Nielsen released their annual Top 100 Telecasts list ranking the highest viewed programs of the year and most of it isn’t very surprising. The NFL and network TV dominated while award shows were nowhere to be seen. There was one perplexing surprise on the list and it dealt with the World Series.
Ranked at #90, with 11.275 million viewers, was Game 3 of the World Series between the Atlanta Braves and the Houston Astros. The error was eventually corrected by Variety but for a period of time the game was initially labeled “Atlanta vs. Cheaters,” referring to the Astros’ sign stealing scandal from a few years ago.
Games 5 and 6 had the correct “Atlanta vs. Houston” listing but that was a massive troll as well as a massive oversight to not correct that before publishing.
In terms of the remainder of the list, the NFL took 39 of the top 100 slots, including the top seven. The Summer Olympics had 14 spots while college sports took five (three in football and two in basketball) and the NBA had Game 6 at #58.
NCIS led in non-sports programming with 17 episodes represented. FBI had seven, 60 Minutes had five, The Equalizer had four, and Yellowstone had two. There weren’t any comedies, reality, or award shows listed this year.
[Variety]
About Phillip Bupp
Producer/editor of the Awful Announcing Podcast and Short and to the Point. News editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. Highlight consultant for Major League Soccer as well as a freelance writer for hire. Opinions are my own but feel free to agree with them.
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