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    “Big Bang Theory” Finale Tops Week’s Nielsens

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    This image released by CBS shows Johnny Galecki, left, and Kaley Cuoco in a scene from the series finale of "The Big Bang Theory" on CBS. (Michael Yarish/CBS via AP)

    By Andrew Dalton, Entertainment Writer

    LOS ANGELES (AP) --

    In its last blast, “The Big Bang Theory” topped the TV ratings by a light-year.

    The back-to-back, two-episode finale of the nerdy CBS comedy’s 12-season run drew 18.5 million live viewers Thursday night to easily win the week, the Nielsen company said Tuesday.

    Sunday night’s much-ballyhooed finale of HBO’s “Game of Thrones” was a distant second with 13.61 million live viewers.

    “Game of Thrones,” however, had a comparable 18.4 million viewers when HBO’s same-night reruns and streaming services are included, making it the most-watched episode of any kind in the history of the cable channel.

    Despite mixed fan reaction to the eighth and final “Thrones” season , it was a ratings winner throughout, competing with and usually beating shows that appear in three times more homes. The viewer numbers also grew as the season progressed, with the season premiere setting a record that was topped by three subsequent episodes.

    “Big Bang” was a colossal ratings winner that helped keep CBS the top network for much of its record run of 279 episodes, the most ever for a multi-camera series.

    Thursday night’s hour-long finale saw the show’s group of geeky misfits take one last trip together to support married couple Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and Amy (Mayim Bialik) after they won the Nobel Prize in physics.

    A prequel spinoff, “Young Sheldon,” is pulling similar numbers in its second season and will extend the life of the franchise. It finished third in last week’s ratings in a timeslot just after the finale.

    “Unraveling the Mystery: A Big Bang Farewell,” a special that aired later the same night, was fourth.

    That two-hour “Big Bang” block helped give CBS six of the top 10 shows and an easy win of the week in primetime with an average of 6.5 million viewers. NBC averaged 4.5 million, ABC 3.8 million, Fox 1.9 million, Univision with 1.25 million, ION Television with 1.2 million, Telemundo 1.1 million and the CW 790,000.

    ESPN and TNT rode the NBA playoffs to the top two spots among cable networks. ESPN averaged 2.7 million nightly viewers, TNT 2.6 million. Fox News Channel was third with an average of 2.3 million viewers, MSNBC averaged 1.4 million and HGTV averaged 1.1 million.

    ABC’s “World News Tonight” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 8 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” was second with 7.1 million and the “CBS Evening News” averaged 5.4 million viewers.

    Below are primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for May 13-19. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.

    1. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 18.5 million.
    2. “Game of Thrones,” HBO, 13.61 million.
    3. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 13.6 million.
    4. “NCIS,” CBS, 11.7 million.
    5. “Unraveling the Mystery: A Big Bang Farewell,” CBS, 11.6 million.
    6. “American Idol” (Sunday), ABC, 8.7 million.
    7. “FBI,” CBS, 8.6 million.
    8. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 8.4 million.
    9. NBA Playoffs-Conference Finals, Portland at Golden State (Thursday), ESPN, 8 million.
    10. “Chicago Med,” NBC, 7.98 million.
    11. “Chicago Fire,” NBC, 7.96 million.
    12. “The Voice,” NBC, 7.7 million.
    13. NBA Playoffs-Conference Finals, Portland at Golden State (Tuesday), ESPN, 7.5 million.
    14. NBA Playoffs-Conference Finals, Portland at Golden State (Saturday), ESPN, 7.24 million.
    15. “Survivor,” CBS, 7.21 million.
    16. “Bull,” CBS, 7.2 million.
    17. “NCIS: New Orleans,” CBS, 6.9 million.
    18. “Chicago PD,” 6.7 million.
    19. “The Voice” (Tuesday), NBC, 6.6 million.
    20. “9-1-1,” Fox, 6.4 million.

    ABC and ESPN are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; CBS is a division of CBS Corp.; Fox is owned by 21st Century Fox; NBC is owned by NBC Universal; Turner is owned by WarnerMedia.

    Tags:CBSGame of ThronesHBONielsenThe Big Bang Theory



    Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance

    Saturday, November 23, 2024

    Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.

    The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.

    "This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."

    The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."

    And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.

    Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.

    Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.

    Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."

    It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More

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