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Nielsen Ratings for
Buffy's Seventh Season


National Ratings for the Seventh Season

Notes:

1. For the 2002-2003 television season, each ratings point represents 1,067,000 households or one percent of the nation's estimated 106.7 million television households. So, for example, a rating of 3.4 means that an average of approximately (3.4 x 1,067,000) = 3,627,800 households were watching Buffy.

2. In the fourth column is the episode's rank among all prime time network shows for the week. For example, 93/112 means that particular episode of Buffy was in 93rd place out of the 112 network prime time shows that week. In the last column is the episode's rank among UPN network shows for the week. For example, 3/10 means that particular episode of Buffy placed 3rd out of the 10 programs on UPN that week. A "(t)" indicates a tie for that position. After February 17, 2003, the PAX network is no longer included in the listing of prime time network shows. (My new sources don't count the PAX network.) After February 24, 2003, the ranking is based on total viewers and not household rating.

3. There is additional information in a second table. This table contains the ratings data in numbers of millions of people. For example, 4.99 means 4.99 million people were watching Buffy. The third column of the second table contains the average rating for the entire hour of the episode. The last two columns contain the ratings for the first half hour and second half hour of the episode, respectively. Note: The change in presentation of this second table from earlier seasons was necessitated by a change in how Variety presents its Nielsen data. (Variety is the magazine used to obtain the data for this second table.) Millions of people is now used instead of household rating/share.

4. If you want to compare Buffy's ratings with those of other shows, check out thelist of national Nielsen ratings for 2003 from The Futon Critic.

5. If you want insight into the way that Nielsen ratings are obtained, here is an article entitled What TV Ratings Really Mean from the official site of Nielsen Media Research.

DateEpisodeNational RatingRank: All Prime Time Shows Rank: All UPN Shows
May 20, 2003Chosen (Series Finale)2.969/932/9
May 13, 2003End Of Days2.487/1013/10
May 6, 2003Touched2.691/1043/10
April 29, 2003Empty Places2.397/108 (t)6/10
April 22, 2003Bring On The Night (repeat)1.8108/116 (t)7/10 (t)
April 15, 2003Dirty Girls2.395/113 (t)5/10
April 8, 2003Never Leave Me (repeat)1.9106/1207/11
April 1, 2003Sleeper (repeat)1.5112/121 (t)7/11
March 25, 2003Lies My Parents Told Me2.3103/118 (t)5/11
March 18, 2003Conversations With Dead People (repeat)1.585/90 (t)7/10 (t)
March 11, 2003Him (repeat)1.7108/1167/10
March 4, 2003Selfless (repeat)1.8103/112 (t)7/11 (t)
February 25, 2003Storyteller2.3102/115 (t)5/11 (t)
February 18, 2003Get It Done2.487/1064/11
February 11, 2003First Date2.699/1354/11
February 4, 2003The Killer In Me2.4101/135 (t)5/11 (t)
January 28, 2003Help (repeat)1.8105/131 (t)6/11
January 21, 2003Potential2.396/131 (t)4/11 (t)
January 7, 2003 Showtime2.695/129 (t)4/11 (t)
December 31, 2002Two To Go/Grave (2nd repeat)1.1110/127 (t)9/9
December 24, 2002Villains (2nd repeat)0.9103/117 (t)9/10
December 24, 2002Normal Again (2nd repeat)0.8105/117 (t)10/10
December 17, 2002Bring On The Night2.788/131 (t)6/10 (t)
December 10, 2002Same Time, Same Place (repeat)1.9103/135 (t)4/11 (t)
December 3, 2002Beneath You (repeat)2.0105/136 (t)7/11
November 26, 2002Never Leave Me2.882/123 (t)1/11 (t)
November 19, 2002Sleeper3.097/129 (t)3/11 (t)
November 12, 2002Conversations With Dead People3.196/136 (t)2/10 (t)
November 5, 2002Him2.989/127 (t)3/10 (t)
October 29, 2002Lessons (repeat)1.9107/135 (t)7/10 (t)
October 22, 2002Selfless3.189/1312/10
October 15, 2002Help3.091/130 (t)3/10 (t)
October 8, 2002Same Time, Same Place3.089/124 (t)5/10
October 1, 2002Beneath You3.192/128 (t)4/10 (t)
September 24, 2002Lessons (Season Premiere)3.183/125 (t)2/10 (t)


DateEpisodeEntire Hour RatingFirst Half-Hour RatingSecond Half-Hour Rating
May 20, 2003Chosen (Series Finale)4.874.725.02
May 13, 2003End Of Days4.064.133.98
May 6, 2003Touched4.024.004.03
April 29, 2003Empty Places3.603.603.60
April 22, 2003Bring On The Night (repeat)2.742.752.74
April 15, 2003Dirty Girls3.313.473.16
April 8, 2003Never Leave Me (repeat)2.812.822.79
April 1, 2003Sleeper (repeat)2.302.302.30
March 25, 2003Lies My Parents Told Me3.443.433.46
March 18, 2003Conversations With Dead People (repeat)2.122.261.99
March 11, 2003Him (repeat)2.412.552.27
March 4, 2003Selfless (repeat)2.662.732.58
February 25, 2003Storyteller3.60----
February 18, 2003Get It Done3.433.453.42
February 11, 2003First Date4.244.064.41
February 4, 2003The Killer In Me3.463.473.46
January 28, 2003Help (repeat)2.642.722.56
January 21, 2003Potential3.613.713.51
January 7, 2003 Showtime4.084.004.16
December 31, 2002Grave (2nd repeat)2.162.072.26
December 31, 2002Two To Go (2nd repeat)1.961.981.94
December 24, 2002Villains (2nd repeat)1.441.311.57
December 24, 2002Normal Again (2nd repeat)1.231.331.13
December 17, 2002Bring On The Night4.80----
December 10, 2002Same Time, Same Place (repeat)3.023.102.94
December 3, 2002Beneath You (repeat)2.923.052.79
November 26, 2002Never Leave Me4.834.844.82
November 19, 2002Sleeper5.034.805.26
November 12, 2002Conversations With Dead People4.834.704.97
November 5, 2002Him4.654.664.63
October 29, 2002Lessons (repeat)2.943.142.74
October 22, 2002Selfless5.024.775.27
October 15, 2002Help5.044.915.17
October 8, 2002Same Time, Same Place4.904.735.08
October 1, 2002Beneath You4.974.994.94
September 24, 2002Lessons (Season Premiere)4.994.705.29


Overnight Ratings for the Seventh Season

Notes:

1. The following table contains the overnight household ratings that are based on results from viewing in some of the largest television markets, not the nation as a whole. This means that they cannot be directly compared to the national ratings above. Note that on October 1, 2002, the number of markets used to generate the overnight ratings increased from 53 to 55 with the addition of Knoxville, TN, and Greenville-Spartanburg,SC-Asheville,NC-Anderson,SC. Here is a list of the overnight markets.

2. Buffy's overnight ratings tend to be higher than its corresponding national ratings for a couple of reasons. UPN reaches a higher percentage of households in these larger markets than in the nation as a whole because UPN lacks affiliates in some of the smaller markets. In addition, Buffy just tends to do better in these larger, urban markets.

3. Starting October 1, 2002, each overnight ratings point represents 735,454 households or one percent of the estimated 73,545,430 TV households in the 55 overnight markets. Before October 1, 2002, each overnight ratings point represented 722,637 households or one percent of the estimated 72,263,610 TV households in the 53 overnight markets. Share is the percentage of households in these markets actually watching TV at the time that were in fact watching Buffy.

4. Zap2it has changed their site so old overnight ratings pages are removed after a few weeks, so it doesn't pay anymore to link to their site. Overnight ratings for Buffy are now taken from the Futon Critic Buffy season ratings page linked on the date next to each program below. In cases where I believe the Futon Critic overnights aren't correct, I've left the values as taken originally from Zap2it.

DateEpisode
Overnight Rating/Share
May 20, 2003Chosen (Series Finale)4.7/7
May 13, 2003End Of Days4.0/6
May 6, 2003Touched3.7/5
April 29, 2003Empty Places3.5/5
April 22, 2003Bring On The Night (repeat)2.3/4
April 15, 2003Dirty Girls3.1/5
April 8, 2003Never Leave Me (repeat)2.4/4
April 1, 2003Sleeper (repeat)2.2/3
March 25, 2003Lies My Parents Told Me3.4/5
March 18, 2003Conversations With Dead People (repeat)2.1/3
March 11, 2003Him (repeat)2.3/3
March 4, 2003Selfless (repeat)2.5/4
February 25, 2003Storyteller3.6/5
February 18, 2003Get It Done3.9/5
February 11, 2003First Date3.8/5
February 4, 2003The Killer In Me3.6/5
January 28, 2003Help (repeat)2.3/3
January 21, 2003Potential3.5/5
January 7, 2003Showtime3.6/5
December 31, 2002Grave (2nd repeat)1.5/3
December 31, 2002Two To Go (2nd repeat)1.5/3
December 24, 2002Villains (2nd repeat)1.3/3
December 24, 2002Normal Again (2nd repeat)1.2/3
December 17, 2002Bring On The Night3.5/5
December 10, 2002Same Time, Same Place (repeat)2.5/4
December 3, 2002Beneath You (repeat)2.4/4
November 26, 2002Never Leave Me3.6/5
November 19, 2002Sleeper3.8/6
November 12, 2002Conversations With Dead People4.1/6
November 5, 2002Him4.1/6
October 29, 2002Lessons (repeat)2.7/4
October 22, 2002Selfless4.1/6
October 15, 2002Help3.8/6
October 8, 2002Same Time, Same Place4.1/6
October 1, 2002Beneath You4.0/6
September 24, 2002Lessons (Season Premiere)3.9/6

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