The truth is, delayed-viewing ratings are a rich-get-richer proposition. The shows with the biggest audiences the night they air also tend to gather the most eyeballs after the fact.
So it is with the final Live +7 numbers among adults 18-49 for the 2017-18 TV season. “This Is Us” was the No. 1 drama on the broadcast networks in the demographic, and it also got the biggest bounce after a week of playback, growing by 2.3 points (3.1 rating to 5.4). That’s ahead of its pace last season, when it grew by 2.1 points per episode.
The average primetime show grew by about half a point after seven days, from 1.1 to 1.6. That would make ABC’s comedy “Speechless,” which had just that growth pattern, 2017-18’s median show.
See also: Final Live +7 viewer averages for 2017-18
Below are the Live +7 18-49 ratings for the 2017-18 TV season. The numbers below reflect only original airings of shows and do not include episodes coded as specials. The rankings also exclude episodes that aired outside the regular season (Sept. 25, 2017-May 23, 2018), irregularly scheduled programs and summer 2017 shows that aired episodes in season.
| Rank | Show | Network | Live +7 18-49 rating |
Gain vs. Live + SD
|
| 1 | Sunday Night Football | NBC | 5.9 | 0.1 |
| 2 | Roseanne | ABC | 5.7 | 2.2 |
| 3 | This Is Us | NBC | 5.4 | 2.3 |
| 4 | Thursday Night Football | CBS | 4.5 | 0.0 |
| 5 | The Big Bang Theory | CBS | 4.4 | 1.7 |
| 6 | Thursday Night Football | NBC | 4.0 | 0.0 |
| 7 | The OT | FOX | 3.7 | 0.0 |
| 8 | The Good Doctor | ABC | 3.6 | 1.8 |
| 9 | Grey’s Anatomy | ABC | 3.4 | 1.5 |
| Young Sheldon | CBS | 3.4 | 1.2 | |
| 11 | Football Night in America Pt 3 | NBC | 3.1 | 0.0 |
| 12 | 9-1-1 | FOX | 3.0 | 1.4 |
| 13 | Modern Family | ABC | 2.9 | 1.3 |
| 14 | Will & Grace | NBC | 2.8 | 1.3 |
| Empire | FOX | 2.8 | 1.0 | |
| 16 | The Voice – Monday | NBC | 2.5 | 0.5 |
| 17 | Survivor | CBS | 2.4 | 0.7 |
| The Bachelor | ABC | 2.4 | 0.6 | |
| 19 | Ellen’s Game of Games | NBC | 2.3 | 0.4 |
| The Voice – Tuesday | NBC | 2.3 | 0.4 | |
| 21 | Chicago PD | NBC | 2.2 | 1.0 |
| Law & Order: SVU | NBC | 2.2 | 1.0 | |
| NCIS | CBS | 2.2 | 0.8 | |
| 24 | Scandal | ABC | 2.1 | 1.0 |
| Chicago Fire | NBC | 2.1 | 1.0 | |
| Chicago Med | NBC | 2.1 | 0.9 | |
| The Goldbergs | ABC | 2.1 | 0.6 | |
| American Idol – Sunday | ABC | 2.1 | 0.4 | |
| 29 | How to Get Away with Murder | ABC | 2.0 | 1.1 |
| Criminal Minds | CBS | 2.0 | 1.0 | |
| The Gifted | FOX | 2.0 | 1.0 | |
| The Orville | FOX | 2.0 | 1.0 | |
| The Middle | ABC | 2.0 | 0.6 | |
| Mom | CBS | 2.0 | 0.5 | |
| American Idol – Monday | ABC | 2.0 | 0.4 | |
| 36 | The Good Place | NBC | 1.9 | 0.8 |
| American Housewife | ABC | 1.9 | 0.7 | |
| Splitting Up Together | ABC | 1.9 | 0.7 | |
| Bull | CBS | 1.9 | 0.7 | |
| 40 | SWAT | CBS | 1.8 | 0.9 |
| SEAL Team | CBS | 1.8 | 0.8 | |
| Station 19 | ABC | 1.8 | 0.7 | |
| The Amazing Race | CBS | 1.8 | 0.7 | |
| Black-ish | ABC | 1.8 | 0.6 | |
| Star | FOX | 1.8 | 0.5 | |
| 46 | The Resident | FOX | 1.7 | 0.7 |
| Life in Pieces | CBS | 1.7 | 0.6 | |
| Family Guy | FOX | 1.7 | 0.6 | |
| Law & Order True Crime | NBC | 1.7 | 0.6 | |
| The Simpsons | FOX | 1.7 | 0.2 | |
| Football Night in America Pt 2 | NBC | 1.7 | 0.0 | |
| 52 | Designated Survivor | ABC | 1.6 | 0.9 |
| The Blacklist | NBC | 1.6 | 0.7 | |
| The Brave | NBC | 1.6 | 0.7 | |
| Hawaii Five-0 | CBS | 1.6 | 0.6 | |
| NCIS: New Orleans | CBS | 1.6 | 0.6 | |
| Lethal Weapon | FOX | 1.6 | 0.6 | |
| Superstore | NBC | 1.6 | 0.6 | |
| Speechless | ABC | 1.6 | 0.5 | |
| Kevin Can Wait | CBS | 1.6 | 0.4 | |
| Ghosted | FOX | 1.6 | 0.4 | |
| Dancing With the Stars | ABC | 1.6 | 0.3 | |
| 63 | Scorpion | CBS | 1.5 | 0.7 |
| The Flash | CW | 1.5 | 0.7 | |
| Blue Bloods | CBS | 1.5 | 0.6 | |
| Good Girls | NBC | 1.5 | 0.5 | |
| Shark Tank | ABC | 1.5 | 0.4 | |
| 60 Minutes | CBS | 1.5 | 0.1 | |
| 69 | NCIS: Los Angeles | CBS | 1.4 | 0.5 |
| Fresh Off the Boat | ABC | 1.4 | 0.4 | |
| Bob’s Burgers | FOX | 1.4 | 0.4 | |
| The X-Files | FOX | 1.4 | 0.4 | |
| The Four: Battle for Stardom | FOX | 1.4 | 0.2 | |
| Saturday Night College Football | ABC | 1.4 | 0.0 | |
| 75 | Brooklyn Nine-Nine | FOX | 1.3 | 0.6 |
| The Mick | FOX | 1.3 | 0.6 | |
| Gotham | FOX | 1.3 | 0.5 | |
| Lucifer | FOX | 1.3 | 0.5 | |
| Hell’s Kitchen | FOX | 1.3 | 0.4 | |
| Me, Myself & I | CBS | 1.3 | 0.3 | |
| 81 | Agents of SHIELD | ABC | 1.2 | 0.7 |
| Inhumans | ABC | 1.2 | 0.6 | |
| New Girl | FOX | 1.2 | 0.6 | |
| Blindspot | NBC | 1.2 | 0.6 | |
| Timeless | NBC | 1.2 | 0.6 | |
| Code Black | CBS | 1.2 | 0.5 | |
| LA to Vegas | FOX | 1.2 | 0.5 | |
| Masterchef Junior | FOX | 1.2 | 0.5 | |
| Deception | ABC | 1.2 | 0.4 | |
| The Mayor | ABC | 1.2 | 0.4 | |
| MacGyver | CBS | 1.2 | 0.4 | |
| The Last Man on Earth | FOX | 1.2 | 0.4 | |
| Rise | NBC | 1.2 | 0.4 | |
| Wisdom of the Crowd | CBS | 1.2 | 0.3 | |
| Better Late Than Never | NBC | 1.2 | 0.3 | |
| 9JKL | CBS | 1.2 | 0.2 | |
| Man with a Plan | CBS | 1.2 | 0.2 | |
| The Wall | NBC | 1.2 | 0.1 | |
| 99 | For the People | ABC | 1.1 | 0.5 |
| The Crossing | ABC | 1.1 | 0.4 | |
| Kevin (Probably) Saves the World | ABC | 1.1 | 0.4 | |
| AP Bio | NBC | 1.1 | 0.4 | |
| Dateline – Friday | NBC | 1.1 | 0.3 | |
| Instinct | CBS | 1.1 | 0.2 | |
| Superior Donuts | CBS | 1.1 | 0.2 | |
| America’s Funniest Home Videos | ABC | 1.1 | 0.1 | |
| NBA Saturday Primetime | ABC | 1.1 | 0.0 | |
| 108 | Riverdale | CW | 1.0 | 0.5 |
| Elementary | CBS | 1.0 | 0.4 | |
| Madam Secretary | CBS | 1.0 | 0.4 | |
| Black Lightning | CW | 1.0 | 0.4 | |
| Supernatural | CW | 1.0 | 0.4 | |
| Alex, Inc. | ABC | 1.0 | 0.2 | |
| Little Big Shots | NBC | 1.0 | 0.1 | |
| 115 | Once Upon a Time | ABC | 0.9 | 0.4 |
| Quantico | ABC | 0.9 | 0.4 | |
| Legends of Tomorrow | CW | 0.9 | 0.4 | |
| Supergirl | CW | 0.9 | 0.4 | |
| Match Game | ABC | 0.9 | 0.2 | |
| Living Biblically | CBS | 0.9 | 0.2 | |
| Great News | NBC | 0.9 | 0.2 | |
| Child Support | ABC | 0.9 | 0.1 | |
| Running Wild with Bear Grylls | NBC | 0.9 | 0.1 | |
| 124 | Arrow | CW | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| 125 | The 100 | CW | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| The Originals | CW | 0.7 | 0.4 | |
| Taken | NBC | 0.7 | 0.3 | |
| 48 Hours | CBS | 0.7 | 0.2 | |
| Champions | NBC | 0.7 | 0.2 | |
| 20/20 | ABC | 0.7 | 0.1 | |
| Undercover Boss: Celebrity Edition | CBS | 0.7 | 0.1 | |
| Showtime at the Apollo | FOX | 0.7 | 0.1 | |
| Dateline – Sunday | NBC | 0.7 | 0.1 | |
| Genius Junior | NBC | 0.7 | 0.0 | |
| 135 | Ten Days in the Valley | ABC | 0.6 | 0.2 |
| The Exorcist | FOX | 0.6 | 0.2 | |
| Dateline Mystery | NBC | 0.6 | 0.1 | |
| FOX College Football | FOX | 0.6 | 0.0 | |
| 139 | iZombie | CW | 0.5 | 0.3 |
| Jane the Virgin | CW | 0.5 | 0.3 | |
| The Toy Box | ABC | 0.5 | 0.1 | |
| NBA Countdown | ABC | 0.5 | 0.0 | |
| 143 | Ransom | CBS | 0.4 | 0.1 |
| 144 | Life Sentence | CW | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| Crazy Ex-Girlfriend | CW | 0.3 | 0.1 | |
| Dynasty | CW | 0.3 | 0.1 | |
| Valor | CW | 0.3 | 0.1 |
Source: The Nielsen Company.