NEW YORK – Perhaps trying to make sure it really happened, more people watched replays of 80-1 underdog Rich Strike winning the Kentucky Derby than watched it live.
NBC said some 36 million people watched the exciting finish of horseracing's premier event on NBC Sports' social media accounts, including 11.6 million on TikTok, the most ever achieved for a network sports presentation. That doesn't account for non-NBC outlets, for which there was no estimate available Tuesday.
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NBC's live Derby coverage was seen by an average of 16 million people on the network and Peacock on Saturday. That peaked at 19 million during the actual running of the race, the network said.
It was NBC's most-watched program since the Super Bowl, the Nielsen company said.
CBS dominated the ratings in prime-time last week, averaging 4.2 million with “NCIS” as the most popular show. ABC had 3.7 million, NBC had 2.8 million, Fox had 2.1 million, Univision had 1.4 million, Ion Television averaged 970,000 and Telemundo had 900,000
Turner Networks was the most-watched cable network for the week, benefiting from the NBA's playoff games, at an average of 2.85 million viewers. Fox News Channel had 2.25 million, ESPN had 1.38 million, HGTV had 998,000 and MSNBC had 963,000.
ABC's “World News Tonight” won the evening news ratings race, averaging 7.8 million viewers. NBC's “NIghtly News” had 6.5 million viewers and the “CBS Evening News” had 4.6 million.
For the week of May 2-8, the 20 most-watched programs on prime-time television, their networks and viewerships:
1. “NCIS,” CBS, 7.27 million.
2. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 7.11 million.
3. “The Equalizer,” CBS, 6.46 million.
4. “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 6.23 million.
5. NBA Playoffs: Memphis at Golden State (Saturday), ABC, 6.1 million.
6. “American Idol” (Monday), ABC, 5.82 million.
7. “Survivor,” CBS, 5.61 million.
8. “American Idol” (Sunday), ABC, 5.52 million.
9. “The Neighborhood,” CBS, 5.47 million.
10. “Bob Hearts Abishola,” CBS, 5.4 million.
11. NBA Playoffs: Golden State at Memphis (Tuesday), Turner, 5.32 million.
12. “NCIS: Hawai'i,” CBS, 5.21 million.
13. “NCIS: Los Angeles,” CBS, 5.18 million.
14. “911,” Fox, 5.1 million.
15. “Magnum, P.I.,” 5.06 million.
16. “Law & Order: SVU,” NBC, 4.9 million.
17. “America's Funniest Home Videos,” ABC, 4.86 million.
18. “FBI,” CBS, 4.83 million.
19. “This is Us,” NBC, 4.67 million.
20. NBA Playoffs: Miami at Philadelphia (Sunday), Turner, 4.63 million.