NEW YORK ( Associated Press) — Judge Steve Harvey? At least for his first week, serving a comic as the moderator of a reality show seems like an inspired idea.
The Nielsen company said their show’s premiere last week was the most-watched non-football program on ABC, with its viewership of 5.2 million people visiting nearly two million more than the season-opening episode.
Just before the debut, Kindle Cunningham of the Daily Beast predicted that “Judge Steve Harvey” would make audiences laugh and be amazed by the host’s branding abilities.
Cunningham wrote, “Despite the project’s innate absurdity—predominantly that Harvey is not a judge and has no legal experience—his entry into the network court show ecosystem is an undeniably surprising move.”
He mediates disputes, like any TV judge, but his show lacks the self-serious demeanor of other shows that try to replicate real-life courtrooms, she said.
Nielsen said that despite the good vibes, Harvey couldn’t help but appreciate the well-reviewed sitcom, “Abbott Elementary,” which premiered last week to an audience of 3.45 million people.
CBS was the most popular network in prime time last week, averaging 5.5 million viewers. NBC had 5.2 million, ABC had 4.8 million, Fox had 3.3 million, Univision had 1.7 million, Ion Television had 1.04 million and Telemundo had 950,000.
ESPN was the top-rated cable network, averaging 3.37 million viewers in prime time. Fox News Channel had 2.25 million viewers, MSNBC had 1.24 million, Hallmark had 1.2 million and HGTV had 1.17 million.
Evening news ratings were not immediately provided by Nielsen.
For the week of January 3-9, the 20 most popular prime time shows, their networks and viewership:
1. NFL Football: LA Chargers in Las Vegas, NBC, 17.69 million.
2. NFL Football: Dallas, 13.7 million in Philadelphia, ABC.
3. “NFL Pregame,” NBC, 13.08 million.
4. “OT,” Fox, 12.11 million.
5. “NFL Pregame,” ABC, 11.93 million.
6. NFL Football: Cleveland, ESPN, 11.78 million in Pittsburgh.
7. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 9.9 million.
8. “Football Night in America, Part 3,” NBC, 9.59 million.
9. “FBI,” CBS, 8.52 million.
10. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 7.39 million.
11. “The Equalizer,” CBS, 7.18 million.
12. “Chicago Fire,” NBC, 7.15 million.
13. “NCIS,” CBS, 6.939 million.
14. “Chicago Med,” NBC, 6.937 million.
15. “NFL Pregame” (Monday), ESPN, 6.68 million.
16. NFL Football: Dallas, 6.51 million in Philadelphia, ESPN.
17. “Ghosts,” CBS, 6.48 million.
18. “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 6.07 million.
19. “Chicago PD,” NBC, 6.063 million.
20. “FBI: International,” CBS, 6.062 million.
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