NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� With the broadcast television season winding down and most scripted series about to go into hibernation for the summer, it's instructive to look at the power of network franchises.
Of the Nielsen company's 20 most popular scripted series on the air last week, 12 were parts of franchises 鈥� the three 鈥淐hicago鈥� dramas on NBC, the three 鈥淔BI鈥� shows on CBS, for example. That's without counting the CBS comedy 鈥淵oung Sheldon,鈥� even though it began life as a spinoff to 鈥淭he Big Bang Theory.鈥�
At a time viewers are inundated with choices, particularly on the streaming services, broadcast networks have taken the power of these ideas to heart, knowing that their viewers will be attracted to familiar concepts and storylines.
That's primed to continue, since ABC announced on Tuesday they will be trying to create a new franchise out of their drama 鈥淭he Rookie,鈥� with a spinoff due in the fall.
CBS won the week in prime time television, averaging 4.2 million viewers. NBC had 3.2 million viewers, ABC had 2.8 million, Fox had 2 million, Univision had 1.4 million, Ion Television had 950,000 and Telemundo had 830,000.
Behind NBA playoff games, TNT led the cable networks with a 3.36 million viewer average. Fox News Channel had 2.2 million, ESPN had 2.06 million, MSNBC had 956,000 and HGTV had 927,000.
ABC's 鈥淲orld News Tonight鈥� won the evening news ratings race with an average of 7.5 million viewers. NBC's 鈥淣ightly News鈥� averaged 6.2 million viewers and the 鈥淐BS Evening News鈥� had 4.5 million.
For the week of May 9-15, the top 20 prime-time shows, their networks and viewerships:
1. 鈥�60 Minutes,鈥� CBS, 7.44 million.
2. 鈥淔BI,鈥� CBS, 7.16 million.
3. 鈥淵oung Sheldon,鈥� CBS, 6.93 million.
4. 鈥淭he Equalizer,鈥� CBS, 6.84 million.
5. 鈥淐hicago Fire,鈥� NBC, 6.61 million.
6. 鈥淐hicago Med,鈥� NBC, 6.31 million.
7. NBA Playoffs: Dallas at Phoenix (Sunday), Turner, 6.29 million.
8. NBA Playoffs: Memphis at Golden State (Friday), ESPN, 6.28 million.
9. 鈥淔BI: International,鈥� CBS, 5.82 million.
10. 鈥淎merican Idol,鈥� ABC, 5.57 million.
11. 鈥淐hicago PD,鈥� NBC, 5.534 million.
12. NBA Playoffs: Boston at Milwaukee (Friday), ESPN, 5.529 million.
13. 鈥淭he Neighborhood,鈥� CBS, 5.48 million.
14. 鈥淪urvivor,鈥� CBS, 5.35 million.
15. 鈥淣CIS: Los Angeles,鈥� CBS, 5.33 million.
16. 鈥�911,鈥� Fox, 5.3 million.
17. 鈥淔BI: Most Wanted,鈥� CBS, 5.28 million.
18. NBA Playoffs: Memphis at Golden State (Monday), Turner, 5.28 million.
19. 鈥淏ob Hearts Abishola,鈥� CBS, 5.14 million.
20. NBA Playoffs: Boston at Milwaukee (Monday), Turner, 5.03 million.
David Bauder, The Associated Press
