Sporting and live events dominated when it came to wooing U.S. TV viewers in 2012, as has been the case in recent years. Super Bowl XLVI set new viewership heights, by netting 111.3 million viewers, to edge out viewership for last year’s Super Bowl (111.0 million viewers).
Competition reality programming continued to garner high viewership as well. American Idol, Dancing with the Stars and The Voice all made the Top Ten list of regularly scheduled programs. For the second year in a row, only two scripted shows made the same list. This year it was NCIS and Vegas.
Time-shifting played a larger role in American viewing habits in 2012, as evidenced by the significant lift in program viewership, most notably with cable programming. Viewers time-shifted more of their viewing than in 2011, as each program on the list more than doubled its live viewership—last year, the highest gain was 90 percent. Cable shows comprised 90 percent of this year’s list and all of the top time-shifted shows were scripted dramas.
Stay tuned to Nielsen Wire for upcoming year end Tops of 2012 lists, including the tops in entertainment, advertising and digital.
TOP 10 TV PROGRAMS OF 2012 – SINGLE TELECAST
| 排名 | TELECAST | ORIGINATOR | DATE AIRED | PERSONS 2+ RATING | TOTAL VIEWERS (000) |
| 1 | 超级碗 XLVI | 美国全国广播公司 | 02/05/2012 | 38.4 | 111,346 |
| 2 | Super Bowl Pre-Kick | 美国全国广播公司 | 02/05/2012 | 29.4 | 85,244 |
| 3 | Super Bowl Post | 美国全国广播公司 | 02/05/2012 | 26.5 | 76,803 |
| 4 | 超级碗揭幕战 | 美国全国广播公司 | 02/05/2012 | 23.1 | 67,039 |
| 5 | FOX NFC Champtionship | 福克斯 | 01/22/2012 | 19.9 | 57,635 |
| 6 | AFC Championship on CBS | 哥伦比亚广播公司 | 01/22/2012 | 16.8 | 48,676 |
| 7 | FOX NFC Playoff-SUN | 福克斯 | 01/15/2012 | 15.6 | 45,120 |
| 8 | AFC Wildcard Playoff | 哥伦比亚广播公司 | 01/08/2012 | 14.6 | 42,371 |
| 9 | Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony | 美国全国广播公司 | 07/27/2012 | 14 | 40,651 |
| 10 | GRAMMY Awards | 哥伦比亚广播公司 | 02/12/2012 | 13.8 | 39,909 |
来源：尼尔森来源：尼尔森
Data from January 1, 2012 – November 25, 2012. English- and Spanish-language telecasts on Broadcast and Cable, Total Day. Persons 2+ estimates include Live and Same Day time-shifted viewing. Excludes telecasts under 5 minutes in duration.
TOP 10 PRIMETIME TV PROGRAMS OF 2012 – REGULARLY SCHEDULED
| 排名 | TELECAST | ORIGINATOR | PERSONS 2+ RATING |
TOTAL VIEWERS (000)
|
| 1 | NBC Sunday Night Football | 美国全国广播公司 | 7.3 | 21,227 |
| 2 | American Idol-Wednesday | 福克斯 | 6.2 | 18,006 |
| 3 | American Idol-Thursday | 福克斯 | 5.7 | 16,450 |
| 4 | Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick | 美国全国广播公司 | 5.4 | 15,725 |
| 5 | Dancing with the Stars | 美国广播公司 | 5.3 | 15,458 |
| 6 | Dancing w/ Stars Results | 美国广播公司 | 4.8 | 13,922 |
| 7 | 海军罪案调查处 | 哥伦比亚广播公司 | 4.7 | 13,629 |
| 8 | 声音 | 美国全国广播公司 | 4.6 | 13,255 |
| 9 | NFL 常规赛 | ESPN | 4.6 | 13,245 |
| 10 | Vegas | 哥伦比亚广播公司 | 4 | 11,680 |
Source: Nielsen Data
Data from January 1, 2012 – November 25, 2012. English- and Spanish-language telecasts on Broadcast and Cable, Total Day. Persons 2+ estimates include Live and Same Day time-shifted viewing. Excludes telecasts under 5 minutes in duration.
Read as: NBC Sunday Night Football averaged 21.2 million viewers (7.3% of U.S. TV viewers aged 2 years and older)
TOP 10 TIMESHIFTED TV PROGRAMS OF 2012
| 排名 | 计划 | ORIGINATOR |
% INCREASE IN VIEWERS FROM TIMESHIFTED VIEWING
|
| 1 | 霹雳游侠 | AMC | 130% |
| 2 | Mad Med | AMC | 127% |
| 3 | Warehouse 13 | SYFY | 127% |
| 4 | Covert Affairs | 美国网络 | 117% |
| 5 | 西装 | 美国网络 | 110% |
| 6 | Justified | FX | 108% |
| 7 | White Collar | 美国网络 | 108% |
| 8 | Fringe | 福克斯 | 106% |
| 9 | Sons of Anarchy | FX | 105% |
| 10 | American Horror Story | FX | 103% |
Source: Nielsen Data
Data from January 1, 2012 – November 11, 2012. Broadcast Prime; Primetime Timeshifted Viewing %: Percent increase in rating is based on absolute difference between Live Person 2+ and Live+7 Projections. A program must reach at least a 1.0 live+7 P2+ rating and have at least 4 telecasts. Excludes breakouts, specials and programs under 5 minutes in duration.
