CBS Corp

TV season's top shows on demand, DVR

Gary Levin

USA TODAY

Taraji P. Henson as Cookie on "Empire," one of the TV season's biggest hits -- and most popular series for catch-up viewing.

The TV season ended last month has generated a few more charts for the record books. Three big-network series gained an average of more than 5 million viewers in the six days after their initial broadcast. And many of the top DVR gainers were also popular in cable systems' on-demand offerings, if exclusive data from Comcast — the nation's largest — is any indication.

Biggest gainers from 7-day DVR viewing

Show (network) 7-day lift 7-day cumulative audience % gain

1. The Blacklist (NBC) 5.6 15.1 59%

2. The Big Bang Theory (CBS) 5.2 21.3 33%

3. How to Get Away with Murder (ABC) 5.1 14.9 52%

4. Modern Family (ABC) 4.7 14.1 50%

5. Empire (Fox) 4.6 17.3 36%

6. Scorpion (CBS) 4.3 15.2 40%

7. Castle (ABC) 4.1 12.6 48%

8. Criminal Minds (CBS) 4.0 14.3 39%

9. Elementary (CBS) 3.9 11.4 53%

10. NCIS (CBS) 3.9 21.2 23%

Broadcast network series ranked by average lift, in millions of viewers, from same-day audience to cumulative 7-day viewing, for the TV season ending 5/20/15. Source: Nielsen.

Top Video-on-Demand series

The season's most popular catch-up series on demand were mostly on broadcast networks (16 of the top 20) and new (8 of the top 20).

1. Empire (Fox)

2. The Big Bang Theory (CBS)

3. The Walking Dead (AMC)

4. Game of Thrones (HBO)

5. The Blacklist (NBC)

6. Modern Family (ABC)

7. How to Get Away with Murder (ABC)

8. Scandal (ABC)

9. Gotham (Fox)

10. American Horror Story: Freak Show (FX)

11. Madam Secretary (CBS)

12. Black-ish (ABC)

13. Scorpion (CBS)

14. The Flash (CW)

15. Family Guy (Fox)

16. NCIS (CBS)

17. Outlander (Starz)

18. Grey's Anatomy (ABC)

19. Chicago Fire (NBC)

20. The Good Wife (CBS)

Ranking based on cumulative views of current-season shows from June 2014 to May 2015 on Comcast's XFinity service. Source: Comcast

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