or


[01/23/21 - 09:24 AM]
Friday's Broadcast Ratings: ABC, FOX Top Demos; CBS Leads Total Viewers
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 11 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (1/22/21):

ABC (3.066 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1) and FOX (2.282 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1) shared the demo crown on Friday as the former served up "Shark Tank" (3.969 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.7, #1) and a repeat "20/20" (2.615 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T4) while the latter aired "WWE SmackDown" (2.282 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T2).

Next up was CBS (5.707 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.5, #3) with originals from "MacGyver" (4.879 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T4), "Magnum P.I." (5.659 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T2) and "Blue Bloods" (6.582 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T4).

Meanwhile, NBC (2.891 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #4) offered up the return of "The Blacklist" (3.167 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T7) and "Dateline NBC" (2.753 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T7).

And finally, The CW (0.813 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5) closed out the evening with "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (0.947 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.2, #9), a repeat "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (0.787 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T10) and "Penn & Teller: Fool Us" (0.758 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T10).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+20.00% - Magnum P.I.
0.00% - Shark Tank
0.00% - WWE SmackDown
0.00% - MacGyver
0.00% - The Blacklist (vs. 11/20/20)
0.00% - Dateline NBC (vs. 1/8/21)
0.00% - Whose Line Is It Anyway?
-16.67% - Blue Bloods (vs. 1/8/21)
-50.00% - Penn & Teller: Fool Us

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+50.00% - Magnum P.I. (vs. Magnum P.I. (Repeat))
+33.33% - The Blacklist (vs. U.S. Figure Skating Championships)
+33.33% - Dateline NBC (vs. U.S. Figure Skating Championships)
+27.27% - Shark Tank (vs. American Housewife/Fresh Off the Boat)
+25.00% - MacGyver (vs. Hawaii Five-0 (Repeat))
+25.00% - Blue Bloods (vs. Blue Bloods (Repeat))
0.00% - Whose Line Is It Anyway? (vs. Charmed)
0.00% - Penn & Teller: Fool Us (vs. Dynasty)
-14.29% - WWE SmackDown


Here are the highlights of the 10 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (1/24/20):

FOX (2.469 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.7, #1) held off the demo competition on Friday with another edition of "WWE SmackDown" (2.469 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.7, #1).

ABC (3.329 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #2) was a close second with its mix of "American Housewife" (3.404 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T2), "Fresh Off the Boat" (2.379 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.5, #4) and "20/20" (3.547 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T2).

Next up was NBC (2.390 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.3, #4) and its primetime coverage of the "U.S. Figure Skating Championships" (2.390 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.3, #8).

Meanwhile, CBS (5.146 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.4, #3) opted for repeats of "Hawaii Five-0" (5.298 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T5), "Magnum P.I." (4.968 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T5) and "Blue Bloods" (5.171 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T5).

And finally, originals from "Charmed" (0.609 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.2, #9) and "Dynasty" (0.347 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.1, #10) closed out the night on The CW (0.478 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+25.00% - Fresh Off the Boat
+20.00% - 20/20
+20.00% - American Housewife
0.00% - Charmed
0.00% - Dynasty
-12.50% - WWE SmackDown

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+16.67% - WWE SmackDown (vs. Various)
0.00% - Charmed (vs. Dynasty)
0.00% - Dynasty (vs. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend)
-14.29% - American Housewife (vs. Fresh Off the Boat)
-16.67% - Fresh Off the Boat (vs. Speechless)
-25.00% - 20/20
-25.00% - U.S. Figure Skating Championships

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
[01/23/26 - 12:44 PM]
"20/20" Improves on the Previous Week in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49, Hitting an 8-Week High in the Key Adult News Demo
"20/20" ranked No. 1 in its two-hour time period in Adults 25-54.

[01/23/26 - 12:28 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers
"Nightline" posted double-digit increases week to week in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49.

[01/23/26 - 10:31 AM]
"College GameDay Built by The Home Depot" Closes Out Historic Season with 2.6 Million Viewers Highlighting Hurricanes and Hoosiers
The six postseason GameDay shows delivered 2.4 million average viewers, up 30 percent year-over-year.

[01/23/26 - 07:37 AM]
Historic Back-to-Back Stretch: ESPN Delivers Its No. 1 and No. 8 Most-Watched Events Ever on Consecutive Days
Across Sunday and Monday, fans consumed 18.7 billion total minutes across ESPN, ABC and ESPN2 - a 28% increase from last season's Divisional Round game and Championship Monday on the same networks.

[01/22/26 - 03:39 PM]
Special Premiere of "The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins" Is the Season's Most-Watched Comedy Episode
The series drew 5.8 million viewers and a 1.4 rating in the 18-49 demo in its special premiere that aired Sunday, January 18.

[01/22/26 - 02:05 PM]
ESPN's MegaCast of the College Football Playoff National Championship Presented by AT&T Delivers 30.1 Million Viewers - The Most-Viewed College Football Game in 11 Years
The game scored 30.1 million viewers, the most-watched college football game since the inaugural CFP National Championship (33.9 million viewers, Oregon/Ohio State, 2014-15) and the second most-watched National Championship of the CFP era.

[01/22/26 - 12:48 PM]
ABC Wednesday Comedies Score with Stellar Midseason Premieres
"Shifting Gears" and "Abbott Elementary" are among top scripted shows of the week in adults 18-49.

[01/22/26 - 07:58 AM]
NBC Sports Delivers Its Most Watched NFL Divisional Playoff Game on Record as Rams-Bears Thriller Averages 45.4 Million Viewers on NBC & Peacock
The audience for Rams-Bears - which increased in every quarter hour from 8:15 p.m. ET until the game-winning score - peaked in the game's closing minutes, with an average of 52.6 million viewers from 9:45-10 pm ET.

[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.