Nielsens: 'Leftovers,' 'Tyrant,' 'Big Brother'
Cable openers. HBO's The Leftovers had a modest start Sunday with 1.8 million viewers (behind True Blood's 3.1 million). FX's Tyrant rounded up 2.1 million Tuesday, and Disney's Girl Meets World was solid with 5.2 million Friday behind movie Zapped (5.7 million).
Awards time. Sunday's BET Awards was honored by 7.5 million viewers, down from 7.8 million last year. That same night, Showtime finished up seasons of Penny Dreadful (856,000) and Nurse Jackie (674,000), while the series finale of Californication managed 481,000.
Bigger brother. CBS' Big Brother returned for a 16th season with 6.7 million viewers Wednesday and was up over last year on its first three nights. Unforgettable returned with 6.2 million Sunday, followed by 4 million for Reckless. ABC's NY Med doctored 5.6 million Thursday and NBC's Taxi Brooklyn fared modestly with 5.3 million Wednesday.
News race. With ratings for the three-month period ended June 29, Fox News celebrated its 50th consecutive quarter, a 12-year stretch, as the top-rated news network. It averaged 1.6 million viewers in prime time this spring vs. 570,000 for MSNBC and 459,000 for CNN. And among the core news audience of adults ages 25 to 54, ABC's World News won its first quarter in six years, besting NBC's Nightly News, though NBC remained tops among all viewers.
Top 20 shows of the week
2. 60 Minutes, CBS, 8.5 million
3. The Big Bang Theory, CBS, 8.0 million
4. America's Got Talent (Tuesday), NBC, 7.9 million
5. BET Awards, BET, 7.5 million
6. NCIS: Los Angeles, CBS, 6.9 million
7. Big Brother (Wednesday), CBS, 6.7 million
8. Big Brother (Thursday), CBS, 6.6 million
9. 20/20, ABC, 6.4 million
10. Blue Bloods, CBS, 6.3 million
11. Unforgettable, CBS, 6.2 million
12. America's Got Talent (Tuesday), NBC, 6.2 million
13. Criminal Minds, CBS, 6.1 million
14. The Bachelorette, ABC, 6.0 million
15. Night Shift, NBC, 5.9 million
16. 24: Live Another Day, Fox, 5.7 million
17. Big Brother (Sunday), CBS, 5.7 million
18. Ripped, Disney, 5.7 million
19. NY Med, ABC, 5.6 million
20. Rizzoli & Isles, TNT, 5.5 million
Tops on Twitter
1. BET Awards (BET, Sun.) | Tweets: 10,891,000 | Unique audience: 9,302,000
2. Teen Wolf (MTV, Mon.) | Tweets: 625,000 | Unique audience: 4,188,000
3. Pretty Little Liars (ABC Family, Tue.) | Tweets: 256,000 | Unique audience: 2,857,000
4. Big Brother (CBS, Wed.) | Tweets: 137,000 | Unique audience: 2,157,000
5. Love & Hip Hop (VH1, Mon.) | Tweets: 582,000 | Unique audience: 2,116,000
6. The Bachelorette (ABC, Mon.) | Tweets: 70,000 | Unique audience: 1,954,000
7. WWE Money (PPV, Sun.) | Tweets: 272,000 | Unique audience: 1,884,000
8. Girl Meets World (Disney, Fri.) | Tweets: 77,000 | Unique audience: 1,697,000
9. Rising Star (ABC, Sun.) | Tweets: 77,000 | Unique audience: 1,520,000
10. WWE Raw (USA, Mon.) | Tweets: 203,000 | Unique audience: 1,484,000
Data from week ending June 29; unique audience measures relevant tweets until 5 a.m. local time the day after telecast for new prime-time and late-night programs except sports. Source: Nielsen