TV Ratings: 'It's a Wonderful Life' leads Christmas Eve for NBC

Jimmy Stewart classic dominates all three primetime hours

By Daniel Fienberg Tuesday, Dec 25, 2012 12:59 PM

"It's a Wonderful Life"

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Fast National ratings for Monday, December 24, 2012.

The Jimmy Stewart classic "It's a Wonderful Life" continued to hold its place as a holiday favorite, sweeping Christmas Eve across its full three-hour broadcast and leading NBC to a Monday ratings win.

Among adults 18-49, NBC averaged a 1.5 rating, easily topping the key demographic for Monday. ABC and CBS both averaged a 1.0 key demo rating, followed by FOX's 0.6 and the 0.2 key demo rating for The CW.

Overall, NBC averaged an estimated 5.62 million viewers and a 3.1 rating/7 share for Monday night. CBS was second with 4.17 million viewers and a 2.6/5. ABC averaged a 1.8/4 and 3.39 million viewers, doubling FOX's 0.9/2 and 1.63 million viewers. The CW averaged a 0.4/1 and 724,000 viewers.

8 p.m. - "It's a Wonderful Life" averaged 4.92 million viewers and a 1.2 rating among adults 18-49 to lead the 8 p.m. hour for NBC. ABC's encores of "Prep & Landing" and "Shrek the Halls" averaged 3.43 million viewers and a 1.0 key demo rating, nipping the 3.3 million viewers and 0.9 key demo rating for two "How I Met Your Mother" repeats on CBS. FOX's repeats of "Raising Hope" averaged 1.65 million viewers and a 0.6 key demo rating in fourth, topping the 808,000 viewers and 0.3 key demo rating for "Christmas Is Here Again."

9 p.m. - NBC's airing of "It's a Wonderful Life" was up to 5.7 million viewers and a 1.6 rating among adults 18-49 in its second hour. CBS moved up to second with 4.42 million viewers and a 1.2 key demo rating for repeats of "2 Broke Girls" and "Mike & Molly." ABC's "Shrek the Third" averaged 3.32 million viewers and a 1.1 key demo rating for third. Two more repeats of "Raising Hope" averaged 1.615 million viewers and a 0.6 key demo rating on FOX. The CW's "Christmas Is Here Again" and "Second Star To The Left" averaged 640,000 viewers and a 0.2 key demo rating.

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10 p.m. - The closing hour of "It's a Wonderful Life" averaged 6.22 million viewers and a 1.8 rating among adults 18-49 for NBC in the 10 p.m. hour. CBS' repeat of "Hawaii Five-0" was second with 4.78 million viewers and a 1.0 key demo rating. ABC's "Shrek the Third" was third with 3.42 million viewers and tied for second with a 1.0 key demo rating.

All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change.

Daniel Fienberg
Executive Editor

A long-time member of the TCA Board and a longer-time blogger of "American Idol," Dan Fienberg writes about TV, except for when he writes about movies or sometimes writes about the Red Sox. But never music. He would sound stupid talking about music.