More than 27 million viewers tuned into the season finale of NBC’s “The Apprentice,” according to Nielsen Media Research.
The two-hour show, which featured a live segment at the end in which Donald Trump selected Bill Rancic, also won the coveted 18- to 49-year-old demographic, scoring a 13.5 rating with 34 percent of the audience. That’s the third-highest rating among 18- to 49-year-olds on any network this season, behind ABC’s broadcast of the Academy Awards and the post-Super Bowl episode of CBS’s “Survivor.” But the show wasn’t a blowout; CBS’s “CSI” came close with more than 23 million viewers.
In Chicago, Rancic’s hometown, the finale averaged 21.4 rating points and 31 percent of the viewing audience for WMAQ-Ch. 5. Each rating point represents 33,994 homes. Channel 5’s 10 p.m. newscast held 73 percent of “The Apprentice” viewers, scoring 15.6 rating points with 25 percent of the audience.
WLS-Ch. 7 came in second at 10 p.m. with 9.8 rating points and 16 percent of the audience; WBBM-Ch. 2 came in last with 6.4 rating points and a 10 percent share.
