‘Kennedy Center Honors’ Ratings Up Sharply, Helps CBS Win Night

Taking the Kennedy Center Honors special away from football helped the annual special rebound from last year’s all-time low ratings. The 37th edition of the honors last night drew a 1.2 in adults 18-49, up 33 percent from last year, when the special aired on Sunday against NBC’s Sunday Night Football. (In total viewers, the special logged 9.2 million viewers, 3 million more than last year). The Kennedy Center Honors was the only original offering on the English language broadcast networks last night and helped CBS win primetime in 18-49 and total viewers. It tied CBS’ NCIS repeat (1.2 in 18-49, 10.2 million viewers) as the highest-rated program of the night in the demo.