CBS tops weekly TV ratings with crime drama ‘FBI’

The CBS crime drama “FBI” was the first scripted program to top the weekly ratings in the 2021-22 prime-time television season, a distinction that had gone to sporting events 24 of the season’s previous 29 weeks.

“FBI” averaged 7.392 million viewers, one of three prime-time programs between April 11 and Sunday to top 7 million viewers, according to live-plus-same-day figures released by Nielsen Tuesday.

NFL games topped ratings 20 times during the season, along with two Winter Olympics telecasts and two NCAA men’s basketball tournament games. The CBS news magazine “60 Minutes” has finished first four times while ABC’s Oscars telecast topped the week of March 21-27.

“60 Minutes” was second for the week, averaging 7.124 million viewers, and the NBC drama “Chicago Fire” third, averaging 7.107 million.

CBS won the network race for the eighth time in the eight weeks that followed the conclusion of NBC’s coverage of the Winter Olympics, and 14th time in the season, averaging 4.53 million viewers.

CBS had the top comedy, “Young Sheldon,” which was fourth, averaging 6.849 million viewers, and the most popular first-season program, “Ghosts,” which was seventh, averaging 5.958 million.

ABC was second for the eighth consecutive week, averaging 3.49 million viewers. Its ratings leaders for the third consecutive week were the Monday and Sunday editions of “American Idol,” 13th and 14th for the week, averaging 5.306 million and 5.27 million viewers.

NBC was third, averaging 2.95 million viewers. “Chicago P.D.” was first among programs beginning at 10 p.m. and eighth overall, averaging 5.918 million viewers following “Chicago Fire.”

Fox averaged 2.79 million viewers, led by the procedural drama “9-1-1,” 17th for the week averaging 5.058 million viewers.

The CW averaged 400,000 viewers. The crime drama “Walker” was its biggest draw for the 10th time in its 14 episodes this season, averaging 854,000 viewers, 128th among broadcast programs. Its overall rank was not available.

The only premiere on the five major English-language broadcast networks, the CBS unscripted competition, “Come Dance With Me,” ranked 53rd among broadcast programs, averaging 2.044 million viewers from 8-10 p.m. Friday. I

The Fox-NBC simulcast of Saturday’s inaugural game of the new version of the United States Football League averaged 3.067 million viewers, 43rd for the week and second among Saturday’s prime-time programs.

The top 20 prime-time programs consisted of 11 programs that aired on CBS — eight scripted series episodes, “60 Minutes,” the CMT Music Awards and the alternative series “Survivor”; four NBC scripted programs; three ABC alternative programs; the Fox procedural drama “9-1-1”; and Sunday’s Chicago Bulls-Milwaukee Bucks NBA playoff game on TNT.

The top ranked cable program was TNT’s coverage of Sunday’s NBA playoff game between the Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks, which averaged 4.772 million viewers, 19th overall and the most for a prime-time sporting event, part of the NBA’s most-viewed opening playoff weekend since 2011.

Fox News Channel won the cable network race for the third consecutive week and 12th in the past 13, averaging 2.242 million viewers. TNT was second, averaging 1.593 million, and ESPN third, averaging 1.228 million.

The cable top 20 consisted of four NBA postseason games on TNT; two NBA Play-In Tournament games on ESPN; 12 Fox News Channel political talk shows — five broadcasts of “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” four of “Hannity” and three of “The Ingraham Angle”; History’s “The Curse of Oak Island”; and the Hallmark Channel period drama “When Calls The Heart.”

The second season of “Bridgerton” was Netflix’s most-streamed English-language program for the fourth time in its four weeks of release, with viewers spending 66.61 million hours watching its eight episodes, increasing its total to 627.11 million hours, the record for an English-language series.