TV audiences surge as Covid-19 keeps Americans home

Mar 27, 2020 06:00 am

LOS ANGELES: From family drama This Is Us to police crime series NCIS, audiences are flocking to television shows in numbers unseen for up to a year as coronavirus shutdowns and social distancing keeps millions of Americans at home.

NCIS scored its biggest audience since February last year on Tuesday night, attracting some 13.08 million viewers - a 22 per cent increase over its last original broadcast on March 10, CBS said on Wednesday.

Audiences for the big four traditional US television networks - ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC - have been declining in recent years due to fierce competition from streaming, e-sports and social media.

But data analytics company Nielsen said in a report last week that Americans are expected to watch as much as 60 per cent more television across all platforms as increasingly restrictive shutdowns are implemented across the US.

Cable channel HBO is seeing increases for shows such as sci-fi series Westworld and for older fare such as teen series Euphoria. - REUTERS