The Super Bowl and American Idol continue to capture the attention of U.S. TV viewers. According to Nielsen’s Top 10s, Super Bowl XLV between the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers was the top individual telecast of 2011 with 111 million viewers, making it the most-watched telecast of all-time. FOX’s American Idol remains the top primetime program, a spot it’s held since its fifth season in 2007.
Meanwhile, the value of timeshifted viewing was evident in 2011 as select programs nearly doubled their audience when factoring in viewing from sources such as DVR, video-on-demand and StartOver. Newcomer FX’s American Horror Story gained the highest audience share through timeshifted viewing in 2011.
Among the most engaging programs of 2011, NBC’s Chuck had the majority of online buzz with a 54 percent share of mentions, according to NM Incite, a Nielsen/McKinsey company.
Top 10 TV Programs – Single Telecast| Rank | Telecast | Originator | Date Aired | Persons 2+ Rating | Total Viewers (000) |
|---|
| 1 | FOX Super Bowl XLV | FOX | 2/6/2011 | 37.7 | 111,041 |
| 2 | FOX Super Bowl XLV Kickoff | FOX | 2/6/2011 | 23.6 | 69,666 |
| 3 | FOX Super Bowl Post Game | FOX | 2/6/2011 | 22.4 | 66,030 |
| 4 | AFC Championship on CBS | CBS | 1/23/2011 | 18.6 | 54,850 |
| 5 | FOX NFC Championship | FOX | 1/23/2011 | 17.6 | 51,884 |
| 6 | AFC Divisional Playoff-SU | CBS | 1/16/2011 | 14.8 | 43,463 |
| 7 | AFC Championship Pre-Kick on CBS | CBS | 1/23/2011 | 13.4 | 39,473 |
| 8 | FOX NFC Wild Card Game | FOX | 1/9/2011 | 13.3 | 39,274 |
| 9 | Academy Awards | ABC | 2/27/2011 | 12.9 | 37,922 |
| 10 | FOX Super Bowl Pre | FOX | 2/6/2011 | 11.9 | 35,136 |
| Source: Nielsen Data from January 1, 2011 – November 27, 2011. English- and Spanish-language telecasts on Broadcast and Cable. Persons 2+ estimates include Live and Same Day timeshifted viewing. Excludes telecasts under 5 minutes in duration. Read as: Super Bowl XLV on Fox averaged 111 million viewers (37.7% of U.S. TV viewers aged 2 years and older). |
Top 10 Primetime TV Programs – Regularly Scheduled| Rank | Program | Originator | Persons 2+ Rating | Total Viewers (000) |
|---|
| 1 | American Idol-Wednesday | FOX | 8.1 | 23,946 |
| 2 | American Idol-Thursday | FOX | 7.5 | 22,009 |
| 3 | NBC Sunday Night Football | NBC | 7.1 | 20,547 |
| 4 | Dancing with The Stars | ABC | 6.7 | 19,576 |
| 5 | Dancing w/ Stars Results | ABC | 5.8 | 16,856 |
| 6 | Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick | NBC | 5.5 | 15,918 |
| 7 | NCIS | CBS | 5.2 | 15,174 |
| 8 | NFL Regular Season L | ESPN | 4.5 | 13,058 |
| 9 | The OT | FOX | 4.4 | 12,877 |
| 10 | NCIS: Los Angeles | CBS | 4.3 | 12,635 |
| Source: Nielsen Data from January 1, 2011 – November 27, 2011. Primetime English- and Spanish-language programs on Broadcast and Cable. Persons 2+ estimates include Live and Same Day timeshifted viewing. Excludes programs with less than 4 telecasts and those under 5 minutes in duration. Read as: American Idol-Wednesday on Fox averaged 23.9 million viewers (8.1% of U.S. TV viewers aged 2 years and older). |
Top 10 Timeshifted Primetime TV Programs| Rank | Program | Originator | % Increase in Viewers from Timeshifted Viewing |
|---|
| 1 | American Horror Story | FX | 95.3 |
| 2 | Covert Affairs | USA | 95.1 |
| 3 | Suits | USA | 94.5 |
| 4 | Franklin & Bash | TNT | 92.0 |
| 5 | Psych | USA | 90.3 |
| 6 | Sons of Anarchy | FX | 85.8 |
| 7 | White Collar | USA | 85.6 |
| 8 | Justified | FX | 83.9 |
| 9 | Fringe | FOX | 80.3 |
| 10 | The Glades | AEN | 78.8 |
| Source: Nielsen Data from January 1, 2011 – November 13, 2011. Regularly scheduled English- and Spanish-language programs on Broadcast and Cable. Percent increase in Persons 2+ viewership is based on difference between Live+7 and Live. A program must reach at least a 1.0 Live+7 P2+ Rating and have at least 4 telecasts. Read as: 95 percent more viewers (persons aged 2 years and older) watched American Horror Story on FX via timeshifted viewing than Live |
Top 10 Most Engaging Primetime Television Programs| Rank | Program | Network | Genre | Share of Buzz Volume |
|---|
| 1 | Grimm | NBC | Drama/Adventure | 2% |
| 2 | Suburgatory | ABC | Situation Comedy | 4% |
| 3 | Desperate Housewives | ABC | Drama/Adventure | 16% |
| 4 | Parenthood | NBC | Drama/Adventure | 4% |
| 5 | Royal Pains | USA | Drama/Adventure | 2% |
| 6 | Chuck | NBC | Drama/Adventure | 54% |
| 7 | Revenge | ABC | Drama/Adventure | 7% |
| 8 | White Collar | USA | Drama/Adventure | 6% |
| 9 | Rescue Me | FX | Drama/Adventure | 2% |
| 10 | Covert Affairs | USA | Drama/Adventure | 3% |
| Source: Nielsen and NM Incite Nielsen program engagement Data from January 1 – December 5, 2011. Program Engagement is the percentage of viewers who can recall within 24 hours the network content they were exposed to during the normal course of viewing TV. Includes regularly scheduled entertainment series with at least three telecasts, original airings and repeats. Networks included: A&E, ABC, BRVO, CBS, CMDY, CW, DSC, ESPN, FOOD, FOX, FX, HGTV, HIST, LIFE, MTV, NBC, NICK, SPEED, SYFY, TBS, TLC, TNT, USA, VH1 NM Incite buzz data from January 1 – December 18, 2011. Share of buzz volume among top 10 most engaging primetime programs only |
