or


[12/14/19 - 08:45 AM]
Friday's Broadcast Ratings: FOX, "WWE SmackDown" Top Demo Race
By The Futon Critic Staff (TFC)

Primetime Preliminary Fast National Nielsen Data
(includes all DVR playback through 3:00 am)

Here are the highlights of the 10 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (12/13/19):

FOX (2.339 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.7, #1) remained the adults 18-49 champ on Friday with its telecast of "WWE SmackDown" (2.339 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.7, #1).

CBS (5.958 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.6, #2) was a close second with the fall finales of "Hawaii Five-0" (6.453 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T2) and "Magnum P.I." (6.120 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T2) plus a repeat "Blue Bloods" (5.302 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T5).

Next up was NBC (3.622 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T3) and its fall finale of "The Blacklist" (3.844 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T5) and a two-hour "Dateline NBC" (3.511 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T5).

Meanwhile, ABC (2.777 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T3) served up its 2019 closers to "American Housewife" (3.408 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T2) and "Fresh Off the Boat" (2.393 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.4, #9) alongside a two-hour "20/20" (2.716 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T5).

And finally, The CW (0.901 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.2, #5) closed out the evening with a broadcast of "The 88th Annual Hollywood Christmas Parade" (0.901 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.2, #10).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+20.00% - American Housewife (vs. 11/29/19)
0.00% - WWE SmackDown
0.00% - Hawaii Five-0
0.00% - Magnum P.I.
0.00% - The Blacklist
0.00% - Dateline NBC
0.00% - Fresh Off the Boat (vs. 11/29/19)
-16.67% - 20/20 (vs. 11/29/19)

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+25.00% - The Blacklist (vs. Midnight, Texas)
+25.00% - 20/20 (vs. Child Support/20/20)
+20.00% - Magnum P.I. (vs. The Dick Van Dyke Show - Now in Living Color! (Repeat))
0.00% - American Housewife (vs. Fresh Off the Boat)
0.00% - Hawaii Five-0 (vs. I Love Lucy Christmas Special (Repeat))
0.00% - Fresh Off the Boat (vs. Speechless)
0.00% - The 88th Annual Hollywood Christmas Parade
-12.50% - WWE SmackDown (vs. Various)
-37.50% - Dateline NBC


Here are the highlights of the 13 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (12/14/18):

FOX (3.734 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.8, #1) took home the adults 18-49 crown for the 12th consecutive Friday with its mix of "Last Man Standing" (5.470 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.0, #1), "The Cool Kids" (4.176 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T2) and "Hell's Kitchen" (2.645 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.7, #4).

NBC (3.867 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.7, #2) then was a close second with a new "Midnight, Texas" (2.432 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T10) alongside a two-hour "Dateline NBC" (4.585 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T2).

Next up was CBS (5.464 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.5, #3) with its lineup of "I Love Lucy Christmas Special" (5.863 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T5), "The Dick Van Dyke Show - Now in Living Color!" (5.299 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T7) and a repeat "Blue Bloods" (5.233 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T7).

Meanwhile, ABC (2.507 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #4) offered up the fall finales of "Fresh Off the Boat" (2.991 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T5) and "Speechless" (2.162 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T10), the season finale of "Child Support" (1.932 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.3, #12) and a new "20/20" (3.013 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T7).

And finally, The CW (1.021 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.2, #5) closed out the night with its telecast of "The 87th Annual Hollywood Christmas Parade" (1.021 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.2, #13).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+60.00% - Dateline NBC
0.00% - Fresh Off the Boat
0.00% - Midnight, Texas
-9.09% - Last Man Standing
-11.11% - The Cool Kids
-20.00% - Speechless
-22.22% - Hell's Kitchen
-28.57% - 20/20
-40.00% - Child Support (vs. 11/30/18)

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+75.00% - Hell's Kitchen (vs. The Exorcist)
+25.00% - Last Man Standing (vs. Hell's Kitchen)
+20.00% - Fresh Off the Boat (vs. Once Upon a Time)
0.00% - The Cool Kids (vs. Hell's Kitchen)
0.00% - 20/20
-11.11% - Dateline NBC
-20.00% - Speechless (vs. Once Upon a Time)
-33.33% - The 87th Annual Hollywood Christmas Parade
-40.00% - Child Support (vs. Marvel's Agents of SHIELD)
-42.86% - Midnight, Texas (vs. Blindspot)

In late-night metered market ratings (via NBC's press release):

· In Nielsen's 56 metered markets, household results were: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," 1.8/5; "Late Show with Stephen Colbert," 2.6/7; and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.5/4 with an encore.

· In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," 0.5/3; "Late Show," 0.3/2; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.4/2 with an encore.

· From 12:35-1:05 a.m. ET, ABC's "Nightline" averaged a 1.1/3 in metered-market households and a 0.3/2 in 18-49 in the Local People Meters.

· From 12:35-1:35 a.m. ET, ratings were: "Late Night with Seth Meyers," 1.1/4 in metered-market households with an encore; CBS's "Late Late Show," 1.2/4 with an encore. In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, averages were: "Late Night," 0.3/2 in 18-49 with an encore; "Late Late Show," 0.1/1 with an encore.

· At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.7/3 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.1/1 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Source: Nielsen Media Research





  [january 2026]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
    


· SHOWATCH
(series past and present)
· DEVWATCH
(series in development)
· MOVIEWATCH
(tv movies and mini-series)





most recent ratings | view all posts
[01/21/26 - 10:58 AM]
ABC's Tuesday Dramas Soar with Midseason Premieres
In fact, "High Potential" and "Will Trent" were the top two scripted programs of the week among Total Viewers.

[01/20/26 - 01:01 PM]
Netflix: What We Watched the Second Half of 2025
"KPop Demon Hunters" took the world by storm, breaking records as our most-watched title over a six-month period with 482M views.

[01/20/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of January 12 - "The Rip" Confiscates the No. 1 Spot in This Week's Top 10
Mistrust was the theme of the week, as viewers put the murder-mystery thriller "His & Hers" at No. 1 on the English TV list with 29.5 million views.

[01/16/26 - 01:08 PM]
"20/20" Is the Most-Watched Program Across Broadcast and Cable on Friday Night - Scoring Largest Viewership in Over 7 Months
For the second week in a row, "20/20" posted Total Viewers increases versus the previous week and the corresponding year-ago telecast.

[01/15/26 - 01:38 PM]
"Live with Kelly and Mark" Christmas Week Shoots to a Season High Among Total Viewers - Scoring Show's Best Performance in 10 Months
"Live" has now ranked as the No. 1 talk show in syndication for 152 consecutive weeks across all key measures.

[01/13/26 - 03:02 PM]
2025-26 College Football Playoff Semifinals Averaging 14.9 Million Viewers, On Par with 2024-25 Season
The Peach Bowl (Oregon vs. Indiana) drew 18 million viewers on average, while the Fiesta Bowl (Miami vs. Ole Miss) scored 15.8 million viewers.

[01/13/26 - 02:30 PM]
FOX Sports Holds Winning Hand Leading All Networks in Viewership on Wild Card Weekend
41 million viewers watched FOX Sports' presentation of Sunday's NFC Wild Card Round showdown featuring the San Francisco 49ers' win over the Philadelphia Eagles.

[01/13/26 - 02:26 PM]
31.61 Million Viewers for Packers-Bears Playoff on Prime Video Shatters NFL Streaming Record
According to Amazon first-party viewership data, Packers-Bears attracted the most concurrent viewers and highest single-day global viewership in the history of Prime Video.

[01/13/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of January 5 - "People We Meet on Vacation" Takes a Trip to No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
In addition to a will they, won't they romance, viewers were sucked into the he said, she said intrigue of "His & Hers," putting the thriller series at No. 1 on the English TV list with 19.9 million views.

[01/12/26 - 10:30 AM]
ESPN Studio Shows' Deliver Records, Multiyear Highs in 2025
ESPN's daily sports studio shows enjoyed remarkable viewership success in 2025, with "Get Up," "First Take" and "The Pat McAfee Show" delivering their most-watched years ever and "SportsCenter" (6 p.m. ET) delivering its most watched year in a decade.

[01/12/26 - 10:01 AM]
WWE by the Numbers: Celebrating One Year on Netflix
In 2025, Netflix members watched 525M hours of WWE content.

[01/09/26 - 08:47 AM]
ESPN's Second Most-Watched NBA Regular Season Ever
Through 21 games, the NBA on ESPN networks is averaging 2.6M viewers, up 35 percent from last season.

[01/08/26 - 02:00 PM]
ESPN Networks Deliver Record-Breaking Viewership for 2025-26 FCS Playoffs and Championship
The 2026 FCS Championship Game averaged 2.3 million viewers on ESPN, ranking as the third-best FCS Championship audience ever.

[01/08/26 - 01:17 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in All Key Demos
In fact, "Nightline" is ranking No. 1 in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 for the 3rd straight year.

[01/08/26 - 01:16 PM]
ABC News' Primetime Special "The Year: 2025" Earns Nearly 4 Million Total Viewers - Growing by Double Digits Over Last Year in Multiplatform Viewing
The 15th annual year-end special earned 3.857 million Total Viewers, growing impressively over last year's performance by +37% (vs. 2.818 million), after three days of viewing on ABC, Disney+, Hulu and digital platforms.