or


[02/20/21 - 08:01 AM]
Friday's Broadcast Ratings: ABC, CBS & FOX Share Demo Honors
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 (2/19/21):

CBS (4.964 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T1) was the top draw on Friday thanks to originals from "MacGyver" (4.839 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2) and "Magnum P.I." (5.780 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2) plus a repeat "Blue Bloods" (4.274 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T5).

ABC (3.540 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T1) shared in the demo honors with "Shark Tank" (4.438 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #1) and "20/20" (3.092 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T5) as did FOX (2.071 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T1) and "WWE SmackDown" (2.071 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2).

Next up was NBC (3.081 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #4) with a new "The Blacklist" (3.258 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #8) alongside night two of "The Widower" (2.992 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T5).

And finally, The CW (7.220 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5) closed out the night with "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (0.836 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.2, #9), a repeat "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (0.696 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T10) and "Penn & Teller: Fool Us" (0.679 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T10).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+100.00% - Whose Line Is It Anyway? (vs. 2/5/21)
0.00% - Magnum P.I.
0.00% - MacGyver
0.00% - WWE SmackDown
0.00% - The Blacklist
0.00% - Penn & Teller: Fool Us (vs. 2/5/21)
-14.29% - Shark Tank
-20.00% - The Widower (vs. 2/18/21)
-33.33% - 20/20

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+33.33% - Shark Tank (vs. Fresh Off the Boat/Fresh Off the Boat)
0.00% - Whose Line Is It Anyway? (vs. Charmed)
0.00% - Penn & Teller: Fool Us (vs. Dynasty)
0.00% - 20/20 (vs. 20/20 (Repeat))
-16.67% - Magnum P.I. (vs. Hawaii Five-0)
-16.67% - MacGyver
-25.00% - The Blacklist (vs. Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector)
-28.57% - WWE SmackDown
-33.33% - The Widower (vs. Dateline NBC)


Here are the highlights of the 11 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (2/21/20):

FOX (2.490 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.7, #1) was the demo champ on Friday with its weekly telecast of "WWE SmackDown" (2.490 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.7, #1).

CBS (5.857 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T2) was a close second with originals from "MacGyver" (5.864 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T2) and "Hawaii Five-0" (6.535 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T2) plus a repeat "Blue Bloods" (5.172 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T5).

Sharing the silver was NBC (3.619 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T2) with a new "Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector" (3.598 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T7) and a two-hour "Dateline NBC" (3.629 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T2).

Meanwhile, ABC (2.667 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #4) offered up the penultimate "Fresh Off the Boat" (2.998 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T5), the final "Fresh Off the Boat" (2.397 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T7) and a repeat "20/20" (2.652 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T7).

And finally, new episodes from "Charmed" (0.615 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.2, #10) and "Dynasty" (0.324 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.1, #11) closed out the night on The CW (0.470 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+33.33% - Fresh Off the Boat (vs. 1/31/20)
0.00% - WWE SmackDown
0.00% - Dateline NBC
0.00% - Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector
0.00% - Charmed (vs. 2/7/20)
0.00% - Dynasty (vs. 2/7/20)
-14.29% - Hawaii Five-0
-14.29% - MacGyver

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+16.67% - WWE SmackDown (vs. Various)
+9.09% - Dateline NBC (vs. The Blacklist/Dateline NBC)
0.00% - Charmed (vs. Whose Line Is It Anyway? (Repeats))
-16.67% - Fresh Off the Boat - 8:00
-20.00% - Fresh Off the Boat - 8:30 (vs. Speechless)
-25.00% - Hawaii Five-0
-25.00% - MacGyver
-33.33% - Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector (vs. The Blacklist)
-50.00% - Dynasty (vs. Penn & Teller: Fool Us (Repeat))

Source: Nielsen Media Research





  [july 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
[07/09/26 - 04:15 PM]
FOX Sports Scores Most-Watched FIFA Men's World Cup Round of 16 in English-Language U.S. History
Round of 16 coverage averaged 14.465 million viewers.

[07/09/26 - 03:12 PM]
History Made on FOX: 33.086 Million Viewers for Belgium-USMNT - Most-Watched Soccer Telecast in U.S. on Record
The broadcast reached a peak audience of 41.033 million viewers from 9:15-9:30 PM ET.

[07/09/26 - 03:08 PM]
TNT Sports Delivers Its Most-Watched Start Ever for MLB Tuesday
TNT Sports' coverage of the 2026 MLB regular season is averaging 466,000 viewers across TBS, truTV and HBO Max through its first half of the season (15 games), up 21% vs. 2025.

[07/09/26 - 12:48 PM]
TNT Sports & DAZN Deliver Strong Cross-Platform Audience & Engagement for Inaugural "The Fight" Event
The live championship card peaked with 820,000 viewers on TNT, truTV and DAZN from 11:45 p.m.-12 a.m. ET during the main event.

[07/09/26 - 12:42 PM]
Women's Sports Sundays on ESPN Drives Strong Audience Growth Across WNBA and AUSL
The Indiana Fever vs. Las Vegas Aces matchup on Sunday, July 5, averaged 1.6 million viewers on ESPN, peaking with 1.8 million viewers.

[07/09/26 - 08:00 AM]
Nearly 50 Million Viewers Tune in for Epic 24-Hour "Disney Celebrates America" July 4th Programming Event
The live three-hour special "Nashville's Star-Spangled Bash" delivered 5.435 million Total Viewers and a 0.83 rating among Adults 18-49.

[07/08/26 - 04:07 PM]
FOX Saturday Baseball Sweeps with Most-Watched Regular Season Game Since 2021
3,335,000 viewers tuned in on July 4 for a two-game slate highlighted by the Cardinals victory over the Cubs.

[07/08/26 - 03:53 PM]
FOX Scores Eye-Popping 21.742 Million Viewers for Mexico-England FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16 Thriller
The telecast reached a peak audience of 25.715 million viewers from 10:15-10:30 PM ET.

[07/08/26 - 03:27 PM]
FOX Delivers Most-Watched MLB All-Star Game Selection Show Since Its Inception in 2007
5,897,000 viewers tuned into the telecast on Saturday.

[07/08/26 - 03:13 PM]
15.619 Million Viewers Watch FIFA World Cup 2026 Instant Classic - Messi's Argentina vs. Cinderella Story Cabo Verde on FOX
Coverage reached a peak viewership with 22.958 million viewers from 8:30-8:45 PM ET.

[07/08/26 - 02:15 PM]
FOX IndyCar Drives Double-Digit Viewership Increase at Mid-Ohio
1,344,000 viewers watched Mexico's Pato O'Ward score his first victory of the season Sunday.

[07/08/26 - 12:01 PM]
Top 10 Most-Watched Prime Original Films & Series for the Week of June 29
"Elle," "Off Campus," "Every Year After," "Clarkson's Farm," and "Spider-Noir" led all original series worldwide.

[07/08/26 - 10:00 AM]
Championship June Drives Big Viewership Increases for ESPN Studio Shows
Events including the NBA Finals and Draft, the Stanley Cup Final, the Men's and Women's College World Series, FIFA World Cup and more captured the June sports scene and drove the content and discussion in ESPN's studio shows.

[07/07/26 - 02:09 PM]
FOX Scores 11.107 Million Viewers for Portugal-Croatia - Most-Watched Non-USMNT FIFA Men's World Cup Telecast in English-Language U.S. History Excluding a Final
Said coverage hit a peak viewership of 16.023 million viewers from 8:45 - 9:00 PM ET.

[07/07/26 - 11:27 AM]
FOX Sports Sets All-Time U.S. Soccer Viewership Record with 30 Million Watching Belgium-USMNT
The network's coverage reached a peak audience of 36.895 million viewers from 9:15-9:30 PM ET.