What Were the Top Networks in 2023

The major networks – ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX – were once the powerhouses of TV then cable networks were introduced, starting with the first in 1948. By 1989, cable TV subscriptions were in 53 million US households with 60% of all US households doing so in 1992. Now, most US households have opted out of network and cable TV, spending most of their time watching streaming services. The TV viewing options have grown exponentially since that time with over 150 TV networks being available to TV viewers, and lets not even get started on the streaming services that out there.

In light of the start of the new year, Variety recently compiled a list of nearly all of the TV networks in terms of total viewers for 2023, and I found the list quite interesting. I’m not going to bore all of you with the minutiae of that chart, but I am going to share some of the highlights.

First of all, according to the Variety chart, NBC leads in total viewers, narrowly beating out CBS, while the Super Bowl helped give FOX the lead in adults 18 to 49 years of age, which is still important, sadly, to the networks even though the true viewers of TV are those over that age bracket. But I’m not going to go down a rabbit hole of my dislike for the 18- to 49-year-old viewers in relations to ratings.

And here are the standings for the major networks along with some of the more popular cable networks:

NBC ranked #1 with 4.53 viewers
CBS ranked #2 with 4.51 viewers
ABC ranked #3 with 3.88 viewers
FOX ranked #4 with 3.35 viewers
ION ranked #9 with 997,000 viewers
TNT ranked #11 with 938,000 viewers
The Hallmark Channel ranked #12 with 929,000 viewers
USA Network ranked #19 at 688,000 viewers
Hallmark Movies & Mysteries ranked #27 with 454,000 viewers
The CW ranked #28 with 453,000 viewers
Lifetime ranked #29 with 443,000 viewers
Paramount Network ranked #35 with 346,000 viewers
Syfy ranked #43 with 285,000 viewers
Freeform ranked #45 with 254,000 viewers
OWN ranked #75 with 147,000 viewers
Great American Family ranked #77 with 139,000 viewers
UPtv ranked #82 with 124,000 viewers
Starz ranked #110 with 57,000 viewers

You can check out the full chart from the folks at Variety along with the chart for the 18 to 49 year old viewers as well here.