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





  [april 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
[04/22/26 - 09:32 AM]
Record Setter! ESPN Opens 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs with Three Most-Watched First Round Games on Cable Ever, Excluding Game 7's
The Philadelphia Flyers-Pittsburgh Penguins matchup (Saturday, 8 p.m. ET) drew 2.1 million viewers, becoming the most-viewed First Round Playoff game ever on cable (excluding game 7's).

[04/22/26 - 08:51 AM]
"High Potential" Shoots to Six-Week High with Season Two Finale
On linear over seven days, the show earned 8.71 million Total Viewers and a 0.61 rating among Adults 18-49, also marking a six-week high in both measures and standing as the No. 1 show of the night.

[04/21/26 - 02:35 PM]
FOX Saturday Baseball Scores Double-Digit Year-Over-Year Growth
2,094,000 viewers tuned-in to FOX Saturday for a two-game slate highlighted by Atlanta's 3-1 victory over Philadelphia in most of the country.

[04/21/26 - 10:51 AM]
A New High! NHL on ESPN Networks Score Most-Viewed Regular Season of the Current Rights Deal
Individually, the NHL on ESPN averaged 602K viewers (38 games) and the NHL on ABC averaged 1.1 million viewers (16 games), both new highs in ESPN's current rights era.

[04/20/26 - 02:36 PM]
"The Pitt" Delivers Its Biggest Episode Yet, With the Season 2 Finale Reaching a Series-High 9.7 Million U.S. Viewers in Its First Weekend
The season is now averaging 15.4 million viewers, up 50% vs. Season 1, becoming the sixth current HBO Max series to surpass 15 million U.S. viewers.

[04/17/26 - 03:01 PM]
ABC News Is #1 on Sunday Morning and Friday Night
For the third week in a row, "20/20" built on its year-ago telecast in all key target demos: Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49.

[04/16/26 - 10:36 AM]
"American Idol" Rocks to a 5-Week High
Among Adults 18-49, "American Idol" grew over the prior week, delivering its best performance in 7 weeks.

[04/16/26 - 09:01 AM]
HBO Originals "Euphoria" and "DTF St. Louis" Viewership Performance
"Euphoria" made its much-anticipated season 3 return to amass 8.5 million U.S. viewers in its first three days of availability.

[04/15/26 - 02:03 PM]
ESPN Delivers Second Most-Watched WNBA Draft Ever
Said coverage averaged 1.50 million viewers, up 20% year-over-year.

[04/15/26 - 12:49 PM]
TNT Sports Delivers Its Most-Watched NHL on TNT Regular Season
All in, NHL coverage across TNT Sports' networks reached 20.4 million viewers this season, up 37% vs. last season.

[04/15/26 - 11:38 AM]
ESPN's Most-Watched NBA Regular Season in Seven Years
Through 80 telecasts, the 2025-26 NBA regular season on ABC & ESPN averaged 1.9 million viewers, up 11 percent from last season (1.7M viewers).

[04/15/26 - 09:30 AM]
CBS Series Deliver Strong Results vs. Broadcast and Streaming Originals in Live Plus 28-Day Multiplatform Viewership
CBS series make up six of the top 20 most-watched series among all broadcast and streaming competition - more than any broadcast competitor, according to Nielsen.

[04/15/26 - 06:32 AM]
Unscripted Prank Comedy Series "Foul Play with Anthony Davis" Scores Strong Premiere Performance with Triple Digit Gains for TBS on Monday, April 6
Following the NCAA Championship Game, the premiere reached a combined 2 million viewers across TBS, TNT and truTV.

[04/14/26 - 03:45 PM]
With Nearly 10 Million Viewers, ABC News' Special Live Coverage of Artemis II's Return, Anchored by David Muir, Is #1 Across the Board
Said coverage more than doubled NBC and CBS and eclipsed the combined viewership of CNN, Fox News and MS NOW.

[04/14/26 - 03:05 PM]
FOX Sports Scores Most-Watched Baseball Telecast of the Week
2,131,000 viewers tuned-in to FOX's Saturday baseball coverage for a two-game slate highlighted by Boston's 7-1 victory over St. Louis in most of the country.