or


[11/28/20 - 08:32 AM]
Friday's Broadcast Ratings: "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" Leads the Night for NBC
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 13 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (11/27/20):

NBC (3.246 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T1) was the top overall draw on Friday with its mix of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (3.736 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T1), "Illumination Presents Minions Holiday Special" (3.229 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T1) and a repeat "Dateline NBC" (3.127 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T3).

FOX (1.987 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T1) shared in the demo honors with its telecast of "WWE SmackDown" (1.987 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T3).

Next up was ABC (2.463 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #3) and its duo of "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" (2.787 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T3) and "20/20" (2.301 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T7).

Meanwhile, CBS (2.487 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.3, #4) offered up its lineup of "Frosty the Snowman" (3.021 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T3), "Frosty Returns" (2.267 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T7) and "CBS Sunday Morning: The Pet Project" (2.134 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T9) plus a repeat "Blue Bloods" (2.683 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T9).

And finally, The CW (0.919 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5) closed out the night with the Thursday-bound "World's Funniest Animals" (1.022 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T12), a repeat "World's Funniest Animals" (1.017 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T12) and "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" (0.818 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.2, #11).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
0.00% - World's Funniest Animals
-16.67% - WWE SmackDown
-20.00% - 20/20

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+40.00% - Illumination Presents Minions Holiday Special (vs. The National Dog Show Presented by Purina (Repeat))
-25.00% - CBS Sunday Morning: The Pet Project (vs. Hawaii Five-0 (Repeat))
-28.57% - WWE SmackDown
-33.33% - 20/20
-50.00% - World's Funniest Animals (vs. Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer (Repeat))


Here are the highlights of the 12 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (11/29/19):

FOX (2.336 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.7, #1) won the demo race on Friday with its telecast of "WWE SmackDown" (2.336 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T1).

CBS (3.839 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2) then was the most-watched network with its mix of "Frosty the Snowman" (4.043 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T1), "Frosty Returns" (3.453 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T3), "Hawaii Five-0" (3.405 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T8) and "Blue Bloods" (4.365 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T8).

Next up was ABC (3.336 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2) with originals from "American Housewife" (2.873 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T5), "Fresh Off the Boat" (2.080 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T8) and "20/20" (3.766 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T3).

Meanwhile, NBC (3.175 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2) offered up highlights from "The National Dog Show Presented by Purina" (3.305 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T5) plus a new "Dateline NBC" (2.916 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T5).

And finally, a repeat of "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" (0.941 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T11) and the new special "Penn & Teller: Merry Fool Us" (0.834 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T11) on The CW (0.887 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.2, #5) rounded out the night.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+20.00% - 20/20
0.00% - Dateline NBC
0.00% - Fresh Off the Boat
-12.50% - WWE SmackDown
-16.67% - American Housewife

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+9.09% - 20/20 (vs. Child Support (Repeat)/20/20)
0.00% - Dateline NBC
0.00% - American Housewife (vs. Child Support)
0.00% - Penn & Teller: Merry Fool Us (vs. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend)
-20.00% - Fresh Off the Boat (vs. Child Support)
-22.22% - WWE SmackDown (vs. CFB on FOX)

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

TBA

Source: Nielsen Media Research





  [june 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
[06/25/26 - 07:19 AM]
Mets-Phillies on NBC & Peacock Is Most-Watched "Sunday Night Baseball" Game Since 2013, Excluding Season Openers
Coverage on June 21 averaged 3.0 million viewers on NBC and Peacock.

[06/24/26 - 05:17 PM]
Cabo Verde-Uruguay Draws Most-Watched Soccer Telecast in FS1 History, #1 Telecast in all of TV on Sunday
6,183,000 viewers watched Sunday's 2-2 draw between Cabo Verde and Uruguay on FS1.

[06/24/26 - 04:04 PM]
FOX Saturday Baseball Drives in 2,452,000 Viewers
2,452,000 viewers tuned-in to FOX on Saturday for a two-game slate that featured Philadelphia's 15-3 victory over the Mets in most of the country.

[06/24/26 - 03:50 PM]
FOX Sports Delivers Most-Watched FIFA Men's World Cup Day in English-Language U.S. History
16,217,000 viewers watched the USMNT's 2-0 victory over Australia Friday afternoon on FOX.

[06/24/26 - 02:44 PM]
FOX IndyCar Takes Huge Leap at Road America with Nearly 2 Million Viewers
1,803,000 viewers watched Denmark's Christian Lundgaard go from last to first to win the XPEL Grand Prix from Road America Sunday on FOX.

[06/24/26 - 02:41 PM]
NBC Sports Delivers Second-Most Watched East Coast U.S. Open Since 2013
Sunday's final round coverage on NBC and Peacock (Noon-7:09 p.m. ET) averaged 5.5 million viewers.

[06/24/26 - 12:01 PM]
Top 10 Most-Watched Prime Original Films & Series for the Week of June 15
"Off Campus," "Clarkson's Farm," "Every Year After," "Spider-Noir," and "Raakh" led all original series worldwide.

[06/23/26 - 03:15 PM]
Mexico's 1-0 win vs. Korea Republic in FIFA World Cup 2026 Delivers #1 Telecast of the Day on FOX
9,361,000 viewers watched Mexico's 1-0 win over Korea Republic Thursday on FOX.

[06/23/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of June 15 - "I Will Find You" Chases Down No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
At No. 2 on the English TV list was "Outlast: The Jungle" with 3.9 million views.

[06/23/26 - 06:30 AM]
"The View" Turns in Its Most-Watched Telecast in More Than 1 1/2 Years with Guest Vice President JD Vance
3.331 million viewers tuned into the episode, the highest since its post-presidential Election Day telecast.

[06/22/26 - 02:54 PM]
Stars Align: FIFA World Cup 2026 Viewership Up +116% on FOX, FS1 & Tubi Through 24 Matches
6.776 million viewers tuned into England-Croatia on Wednesday, peaking with 8.306 million viewers.

[06/20/26 - 12:23 PM]
USMNT's 2-0 Win Over Australia Scores FOX Best Friday Afternoon Telecast on Any Broadcast Network Since 2022
14,781,000 viewers watched the USMNT blank Australia 2-0 Friday afternoon on FOX.

[06/18/26 - 02:47 PM]
Stars Shine Bright on FOX as Strong FIFA World Cup 2026 Viewership Continues
9,082,000 viewers witnessed Lionel Messi's hat trick with Argentina defeating Algeria 3-0 Tuesday on FOX.

[06/18/26 - 02:34 PM]
UFC Freedom 250 Reaches 17M Total Viewers in U.S. and Latin America on Paramount+
Since the beginning of the year, 16 million subscriber households have watched more than 180 million hours of UFC programming on Paramount+ - delivering viewership more than 20x the average pay-per-view event over the past two years.

[06/17/26 - 05:38 PM]
The June 15 Telecast of "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" Drew 1.4 Million Viewers, The Highest Audience This Year Without a Sports Lead-In
Content from the episode has already hit more than 57 million social impressions and continues to grow.