10 Highest and 11 Lowest-Rated Primetime Series Among College-Educated Viewers
Parents who want their kids to go to college may want to change the channel to ABC. Just not when “Kids Say the Darndest Things” is on.
The Disney-owned broadcaster boasts five of the Top 10 shows this season among college-educated adults. But it doesn’t hold the No. 1 slot — that belongs to “This Is Us,” which leapfrogs “The Masked Singer” in this study of Nielsen numbers.
Below are the 10 highest-rated primetime shows on the Big 4 broadcast networks — CBS, NBC, Fox and ABC — among adults 18-49 with at least four years of college education. Sports and specials are filtered out, the ratings count a week of delayed viewing and include tune-in from Sept. 23, 2019 through Feb. 9, 2020.
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1. “This Is Us” (NBC): 4.04
2. “The Bachelor” (ABC): 3.77
3. “The Masked Singer” (Fox): 3.05
4. “Modern Family” (ABC): 2.88
5. “Grey’s Anatomy” (ABC): 2.70
6. “Survivor” (CBS): 2.26
7. “The Good Place” (NBC): 2.04
8. “A Million Little Things” (ABC): 1.95
9. “The Good Doctor” (ABC): 1.94
10. “9-1-1: Lone Star” (Fox): 1.92
Most of those shows are generally pretty highly rated to begin with — but how about that “Good Place” bump? Mike Schur’s now-ended NBC sitcom typically ranks 39th among all adults 18-49. The other outlier is “A Million Little Things,” which ranks 19th among all adults 18-49.
Counting all adults of any education level in that advertiser-favorited age range, “Masked Singer” is the highest-rated show on television this season — but it slips two spots here. Another Fox show, regular “9-1-1,” ordinarily ranks third. It just misses this Top 10, placing 11th among those with four years of college.
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The lowest-rated Big 4 series among adults 18-49 with 4+ years of college are below, also in descending order. Note: There are 11 listed here because of a tie for 78th place.
Here’s where we share (more) bad news for the Tiffany Haddish-hosted “Kids Say the Darndest Things” reboot. In case you haven’t guessed it yet, yeah, that ABC unscripted series sits dead last.
10. (tie) “Madam Secretary” (CBS) and “Perfect Harmony” (NBC): 0.76
9. “Outmatched” (Fox): 0.75
8. “Bless the Harts” (Fox): 0.71
7. “Sunnyside” (NBC): 0.68
6. “Undercover Boss” (CBS): 0.63
5. “Almost Family” (Fox): 0.61
4. “Flirty Dancing” (Fox): 0.60
3. “48 Hours” (CBS): 0.56
2. “Dateline Mystery” (NBC): 0.53
1. “Kids Say the Darndest Things” (ABC): 0.50
If readers were wondering, no, none of those are otherwise hits — or even close to it. Fox’s freshman animated comedy “Bless the Harts” is the closest one to having not terrible numbers, averaging a 0.93 rating among all adults 18-49. That’s still pretty bad, though, ranking beneath poor performers like “Mixed-ish,” “Will & Grace,” “Bless This Mess,” “Emergence,” “Schooled” and “Carol’s Second Act,” among others.
Hey, there’s always trade school.
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