“The Big Bang Theory†on CBS has been one of the highest-rated shows on television for some time, but this season it has become a dominating ratings presence.
According to Nielsen’s most recent results for the 2012-13 season, “Big Bang Theory†is the the top broadcast entertainment program in adults 18 to 49, the demographic most important to advertisers. It also achieved a milestone of sorts for CBS, which has a reputation for older-skewing audiences, when the show became the network’s first to draw the most viewers between the ages of 18 and 34 since the introduction of Nielsen’s electronic People Meters in 1987. It has averaged nearly 19 million total viewers, trailing only CBS’s “NCIS†among scripted programs.
And all of this has been achieved while directly competing with Fox’s “American Idol.â€
But that’s just part of the story. Even syndicated episodes of “Big Bang Theory†on TBS rank among the highest-rated cable programs. On Tuesday, two syndicted episodes were No. 1 and No. 2 in the 18-to-49 category among all cable programming, ahead of new episodes of “Tosh.0†on Comedy Central and “Snooki and JWoww†on MTV. “Big Bang Theory†also commonly pops up among the Top 5 cable programs on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Last week, three episodes finished in the Top 20 in total viewership among all cable programming.
