‘This Is Us’ Finale Ratings Hit Highs For NBC, ‘Bachelor’ Finale Dips From 2016

Now that the data drought from Nielsen is nearing an end and Monday and Tuesday primetime ratings are in, the Big 4 can start to put their party hats on – though some more than others.

Leading the parade of results, NBC’s This Is Us (3.4/11) saw its March 14 Season 1 finale hit new highs for the breakout show. Among adults 18-49, the Dan Fogelman-created tearjerker was up 13% over its March 6 show to shatter that previous high. In the viewership category, the twisting-and-turning This Is Us season ender rose 15% over the week before to snag an audience of 12.84 million.

With the best numbers the Comcast-owned net has had for an in-season scripted program since May 2009 in the demo and April 2008 in total viewers, those numbers make This Is Us easily the top-rated show of the night. Along with a down by a tenth The Voice (2.5/9) also helped give NBC a demo win for the night with a 2.4/3 rating. Not a lot of that came from the debut of comedy Trial & Error which got a 1.4/5 and a 1/0/4 in its 10 PM and 10:30 PM slots.

The most watched show of Tuesday night was CBS’ NCIS (1.5/6), with its staggering 14.16 million viewers. Hence, the House of Moonves won March 14 in that category with a total of 11.67 million tuning for a lineup that included spinoff NCIS: New Orleans (1.2/4) from 9-11 PM.

Jumping back to March 13, love was in the air for ABC but not as intoxicating as before. The Season 21 finale of The Bachelor (2.7/9) saw Nick Viall find love and the Disney-owned net win the night among 18-49s with a 2.6/7 rating. However, while up 23% from the previous week’s show, the latest season ender of the romance reality show dipped 7% in the demo from its Season 20 finale of March 14 last year. Lead-out The Bachelor: After The Final Rose (2.4/8) also saw a decline, down 8% from last year.

No official word yet on when we’ll see Wednesday night’s ratings but, even at the rate Nielsen is moving data through the pipeline now, I hear it won’t be until tomorrow morning at the earliest.