NBC Wins Another November Sweep as Big Four Drop From 2012

On the heels of two weeks of especially strong showings from Sunday Night Football, NBC has locked down its second consecutive November sweep win among adults 18-49. Through Nov. 24, the network is averaging a 2.6 rating in the key demo, which easily outpaces closest rival CBS.

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And while there are losses across the board, it’s important to keep the current season’s noticeable increase in time-shifting in mind. Once live-plus-7 ratings are taken into account, many networks likely will be even with last November’s sweep showing — much as they were once DVR was factored into September’s premiere week.

Still, NBC, which broke a nine-year sweep losing streak in Nov. 2012, saw some of the smaller declines of the Big Four nets — all of which saw demo losses from last year. The network is tracking down 7 percent from last year. CBS, averaging a 2.2 rating among adults 18-49, was down the least — 4 percent — and ABC was down 9 percent for an average 2.0 rating.

Fourth-place Fox, down 26 percent to a 1.5 rating among adults 18-49, was without last year’s significant advantage of several World Series games airing in the sweep window.

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There was a very similar story among total viewers, with persons 2+ again going to CBS. The network was steady — actually, slightly improved — from last year with an average 11.33 million viewers tuning in to primetime.

NBC saw the lone growth, up 4 percent to 8.23 million viewers, and ABC was down by the same measure to a third-place 7.62 million. Fox, down 25 percent, averaged 4.86 million viewers.

The CW, which has been enjoying an especially strong couple of weeks, held last November’s score with an average 0.7 rating among adults 18-49. The network was down 6 percent in total viewers to an average 1.61 million viewers.