‘This Is Us’ Breakthrough: For First Time in 13 Years, an NBC Scripted Show Is Most-Watched on TV
“This Is Us” just accomplished something that no NBC show since “Frasier” has: The March 14 season finale of the freshman hit has grown to No. 1 across TV in total viewers for its week, counting 7 days of delayed viewing.
And yes, we’re including cable.
That makes this particular episode the first in-season NBC scripted series in nearly 13 years to reach the feat. The last time the broadcaster could make that claim was the “Frasier” series finale, which aired on May 13, 2004.
Also Read: 'This Is Us' Season Finale Breaks Its Own TV Ratings Records by Double Digits
With the benefit of one week’s worth of catching up, “This Is Us” added 4.94 million total viewers to its already impressive Live + Same Day numbers. The Season 1 finale now counts 17.776 million total viewers in Live + 7 Day Nielsen numbers, which overtakes CBS’ “NCIS” (17.713 million).
Counting the season-ender, “This Is Us” now technically ties “Empire” as the seasons top broadcast drama in the key 18-49 demographic, both with a 4.82 average TV rating.
That said, NBC touts a tiebreaker in favor of “This Is Us.” Technical problems left out the Video On Demand delayed viewing for the show’s Jan. 10 episode — when manually recalculated and included, “This Is Us” stands alone with a 4.84 average.
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