Worst week ever for television ratings
TV viewers must have taken to the beach: It was the least-watched week in recorded history for the four biggest broadcast networks.
CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox averaged 20.8 million viewers during the average prime-time minute last week, according to Nielsen Media Research. That sank below the previous record of 21.5 million, set during the last week of July in 2005.
It wasn't entirely unexpected. By tradition, the week that includes Independence Day has the fewest viewers of the year, or close to it.
Why? Because rerun season is in full swing and the public is consumed with outdoor activities.
There also aren't any new summer hits to entice people. Only one program, NBC's America's Got Talent, recorded more than 10 million viewers, Nielsen said. The talent show grabbed 12.03 million viewers, while Fox's So You Think You Can Dance earned second place with 9.78 million.
It was a lousy week for Brian Williams and the NBC Nightly News, too. Williams' newscast finished out of first place among viewers for the first time since last August, beaten by ABC's World News Tonight, where Diane Sawyer subbed for Charles Gibson, according to Nielsen Media Research.
NBC says there's an easy explanation. Only three days were counted in the ratings following the long weekend, and on those days NBC's news was preceded in many markets by coverage of the Wimbledon tennis tournament, which drew relatively little interest. NBC lost during the corresponding weeks in 2001 and 2004.
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