A18-49+ Update: Ratings by Day of Week and Time of Day in 2016-17

Here's a look at trends among the original series sorted by day of the week and time of day on the big four networks in 2016-17.

Big Four Original Series By Day of the Week

Year	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
2001-02	100	106	97	99	152	69	61
2002-03	98	113	101	107	150	66	52
2003-04	96	124	102	108	149	64	53
2004-05	125	107	104	105	124	60	55
2005-06	128	104	115	106	113	62	55
2006-07	110	108	118	104	122	65	50
2007-08	116	104	119	105	114	58	57
2008-09	108	111	125	107	116	55	52
2009-10	107	112	127	105	107	54	55
2010-11	109	107	111	118	120	54	51
2011-12	102	120	107	121	111	59	39
2012-13	100	122	100	117	114	62	38
2013-14	92	126	108	108	102	70	41
2014-15	88	124	104	115	102	72	45
2015-16	86	120	102	119	103	72	56
2016-17	85	119	111	118	98	74	44

After years of flirting with a drop below 100, the Tuesday night average finally made a big move upward in 2016-17. New megahit This Is Us was the sexy story, but ABC's two-hour comedy night led by The Middle and American Housewife produced massive gains as well.

Tuesday's gain came at the expense of every other weeknight, but the biggest loser was Thursday; this allegedly important night for advertisers dropped below the league average (at least among its original non-sports series) for the first time in the A18-49+ era. There were two major causes: ABC's hit to the TGIT lineup in the fall as Scandal sat out, and the absolutely dreadful comparisons Fox had to endure on the night where the final American Idol season aired most of its episodes.

Meanwhile, Sunday ticked down yet again, and Friday ticked up to another new A18-49+ era high. The gap between the two threatens to hit single-digits next year, but ABC dropping Last Man Standing and shifting Shark Tank to Sunday may stem the tide.

Big Four Original Series By Time of Day

Year	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00	10:30
2001-02	93	95	106	105	103	105
2002-03	93	102	105	105	102	103
2003-04	91	101	106	105	105	105
2004-05	85	97	109	110	108	109
2005-06	85	98	110	111	104	105
2006-07	88	102	114	114	95	94
2007-08	93	105	114	113	88	87
2008-09	99		99	114		114	88		88
2009-10	106		106	113		113	82		82
2010-11	104	108	114	106	85	83
2011-12	105	108	114	105	86	82
2012-13	108	108	114	105	84	79
2013-14	110	106	109	102	88	84
2014-15	112	110	109	102	85	81
2015-16	109		109	107		107	83		83
2016-17	112		109	103		107	80		83

The rise of the 8:00 hour seemed to reverse a bit in 2015-16, but it roared back in 2016-17, with the hour barely beating its era high from two years ago with a 112. And after stabilizing or rising slightly last season, the other two hours were down to new era lows. Keep in mind that averages for 2008-09, 2009-10, 2015-16 and 2016-17 are rougher due to lack of access to half-hour breakdowns.

Here's the now updated A18-49+ days of the week post.

Here's the now updated A18-49+ time of day post.