NBC, CBS fighting for television ratings dominance

NEW YORK — Score one week for NBC in what’s becoming an intriguing battle with CBS for dominance in the television ratings this season.

NBC’s victory in the most recent measurements provided by the Nielsen company means it has won bragging rights for three weeks so far this fall, with CBS also winning three weeks. Fox won the week during the World Series.

NBC, CBS fighting for television ratings dominance

For the season as a whole, CBS is averaging 9.1 million viewers in prime time compared to NBC’s 8.9 million, which is the closest NBC has been in 17 years, Nielsen said.

NBC, CBS fighting for television ratings dominance

NBC’s ability to stick close with its rival will be tested after the football season. The Sunday night game between division rivals Dallas and Philadelphia this weekend reached 20 million viewers, far more than the next most-watched event, also a pro football game.

NBC, CBS fighting for television ratings dominance

Fox News Channel outpaced all of the networks covering the midterm elections last week, with its peak hour coming between 9 and 10 p.m. ET.

For the week, NBC averaged 7.1 million viewers. CBS had 6.8 million, Fox had 5.3 million, ABC had 4.6 million, Univision had 1.4 million, ION Television had 1.3 million, Telemundo had 1 million and the CW had 900,000.

Fox News was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 3.25 million viewers in prime-time. ESPN had 2.98, MSNBC had 2.3 million, Hallmark had 2.07 million and CNN had 1.68 million.

ABC’s “World News Tonight” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 8.3 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” had 8 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 5.9 million.

For the week of Nov. 5-11, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: NFL Football: Dallas at Philadelphia, NBC, 20.1 million; NFL Football: Carolina at Pittsburgh, Fox, 14.8 million; “NFL Pregame,” NBC, 13.63 million; “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 12.85 million; “60 Minutes,” CBS, 12.71 million; NFL Football: Tennessee at Dallas, ESPN, 12.04 million; “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 11 million; “Football Night in America,” NBC, 10.14 million; “NFL Pregame,” Fox, 9.72 million; “NFL Post-Game,” Fox, 9.32 million.