Another month has gone by, meaning that it's time for another edition of "The Daily, Monthly." Here, I take a look at what show topped each night of the previous month, giving readers an idea of what shows and networks are thriving at that moment in time. Last month saw the big returns of both the NBA and MLB, as well as premieres of new shows United We Fall and Tough As Nails. Read on to see their impact on the ratings for the month of July. Broadcast:
Date
#1 Show(s) (18-49)
18-49 of #1 Show
#1 Show (Viewers)
Viewers of #1 Show
Wednesday, July 1
Game On! (CBS)
0.56
Chicago Med (R) (NBC)
3.667 million
Thursday, July 2
Young Sheldon (R) (CBS)
0.48
Young Sheldon (R) (CBS)
4.258 million
Friday, July 3
Dateline NBC (R) (NBC)
0.45
The Dick Van Dyke Show: A Special Tribute to Carl Reiner (CBS)
3.761 million
Saturday, July 4
Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks (NBC)
0.69
Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks (NBC)
4.761 million
Sunday, July 5
NASCAR Indianapolis (NBC)
0.62
60 Minutes (CBS)
6.090 million
Monday, July 6
The Titan Games (NBC)
0.74
The Neighborhood (R) (CBS)
4.118 million
Tuesday, July 7
America’s Got Talent (R) (NBC)
0.62
NCIS (R) (CBS)
5.524 million
Wednesday, July 8
Tough As Nails (CBS)
0.62
Tough As Nails (CBS)
4.094 million
Thursday, July 9
Don’t (ABC)
0.66
Young Sheldon (R) (CBS)
4.133 million
Friday, July 10
WWE Smackdown (Fox)
0.47
Magnum PI (R) (CBS)
3.784 million
Saturday, July 11
America’s Funniest Home Videos (R) (ABC)
0.35
America’s Funniest Home Videos (R) (ABC)
2.642 million
Sunday, July 12
Celebrity Family Feud (ABC)
0.71
60 Minutes (R) (CBS)
7.050 million
Monday, July 13
The Titan Games (NBC)
0.71
The Titan Games (NBC)
3.751 million
Tuesday, July 14
America’s Got Talent (NBC)
1.14
America’s Got Talent (NBC)
7.629 million
Wednesday, July 15
United We Fall (ABC)
0.58
United We Fall (ABC)
4.234 million
Thursday, July 16
Holey Moley (ABC)
0.53
Young Sheldon (R) (CBS)
4.077 million
Friday, July 17
WWE Smackdown (Fox)
0.46
Blue Bloods (R) (CBS)
3.753 million
Saturday, July 18
America’s Funniest Home Videos (R) (ABC)
0.40
48 Hours (R) (CBS)
2.676 million
Sunday, July 19
Celebrity Family Feud (R) (ABC)
0.57
60 Minutes (R) (CBS)
4.955 million
Monday, July 20
The Titan Games (NBC)
0.76
The Titan Games (NBC)
3.822 million
Tuesday, July 21
America’s Got Talent (Clip Show) (NBC)
0.71
NCIS (R) (CBS)
5.353 million
Wednesday, July 22
United We Fall (ABC)
0.48
Chicago PD (R) (NBC)
3.781 million
Thursday, July 23
Young Sheldon (R) (CBS)
0.48
Young Sheldon (R) (CBS)
4.111 million
Friday, July 24
WWE Smackdown (Fox)
0.48
The Greatest #AtHome Videos (CBS)
3.488 million
Saturday, July 25
MLB: Yankees v. Nationals (Fox)
0.69
MLB: Yankees v. Nationals (Fox)
2.790 million
Sunday, July 26
Celebrity Family Feud (R) (ABC)
0.61
60 Minutes (R) (CBS)
6.515 million
Monday, July 27
The Titan Games (NBC)
0.69
The Neighborhood (R) (CBS)
3.840 million
Tuesday, July 28
America’s Got Talent (NBC)
0.96
America’s Got Talent (NBC)
6.118 million
Wednesday, July 29
United We Fall (ABC)
0.53
United We Fall (ABC)
3.568 million
Thursday, July 30
Young Sheldon (R) (CBS)
0.6
Young Sheldon (R) (CBS)
4.342 million
Friday, July 31
WWE Smackdown (Fox)
0.5
The Greatest #AtHome Videos (CBS)
3.263 million
Once again coming out on top in the 18-49 race was NBC, which won the night on eleven instances in this metric. Unlike in June, NBC's victories here were significantly lopsided, with much of the wins taking place in the early days of July, with a repeat of Dateline, Macy's 4th of July Fireworks and a NASCAR race all giving NBC early-on one-off victories in the 18-49 demo. After July 5, only America's Got Talent and The Titan Games gave NBC any victories at all (with four wins each). AGT's presence was also greatly diminished this month, with original episodes airing only twice in July. For this reason, NBC fell far behind in terms of nights wins in total viewership, winning only seven times there versus twelve times in June, which can be credited to to AGT, Titan Games, and Chicago repeats. So, while NBC easily narrowly tops for the month, July certainly wasn't their best month, and based on trends, August doesn't look too bright for them, either.
CBS, like in June, easily had the most wins in viewership, nearly tripling their nearest competitor, NBC. On twenty occasions, the Tiffany Network had the most-watched program of the night, even though most of those wins were with repeats. Repeats of Young Sheldon, The Neighborhood, NCIS and 60 Minutes proved particularly lucrative, as did new special series The Greatest #AtHome Videos, with all of these giving CBS multiple wins in July. A tribute to Carl Reiner, the premiere of Tough As Nails and repeats of Blue Bloods and Magnum PI also delivered viewership wins to CBS. Even with twenty viewership wins, the oldest-skewing big four network only claimed 18-49 victory five times. Original show Game On! was responsible for one of those wins, as Tough As Nails. Their best performer, though? Young Sheldon repeats, which gave them three 18-49 wins despite plentiful original competition from the other networks.
ABC didn't have a terrible July, with nearly as many wins this month as in June. Even as their Thursday lineup became less impressive, both Don't and Holey Moley were able to squeeze out one win each for ABC. Even with the show airing repeats three weeks out of four, they were able to get three wins out of Celebrity Family Feud on Sundays. Repeats of America's Funniest Home Videos also delivered wins on Saturdays on two occasions (it also won in viewership once). Perhaps their MVP in terms of wins was United We Fall, which topped the night in 18-49 three times and won in viewership twice. Perhaps that's just a sign of how dire Wednesday nights are at this point, but the new comedy is at least holding down the fort for ABC and giving them somewhat consistent wins, proving to be at least a decent performer for summer standards.
Fox had five victories once again in the 18-49 demo. Four of these wins were from WWE Smackdown, which became a consistent Friday champion in July after sporadic wins in June. The fifth win came from an MLB game, which also gave Fox a rare win in viewership. A viewership victory eluded Fox in June, but with it happening in July, every network can now say that they won in both measurements at least once.
Network
18-49 Wins
Viewership Wins
NBC
11
7
ABC
10
3
CBS
5
20
Fox
5
1
Cable:
Date
#1 Show(s) (18-49)
18-49 of #1 Show
#1 Show (Viewers)
Viewers of #1 Show
Wednesday, July 1
The Challenge (MTV)
0.47
Hannity (Fox News)
4.326 million*
Thursday, July 2
Tucker Carlson Tonight (Fox News)
0.34
Tucker Carlson Tonight (Fox News)
4.209 million
Friday, July 3
Fox News At Night (Fox News)
0.53*
The Ingraham Angle (Fox News)
5.690 million*
Saturday, July 4
Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest (ESPN)
0.32
Fox Report with Jon Scott (Fox News)
3.381 million
Sunday, July 5
90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After (TLC)
0.88*
Yellowstone (Paramount)
3.730 million
Monday, July 6
90 Day Fiance: The Other Way (TLC)
0.79*
Tucker Carlson Tonight (Fox News)
4.289 million*
Tuesday, July 7
Tucker Carlson Tonight (Fox News)
0.39
Hannity (Fox News)
3.963 million
Wednesday, July 8
The Challenge (MTV)
0.53
Tucker Carlson Tonight (Fox News)
4.282 million*
Thursday, July 9
Hannity (Fox News)
0.42
Hannity (Fox News)
4.466 million*
Friday, July 10
Tucker Carlson Tonight (Fox News)
0.29
Tucker Carlson Tonight (Fox News)
3.758 million
Saturday, July 11
UFC Prelims (ESPN)
0.31
Justice with Judge Jeanine (Fox News)
2.587 million
Sunday, July 12
90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After (TLC)
0.94*
Yellowstone (Paramount)
3.549 million
Monday, July 13
90 Day Fiance: The Other Way (TLC)
0.88*
Tucker Carlson Tonight (Fox News)
3.996 million*
Tuesday, July 14
Tucker Carlson Tonight (Fox News)
0.36
Hannity (Fox News)
3.837 million
Wednesday, July 15
The Challenge (MTV)
0.56
Hannity (Fox News)
3.734 million
Thursday, July 16
The Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC)
0.43
The Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC)
5.229 million*
Friday, July 17
Cuomo Prime Time (CNN)
0.29
Tucker Carlson Tonight (Fox News)
3.014 million
Saturday, July 18
PGA Tour (Golf)
0.20
Justice with Judge Jeanine (Fox News)
2.324 million
Sunday, July 19
90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After (TLC)
0.94*
Yellowstone (Paramount)
3.692 million
Monday, July 20
90 Day Fiance: The Other Way (TLC)
0.88*
Tucker Carlson Tonight (Fox News)
4.014 million*
Tuesday, July 21
Tucker Carlson Tonight (Fox News)
0.37
Hannity (Fox News)
4.157 million
Wednesday, July 22
The Challenge (MTV)
0.45
Hannity (Fox News)
4.287 million*
Thursday, July 23
MLB: Yankees v. Nationals (ESPN)
1.22*
Hannity (Fox News)
4.340 million*
Friday, July 24
MLB: Brewers v. Cubs (ESPN)
0.36
Tucker Carlson Tonight (Fox News)
3.531 million*
Saturday, July 25
UFC Fight Night (ESPN)
0.35
Justice with Judge Jeanine (Fox News)
2.296 million
Sunday, July 26
90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After (TLC)
1.06*
Yellowstone (Paramount)
3.676 million
Monday, July 27
90 Day Fiance: The Other Way (TLC)
0.77*
Tucker Carlson Tonight (Fox News)
3.796 million
Tuesday, July 28
Tucker Carlson Tonight (Fox News)
0.44
Tucker Carlson Tonight (Fox News)
4.515 million
Wednesday, July 29
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (Bravo)
0.54*
Hannity (Fox News)
3.967 million*
Thursday, July 30
NBA: Clippers v. Lakers (ESPN)
1.56*
Tucker Carlson Tonight (Fox News)
4.033 million
Friday, July 31
NBA: Bucks v. Mavericks (ESPN)
0.74*
Tucker Carlson Tonight (Fox News)
3.398 million*
ESPN had a very strong July after sparse appearances in June. Appearances were rare at the beginning of July, only winning for the Nathan's Hot Dog Contest and rounds of UFC on Saturdays. At the end of the month, however, they came back to life with huge performances from MLB and NBA games. This led to seven 18-49 victories, but even with huge 1.0+ performances from two of their games, victories in viewership eluded this young-skewing sports network.
Even with primetime cable news programs declining pretty significantly from June to July, Fox News remained easily the top network on cable this month. Its twenty-six wins in viewership matched its June haul, and it won in 18-49 eight times, up from seven in June. Most of these wins can be credited to nightly shows Tucker Carlson Tonight and Hannity. Justice with Judge Jeanine is a consistent Saturday viewership winner, with three wins to its name, while Fox Report with Jon Scott scored a win on July 4th.
Unlike in June, Fox News did not win every weekday in viewership. The single night that Fox News lost in the viewership race was due to MSNBC's blockbuster interview between Rachel Maddow and Mary Trump. The liberal-leaning news network didn't win any night in June, but delivered one of the biggest viewership results of any cable show in July with 5.23 million viewers, with an 18-49 victory also happening that night.
CNN, the last of the big news networks, saw a massive dropoff from June, with just one 18-49 victory this month after six wins in June, with Cuomo Prime Time winning on a low-rated Friday night. It's an expected dropoff after the network exploded so much due to coverage of race relations protests in early June.
What do you think about the ratings for the month of July? What shows and networks impressed you the most? Let us know in the comments and join me next month when I break down the ratings from across August! Make sure to vote in the poll below on who you think was the biggest winner of July!
