Late Summer Brings Minimum Movement to TV Network Ranking

Each week, we highlight the most-watched shows and networks using insights from Inscape, the currency-grade smart TV ACR data provider and data technology division of Vizio. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching). Here's a look at the top 25 networks by viewership share for August 21-27 — head over to TVREV to see the program ranking and get insights about the top shows by watch-time.

Remarkably, 20 of the top 25 networks maintain their ranking positions week-over-week, a dearth of movement that we haven’t seen in a long time. But that being said, nine of the networks had slight increases in viewership share compared to the previous week, including the top six networks.

Additional insights around the most-watched networks from August 21-27:

• In first place is CBS, which captured 6.69% of all minutes watched, up from 6.49%, fueled in part by the 2023 Tour Championship.  
• ABC took second place with 6.46% of watch-time, with top contributing programs including Good Morning America, the 2023 Little League World Series and ABC News Tonight With David Muir.
• At No. 3 is NBC, with its 6.43% viewership share driven in part by Today, America’s Got Talent and NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt.
• HGTV (No. 10) and History (No. 22) were the only two networks to increase ranking position week-over-week, but HGTV’s viewership share actually decreased while History’s went up a tad.

See which programs dominated TV watch-time for Aug. 21-27 here.