Trump adviser interview helps ’60 Minutes’ to top of ratings

LOS ANGELES — A contentious interview with White House adviser Peter Navarro over the administration’s response to the coronavirus helped “60 Minutes” earn the top spot in the ratings for the third time this season.

The venerable CBS news show drew 9.68 million viewers to edge out three NBC shows: “The Voice,” “Chicago Med,” and “Chicago Fire,” the Nielsen company said Tuesday. Fox’s “The Masked Singer rounded out the top 5.

Numbers for the top shows that surged in the first weeks that viewers stayed home because of the coronavirus outbreak appear to have levelled off to pre-pandemic levels.

The previous week’s top show “NCIS” drew over 13 million viewers, and “60 Minutes” had over 10 million watching despite finishing fourth.

Major surges in viewers came for a pair of long-running ABC shows, with “Modern Family” airing its series finale after 11 seasons and “Grey’s Anatomy” having its 16th season finale, but neither managed to crack the top 10 as both often did in their primes.

CBS was again the most popular network in prime time last week, averaging 5.83 million viewers, down from 6.7 million viewers the previous week. ABC and NBC each had 4.57 million, Fox had 2.57 million, Univision had 1.58 million, ION Television had 1.26 million and Telemundo had 990,000.

Fox News Channel was again the most-watched cable network, averaging 3.46 million viewers in prime time. MSNBC had 1.94 million, CNN had 1.82 million, The History Channel had 1.19 million and TLC had 1.18 million.

The coronavirus pandemic was apparently still drawing big audiences for evening network newscasts. ABC’s “World News Tonight” was the leader with an average of 14 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” had 12 million, and the “CBS Evening News” had 8 million, Nielsen said.

For the week of April 6-12, the top 20 shows, their networks and viewerships:

1. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 9.68 million.

2. “The Voice,” NBC, 9.6 million.

3. “Chicago Med,” NBC, 9.05 million.

4. “Chicago Fire,” NBC, 8.97 million.

5. “The Masked Singer,” Fox, 7.94 million.

6. “NCIS,” CBS, 7.862 million.

7. “Survivor,” CBS, 7.858 million.

8. “Chicago PD,” NBC, 7.67 million.

9. “Station 19,” ABC, 7.56 million.

10. “Magnum P.I.,” CBS, 7.4 million.

11. “Modern Family,” ABC, 7.37 million.

12. “Grey’s Anatomy,” ABC, 7.34 million.

13. “The Neighborhood,” CBS, 7.23 million.

14. “Bull,” CBS, 7.16 million.

15. “FBI,” CBS, 6.96 million.

16. “NCIS: Los Angeles,” CBS, 6.77 million.

17. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 6.75 million.

18. “Bob Hearts Abishola,” CBS, 6.73 million.

19. “A Modern Farewell,” ABC, 6.64 million.

20. “MacGyver,” CBS, 6.38 million.

Andrew Dalton, The Associated Press