The Simpsons first season was the Fox network's first TV series to rank among a season's top 30 highest-rated shows.[1] Due to its success, the Fox network decided to switch The Simpsons timeslots in hopes that it would result in higher ratings for the lead out shows.[2] It would move from 8:00 PM on Sunday night to the same time on Thursday where it would compete with The Cosby Show, the number one show at the time.[3] Many of the producers were against the move, as The Simpsons had been in the top 10 while airing on Sunday and they felt the move would destroy its ratings.[4] Ratings wise, new episodes of The Cosby Show beat The Simpsons every time during the second season and The Simpsons eventually fell out of the top 10.[5] At the end of the season Cosby averaged as the fifth highest rated show on television while The Simpsons was 38th.[2] The show remained in its Thursday timeslot until the sixth season.[3]

The ratings for The Simpsons are split into two tables:

  • Season 1-11 are ranked by households (in millions) watching the series.
  • Season 12-22 are ranked by actual viewers (in millions) watching the series.

The difference between the rank from season 11 to 12 is not a reflection of a huge audience gain, but rather that the show did better in terms of actual viewers in comparison with other shows.

Season Years Households Rank
1[n1] 1989 - 1990 13.4m[1] 30th[1]
2[n1] 1990 - 1991 12.2m[n2] 38th[6]
3[n1] 1991 - 1992 12.0m[n3] 33rd[7]
4[n1] 1992 - 1993 12.1m[8] 30th[8]
5[n1] 1993 - 1994 10.5m[n4] 53rd[9]
6[n1] 1994 - 1995 9.0m[10] 67th[10]
7[n1] 1995 - 1996 8.0m[11] 75th[11]
8 1996 - 1997 8.6m[12] 53rd[12]
9 1997 - 1998 9.1m[13] 32nd[13]
10 1998 - 1999 7.9m[14] 46th[14]
11 1999 - 2000 8.2m[15] 44th[15]
Season Years Viewers Rank
12 2000 - 2001 14.7m[16] 21st[16]
13 2001 - 2002 12.4m[17] 30th[17]
14 2002 - 2003 13.4m[18] 25th[18]
15 2003 - 2004 10.6m[19] 42nd[19]
16 2004 - 2005 9.6m[20] 52nd[20]
17 2005 - 2006 9.1m[21] 62nd[21]
18 2006 - 2007 8.6m[22] 60th[22]
19 2007 - 2008 8.0m[23] 87th[23]
20 2008 - 2009 6.9m[24] 77th[24]
21 2009 - 2010 7.2m[25] 61st[25]
22 2010 - 2011 7.3m[26] 65th[26]
Notes
  1. Until the 1996-1997 television season, ratings were calculated over 30 weeks from September to mid April. Episodes that aired after mid April were not part of the overall average and ranking.[27]
  2. Season one had approximately 13.4 viewing households.[1]. Season two dropped 9%,[28] resulting in an average of approximately 12.2 million viewing households.
  3. Season three had an average rating of 13.0 points.[7] For the season of 1991-1992, each point represented 921,000 viewing households,[29] resulting in a total average of approximately 12.0 million viewing households.
  4. Season four had approximately 12.1 viewing households.[8]. Season five dropped 13%,[30] resulting in an average of approximately 10.5 million viewing households.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Nielsen's top 50 shows". USA Today. April 18, 1990. p. 3D.
  2. ^ a b Daniel Cerone (September 5, 1991). "'Simpsons' steals away Cosby viewers". Los Angeles Times. p. 4.
  3. ^ a b Reiss, Mike (2002). Commentary for "Bart Gets an F", in The Simpsons: The Complete Second Season (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  4. ^ Groening, Matt (2002). Commentary for "Bart Gets an F", in The Simpsons: The Complete Second Season (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  5. ^ Jean, Al (2003). Commentary for "Homer at the Bat", in The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  6. ^ "Nielsen ratings". The Tampa Tribune. April 17, 1991. p. 4.
  7. ^ a b Gable, Donna (April 15, 1992). "CBS' historic jump". USA Today. p. 3D.
  8. ^ a b c "Year-end ratings". Deseret News. April 22, 1993. p. C6.
  9. ^ "Nielsen ratings". The Tampa Tribune. Associated Press. April 21, 1994. p. 4.
  10. ^ a b Pierce, Scott D. (April 19, 1995). "They're not laughing at CBS after drop from 1st to worst". Deseret News. p. C6.
  11. ^ a b "NBC lands 6 series in season 's top 10". Daily Breeze. May 26, 1996. p. D3.
  12. ^ a b Moses, Robert P. (1997). "19961997". The 1998 A & E Entertainment Almanac. Houghton Mifflin. pp. 496–515.
  13. ^ a b "Final Ratings for '97-'98 TV Season". San Francisco Chronicle. May 25, 1998. p. E4.
  14. ^ a b "Nielsen rankings for 1998-99". San Francisco Chronicle. May 28, 1999. p. C5.
  15. ^ a b "Nielsen rankings for 1999-2000". San Francisco Chronicle. May 26, 2000. p. C17.
  16. ^ a b "The Bitter End". Entertainment Weekly. June 1, 2001. Retrieved September 10, 2011.
  17. ^ a b "How did your favorite show rate?". USA Today. May 28, 2002. Retrieved September 10, 2011.
  18. ^ a b Sepinwall, Alan; Matt Zoller Seitz (May 29, 2003). "Nielsen numbers". The Star-Ledger. p. 31.
  19. ^ a b "Season to date program ratings". ABC Medianet. June 2, 2004. Archived from the original on February 8, 2007. Retrieved September 10, 2011.
  20. ^ a b "Season program ratings". ABC Medianet. June 1, 2005. Archived from the original on March 10, 2007. Retrieved September 10, 2011.
  21. ^ a b "Season program ratings". ABC Medianet. May 31, 2006. Archived from the original on March 10, 2007. Retrieved September 10, 2011.
  22. ^ a b "Season program ratings". Hollywood Reporter. May 25, 2007. Archived from the original on January 29, 2010. Retrieved September 12, 2011.
  23. ^ a b "Season program ratings". ABC Medianet. May 28, 2008. Retrieved September 10, 2011.
  24. ^ a b "Season program ratings". ABC Medianet. May 19, 2009. Retrieved September 10, 2011.
  25. ^ a b Andreeva, Nellie (May 27, 2010). "Full Series Rankings For The 2009-10 Broadcast Season". Deadline.com. Retrieved September 10, 2011.
  26. ^ a b Andreeva, Nellie (May 27, 2011). "Full 2010-2011 TV Season Series Rankings". Deadline.com. Retrieved September 10, 2011.
  27. ^ Storm, Jonathan (May 31, 1997). "The big three networks took a big ratings hit this season". Charleston Gazette. p. P6B.
  28. ^ "Network series take beatings in ratings". Tulsa World. April 23, 1991. p. 2C.
  29. ^ Williams, Scott (April 17, 1992). "CBS toasts its win of season ratings". St. Petersburg Times. p. 17.
  30. ^ Jicha, Tom (April 20, 1994). "'Home Improvement improves to no. 1 spot". Sun-Sentinel. p. 1E.