Ratings revamped: Which network is tops in scripted TV?

Who needs football? Well, NBC for starters — and also Fox and CBS, albeit to somewhat lesser degrees.

TheWrap re-ran network TV ratings to include primetime scripted series only — so, omitting sports, specials and reality series — to see who owns the written word on the small screen. As it turns out, the pared-down way of looking at most current (where available) Nielsen numbers jumps ABC from third to first place among the Big 4 networks.

Both originals and repeats were included in this report, which accounted for data from the 2014-2015 season shows through Sunday, Jan. 18, 2015.

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The results of our study shows ABC leading runner-up CBS by 13 percent, with an average rating/share of 2.7/8 against the lower 2.4/7 in the advertiser-sought 18-49 demographic.

Sans football, "The Voice" and "Peter Pan Live" — among other unqualified-in-this-scenario broadcasts — NBC settled for third with a 2.1/6.

Fox finished in fourth place with a 1.9/6.

Ordinarily, not withholding any kind of programming, the nets lineup in the following order for the season: NBC (2.6/8), CBS (2.5/8), ABC (2.1/7) and Fox (2.1/6).

So, clearly, ABC sees the best jump when looking solely at scripted programming. Meanwhile, NBC drops the most — a full half of a ratings point, falling to third place.

CBS slips just one-tenth of a Nielsen point, staying in second place. Fox dips two-tenths of a point, going from a third-place tie to sole possession of fourth.

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Another way of touting the ABC strength is to point out that its six scripted series in the Top 15 are the most for any net — and it has a little room to spare after hitting that total. (Technically, it's sixth, "Black-ish," clocks in at a two-way tie for 13th with CBS's "Scorpion.")

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