or


[09/12/20 - 09:46 AM]
Friday's Broadcast Ratings: FOX, "SmackDown" Hold Onto Demo Crown
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 (9/11/20):

FOX (2.261 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #1) was still the demo champ on Friday with its weekly telecast of "WWE SmackDown" (2.261 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #1).

The silver went to ABC (3.284 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.5, #2) with its duo of "9/11 Remembered: The Day We Came Together" (2.790 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T6) and "20/20" (3.532 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2).

Next up was CBS (2.422 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #3) and its mix of "MacGyver" (2.804 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T4), "Love Island" (1.797 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2) and "Blue Bloods" (2.664 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T6).

Meanwhile, NBC (1.895 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.3, #4) served up "America's Got Talent" (1.815 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T6) and "Dateline NBC" (2.055 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T4).

And finally, repeats of "Masters of Illusion" (0.684 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T9) and another "Masters of Illusion" (0.551 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T9) led into a new "Being Rueben" (0.258 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.0, #T11) and the season finale of "Being Rueben" (0.225 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.0, #T11) to round out the night on The CW (0.429 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
#DIV/0! - Being Rueben - 9:00
#DIV/0! - Being Rueben - 9:30
+150.00% - 20/20 (vs. 8/28/20)
+66.67% - Love Island
0.00% - WWE SmackDown
-20.00% - Dateline NBC (vs. 5/15/20)

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+100.00% - WWE SmackDown (vs. Various)
+42.86% - 20/20 (vs. Reef Break/20/20)
+25.00% - Love Island (vs. Magnum P.I. (Repeat))
-14.29% - 9/11 Remembered: The Day We Came Together (vs. American Housewife/Fresh Off the Boat (Repeats))
-33.33% - Dateline NBC
-100.00% - Being Rueben - 9:00 (vs. Red Bull Peaking)
-100.00% - Being Rueben - 9:30 (vs. Red Bull Peaking)


Here are the highlights of the 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (9/13/19):

NBC (2.823 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #1) was the demo champ for the third consecutive Friday with its duo of "American Ninja Warrior" (2.539 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.5, #2) and "Dateline NBC" (3.390 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #1).

CBS (3.962 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.4, #2) then was the silver draw with its repeat mix of "Hawaii Five-0" (3.860 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3), "Magnum P.I." (3.836 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3) and "Blue Bloods" (4.191 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T7).

Next up was ABC (2.245 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T3) with repeats of "American Housewife" (2.349 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3) and "Fresh Off the Boat" (1.909 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T7) followed by the season finale of "Reef Break" (2.075 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T7) and a new "20/20" (2.531 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3).

Meanwhile, FOX (0.993 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T3) offered up encores of "BH90210" (0.927 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T7) and "MasterChef" (1.058 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T7).

And finally, The CW (0.339 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5) closed out the night with the special "EA Sports Madden NFL 20 Classic" (0.434 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T12) followed by the premiere of "Red Bull Peaking" (0.250 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T12) and a second "Red Bull Peaking" (0.239 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T12).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
0.00% - Dateline NBC
0.00% - Reef Break (vs. 9/5/19)
-20.00% - 20/20

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
-14.29% - Dateline NBC
-20.00% - 20/20
-25.00% - Reef Break (vs. Child Support (Repeat))
-50.00% - EA Sports Madden NFL 20 Classic (vs. Masters of Illusion)
-50.00% - Red Bull Peaking - 9:00 (vs. Penn & Teller: Fool Us (Repeat))
-50.00% - Red Bull Peaking - 9:30 (vs. Penn & Teller: Fool Us (Repeat))

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," 1.5/4 with an encore telecast; "Late Show with Stephen Colbert," 1.8/5 with an encore; and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.3/4 with an encore.

· In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," 0.4/3 with an encore; "Late Show," 0.2/2 with an encore; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.3/2 with an encore.

· From 12:35-1:05 a.m. ET, ABC's "Nightline" averaged a 0.9/3 in metered-market households and a 0.2/2 in 18-49 in the Local People Meters.

· From 12:35-1:35 a.m. ET, ratings were: "Late Night with Seth Meyers," 0.9/3 in metered-market households with an encore; CBS's "Late Late Show," 0.9/3 with an encore. In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, averages were: "Late Night," 0.2/2 in 18-49 with an encore; "Late Late Show," 0.1/1 with an encore.

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.