or


[08/08/20 - 08:29 AM]
Friday's Broadcast Ratings: FOX, "WWE SmackDown" Lead 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 12 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (8/7/20):

FOX (1.956 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #1) took home another demo victory on Friday thanks to "WWE SmackDown" (1.956 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.5, #1).

NBC (2.851 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T2) and ABC (2.221 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T2) shared the silver with their repeats of "The Wall" (2.263 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T5) and "Dateline NBC" (3.145 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T2); and "Shark Tank" (2.665 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T2) and "20/20" (1.999 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T5), respectively.

Next up was CBS (3.564 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.3, #4) with a new "The Greatest #AtHome Videos" (3.736 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T2) alongside repeats of "Magnum P.I." (3.261 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T5) and "Blue Bloods" (3.695 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T5).

And finally, The CW (0.376 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5) rounded out the night with a new "Masters of Illusion" (0.555 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T9), a repeat "Masters of Illusion" (0.480 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T9), the premiere of "Being Rueben" (0.253 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.0, #T11) and a second "Being Rueben" (0.215 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.0, #T11).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
0.00% - WWE SmackDown
0.00% - The Greatest #AtHome Videos
-50.00% - Masters of Illusion (vs. 7/17/20)

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
0.00% - WWE SmackDown (vs. Various)
0.00% - The Greatest #AtHome Videos (vs. Hawaii Five-0 (Repeat))
-50.00% - Masters of Illusion
-100.00% - Being Rueben - 9:00 (vs. Hypnotize Me (Repeat))
-100.00% - Being Rueben - 9:30 (vs. Hypnotize Me (Repeat))


Here are the highlights of the 13 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (8/9/19):

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Some high rated local pre-season NFL games (across all networks) are included here but will be excluded from Officials.]

NBC (2.787 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T1) and FOX (1.952 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T1) led the demo race on Friday with the latter offering up repeats of "BH90210" (1.997 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T1) and "MasterChef" (1.908 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T1).

The Peacock then served up second runs of "American Ninja Warrior" (2.657 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T1) and "Dateline NBC" (3.047 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T1).

Next up was CBS (3.673 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3) and its all-repeat lineup of "Hawaii Five-0" (3.610 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T7), "Magnum P.I." (3.476 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T7) and "Blue Bloods" (3.932 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T7).

Meanwhile, ABC (2.335 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3) offered up the special "WE Day" (1.705 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.3, #10) alongside the return of "What Would You Do?" (2.570 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T1) and a repeat "20/20" (2.729 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T1).

And finally, new episodes of "Masters of Illusion" (0.701 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.2, #11) and "The Big Stage" (0.575 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T12) plus a repeat "Hypnotize Me" (0.503 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T12) rounded out the night on The CW (0.571 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
0.00% - Masters of Illusion
0.00% - The Big Stage

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
0.00% - What Would You Do?
-14.29% - WE Day (vs. Fresh Off the Boat/Speechless (Repeats))
-33.33% - Masters of Illusion
-66.67% - The Big Stage (vs. Masters of Illusion (Repeat))

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

Late-night metered market results for Friday night are currently unavailable.

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
[01/13/26 - 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.

[01/07/26 - 12:32 PM]
Bowl Season on ESPN Networks Delivers Strongest Audience Since 2015-16
ABC delivered its largest non CFP bowl audience in 12 years, averaging 6.2 million viewers across six games.

[01/07/26 - 09:29 AM]
In 2025, Fans Power ESPN and "ESPN on ABC" to Its Most-Watched Year in Over a Decade
ESPN networks increased industry-leading sports share to 35 percent, up from 31 percent in 2024.

[01/06/26 - 03:18 PM]
FOX NFL Rings in Best Regular Season Since 2015
The regular season averaged 19.633 million viewers for the network.

[01/06/26 - 03:00 PM]
Record-Setting Season as "Sunday Night Football" on NBC and Peacock Averages 23.5 Million Viewers & Paces as Primetime's #1 Show for Unprecedented 15th Consecutive Year
"Sunday Night Football" averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 23.5 million viewers for the 2025 season.

[01/06/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of December 29 - "Stranger Things 5" Concludes Right Side Up at No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
At No. 2 on the English TV list with 12.7 million views is the new Harlan Coben mystery series "Run Away," centered on a father desperate for clues about his missing daughter while a string of related murders heightens the urgency to find her.