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





  [october 2025]  
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
[10/21/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of October 13: "The Woman in Cabin 10" Sails Smoothly to No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
In the final stretch to Halloween, those lured in by the story of the OG horror villain put "Monster: The Ed Gein Story" at No. 1 on the English TV list with 9.5 million views.

[10/17/25 - 01:16 PM]
"Live with Kelly and Mark" Hits Season Highs with Best Audience Performance Since July
"Live" has now ranked as the No. 1 talk show in syndication for 139 consecutive weeks across all key measures.

[10/17/25 - 10:38 AM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Continues Historic Hot Streak - Rising for Fourth Straight Week Since Premiere with 6 Million Total Viewers
Plus: "High Potential" dominated the 10 p.m. hour with 4.15 million Total Viewers and a 0.33 rating among Adults 18-49.

[10/16/25 - 06:01 AM]
ESPN's Monumental 2025 WNBA Season Sets New Viewership Records
Across all networks, the 2025 WNBA Postseason was the most-viewed since 1999.

[10/15/25 - 04:02 PM]
"20/20" Is Friday's No. 1 Program on Broadcast TV
"20/20" increased its lead week to week over "Dateline" in Total Viewers to post its largest of the season.

[10/15/25 - 04:01 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49, Leading NBC in All Key Demos for the 3rd Straight Week
"Nightline" saw double-digit gains in the year-ago week in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49.

[10/14/25 - 03:06 PM]
ESPN Records the Most-Watched WNBA Postseason Ever Across Its Networks
Across 24 games, the '25 WNBA postseason averaged 1.2 million viewers, up 5% from last year.

[10/14/25 - 03:03 PM]
"College GameDay Built by The Home Depot" Delivers Most-Watched West Coast Episode Ever; ESPN College Football on ABC Scores Top Three Programs Across All Networks and Content for Saturday, Oct. 11
The Texas Longhorns' upset victory over the Oklahoma Sooners averaged 8.7 million viewers.

[10/14/25 - 02:50 PM]
ALCS Game 1 on FOX and FOX Deportes Draws 5.3 Million Viewers
The Mariners victory over the Blue Jays averaged 5,310,000 viewers across FOX, FOX Deportes and FOX Sports streaming services.

[10/14/25 - 02:39 PM]
FOX Sports Delivers Most-Watched LDS on FOX/FS1 Since Launch of Postseason Baseball on FS1 in 2014
On Friday, 8,723,000 viewers tuned in for the Mariners' historic 15-inning ALDS Game 5 victory.

[10/14/25 - 02:15 PM]
"Sunday Night Football" Registers Record Fourth Blockbuster Audience of 25+ Million Viewers This Season, As Lions-Chiefs Averages 27.3 Million Viewers on NBC & Peacock
Lions-Chiefs averaged 27.3 million viewers across NBC and Peacock, based on official Nielsen Big Data + Panel and digital data from Adobe Analytics, marking the second-most watched October audience in the history of NBC "SNF."

[10/14/25 - 01:45 PM]
ABC Wednesday Comedies Return Strong for New Seasons
"Shifting Gears" earned the biggest audience since the show's Valentine's Day episode; while "Abbott Elementary" jumped over the show's season four premiere among Total Viewers as well as the season four average.

[10/14/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of October 6: "The Woman in Cabin 10" Rocks the Boat as No. 1 Debut in This Week's Top 10
In the spirit of the season of chills, "Monster: The Ed Gein Story" claimed the No. 1 spot on the English TV list, rising to the top in its second week with 20.7 million views.

[10/10/25 - 03:07 PM]
3,287,000 Viewers Tuned in on Average Through Game 4 of the ALDS Across FOX, FS1 and FS2
Through Game 4, coverage of the ALDS across FOX, FS1 and FS2 is up +11% from 2024 and +31% over 2023.

[10/10/25 - 09:04 AM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Scores Historic Growth in Week Four
"Dancing with the Stars" rose for the third straight week following its season premiere, for the first time in the show's history, in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.