Repeats of The Big Bang Theory on TBS accounted for all of the Top 20 most-watched sitcoms on basic cable in one week

BAZINGA!

TBS has a new president and chief creative officer in Kevin Reilly (recently head of FOX), but it’s an old warhorse of a sitcom that has put TBS ahead of everyone else in basic cable — including its own original series — in terms of viewers.

The Big Bang Theory isn’t just the most popular sitcom on network TV when it airs on Mondays or Thursdays on CBS. TBS’s telecasts of The Big Bang Theory swept all of basic cable’s Top 20 sitcom telecasts for the week ending Nov. 2, 2014, among total viewers and adults 18-49.

Football, zombies and reality stunts still bring in more viewers than comedy these days.

The top five programs on basic cable last week: Monday Night Football (ESPN), The Walking Dead (AMC), Thursday Night Football (NFL), Talking Dead (AMC), Discovery’s Skyscraper Live.

Big Bang repeats this past Saturday night ranked 23rd and 24th overall with about 3 million total viewers for half-hours that aired at 9:30 and 10 p.m. Nov. 1.

How much of the primetime programming schedule does TBS devote to Sheldon Cooper, roommate Leonard Hofstadter and their science-loving pals? Over the coming seven nights, you can catch Big Bang repeats from the past seventh season, and then cycling back to the beginning:

  • Wednesday 9-11 p.m.
  • Thursday 9:30-11
  • Friday 8-9
  • Saturday 8-11
  • Monday 10-11
  • Tuesday 8-11

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

View all posts by Sean L. McCarthy →