 6 - April 12. The first number is the ranking, the second number is the season average, then the show name and network. The last number represents the number of viewers in millions. An asterisk * indicates a tie.

Rank	Season average	Show name	Network	Viewers in millions
1.	1	American Idol (Wed.)	Fox	23.0
2.	2	American Idol (Tue.)	Fox	22.8
3.	3	Dancing With the Stars	ABC	19.9
4.	5	NCIS	CBS	17.8
5.	X	NCAA Men's Basketball Championship (special)	CBS	17.6
6.	7	The Mentalist	CBS	16.9
7.	4	CSI	CBS	16.6
8.	9	Dancing With the Stars Results Shows	CBS	14.6
9.	12	Criminal Minds	CBS	13.6
10.	18	House	Fox	13.3
11.	X	60 Minutes	CBS	12.8
12.	16	CSI: NY	CBS	12.5
13.	18	Without a Trace	CBS	12.2
*	X	Prelude to a Championship (special)	CBS	12.2
15.	22	Surviving Suburbia	ABC	11.2
*	16	Survivor: Toncatins	CBS	11.2
17.	20	24	Fox	11.0
18.	X	Amazing Race	CBS	10.6
19.	X	Cold Case (special)	CBS	10.6
20.	32	Harper's Island	CBS	10.2

Nielsen Rating's Top 20 TV Shows for March 30 - April 5

The Nielsen Rating's Top 20 TV Shows for March 30 - April 5. The first number is the ranking, the second number is the season average, then the show name and network. The last number represents the number of viewers in millions. An 'x' indicates non-series special programming. An asterisk * indicates a tie.

Rank	Season average	Show name	Network	Viewers in millions
1.	2	American Idol (Tues.)	Fox	24.4
2.	1	American Idol (Wed.)	Fox	24.3
3.	3	Dancing With the Stars	ABC	20.5
4.	5	NCIS	CBS	17.2
5.	8	The Mentalist	CBS	17.0
6.	42	ER	NBC	16.4
7.	X	Academy of Country Music Awards (special)	CBS	14.8
8.	4	CSI	CBS	14.6
*	11	Two and a Half Men	CBS	14.6
10.	X	NCAA Basketball Final Four (Sat., special)	CBS	14.5
11.	7	Dancing With the Stars Results Show	ABC	13.5
12.	13	CSI: Miami	CBS	13.5
13.	X	NCAA Basketball Report (Sat., special)	CBS	12.9
14.	18	Without a Trace	CBS	12.5
*	18	House	Fox	12.5
16.	9	60 Minutes	CBS	12.3
17.	16	Survivor: Toncatins	CBS	11.3
*	20	24	Fox	11.3
19.	27	Rules of Engagement	CBS	11.0
20.	X	ER Retrospective (special)	NBC	10.6

Nielsen Rating's Top 20 TV Shows for March 16 - March 22

The Nielsen Rating's Top 20 TV Shows for March 16 - March 22. The first number is the ranking, the second number is the season average, then the show name and network. The last number represents the number of viewers in millions. An 'x' indicates non-series special programming. An asterisk * indicates a tie.

1.	American Idol (Wed)	Fox	23.7
2.	American Idol (Tues)	Fox	21.9
3.	Dancing With the Stars	ABC	21.2
4.	60 Minutes	CBS	17.0
5.	NCIS	CBS	15.8
6.	The Mentalist	CBS	15.5
7.	Desperate Housewives	ABC	14.7
8.	Grey's Anatomy	ABC	14.6
9.	Two and a Half Men	CBS	14.1
10.	Criminal Minds	CBS	13.7
11.	CSI: Miami	CBS	13.6
12.	House	Fox	13.1
13.	CSI: NY	CBS	12.8
14.	Dancing With the Stars Results Show	ABC	12.7
15.	The Amazing Race	CBS	12.4
16.	Without a Trace	CBS	11.9
17.	Rules of Engagement	CBS	11.4
*	Cold Case	CBS	11.4
*	24	Fox	11.4
20.	Castle	ABC	11.0