TV Ratings: ABC’s Fourth of July results upset by all-day programming block

Logo text

In an unusually crowded slate of TV shows this Fourth of July, ABC delivered a surprise rating.

Network peak period Nashville Star Spangled Bash — the finale of the 24-hour “Disney Celebrates America” ​​show — beat the annual gala Fireworks at Macy’s on the 4th of July on NBC, which is usually the top program on Independence Day. ABC averaged 5.44 million viewers for the three-hour run Sparkling star bashbeating 4.94 million live viewers for NBC’s two-hour special.

ABC’s win marks the first time since 2010 that a network other than NBC has led primetime on the Fourth of July

Including reruns, the Spanish-language telecast on Telemundo and streaming on Peacock, NBC accounted for 11.2 million viewers for the series. Fireworks at Macy’s on the 4th of Julybased on early Nielsen numbers. An early rating for the special’s first broadcast on NBC was 5.1 million viewers, falling to 4.94 million in the final ratings. NBC still saw a big bump in viewers from last year, improving by 37 percent

The ABC special also topped the Fourth of July broadcasts on Fox News (3.47 million primetime viewers), CBS (1.99 million) and CNN (1.27 million).

The “Disney Celebrates America” campaign, which began with two prime-time specials on July 3, reached 49.6 million viewers, ABC says — “reached in,” meaning many people watched at least a minute or two of the programming. The network also averaged 5 million viewers for the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest (which is simulcast with ESPN2) and 4.5 million viewers for a special afternoon episode called 7 Wonders of America.

The half-centennial specials are designed for a much larger night of television than your typical summer Saturday night. Fox also had the largest Saturday prime-time baseball audience of the season with 3.34 million viewers. The four major networks, Fox News and CNN, combined to average nearly 20 million viewers in prime time.

Subscribe subscription