As Nielsen rolls out its updated ratings that crunch viewing data from millions of devices alongside its traditional sampling method, the company is also showcasing that data in a series of new reports.
The ratings service began implementing its “big data plus panel” ratings for live telecasts on Sept. 1 and for all linear programming with the official start of the 2025-26 TV season on Sept. 22. With the first week of the season now complete, the company issued weekly numbers that are a bit different than what it has offered up in the past.
There are lists of the most watched broadcast and cable programs, as usual, but also a ranking just of the top 25 live sports programs and, most intriguing, what Nielsen is calling its “total scheduled programming chart.” That lists the top 250 shows of the week regardless of time of day (primetime, daytime and late night are all together) or origin — broadcast, cable, and even live streaming.
The chart for the first week of the season, then, shows that Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football telecast ranked sixth among all programs (excluding pre- and postgame shows for sports) with about 13.25 million viewer. The return of Jimmy Kimmel Live! after a six-day suspension at ABC resulted in the show’s biggest regularly scheduled episode ever — and the No. 17 spot for the week with 6.47 million viewers (revised up from 6.26 million in preliminary numbers).
Also of note: ABC’s and NBC’s evening newscasts each had multiple entries in the top 25 programs of the week. ABC’s World News Tonight has spent multiple weeks in the past year as the No. 1 show on all of linear TV, so its entries in the rankings aren’t surprising — but the data hasn’t previously been packaged this way.
Some things remained the same as well, namely that football ruled the top of the rankings. NBC’s finished on top for the week with 23.87 million viewers, edging CBS’ Sunday late afternoon national game (most of the country saw the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Balitmore Ravens), which drew 23.77 million. CBS’ 60 Minutes was the top non-sports show of the week with a shade more than 10 million viewers.
These Nielsen charts only show same-day viewing, meaning streaming after the initial airing and other delayed viewing aren’t included. The big data addition to the ratings also doesn’t appear to have had much effect on the entertainment programming that aired last week — but given that streaming can make up as much as half of a network comedy or drama’s eventual audience, that’s also not a big surprise.
The top 25 shows for the week of Sept. 22-28, based on same-day viewing, are below.
