or


[03/06/21 - 10:11 AM]
Friday's Broadcast Ratings: ABC, FOX Claim 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 (3/5/21):

ABC (3.795 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1) and FOX (2.166 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1) shared the demo crown on Friday as the former offered up new episodes of "Shark Tank" (4.465 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.7, #1) and "20/20" (3.460 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T2) while the latter served up a new installment of "WWE SmackDown" (2.166 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T2).

Next up was CBS (5.251 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.4, #3) with originals from "MacGyver" (4.360 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T5), "Magnum P.I." (5.378 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.5, #4) and "Blue Bloods" (6.016 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T5).

Meanwhile, NBC (2.785 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.3, #4) aired new episodes of "The Blacklist" (3.147 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.3, #8) and "Dateline NBC" (2.605 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T5).

And finally, The CW (0.741 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5) closed out the night with "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (0.748 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T10), a repeat "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (0.790 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.2, #9) and "Penn & Teller: Fool Us" (0.712 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T10).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+33.33% - Dateline NBC
+20.00% - WWE SmackDown
0.00% - Shark Tank
0.00% - 20/20
0.00% - Magnum P.I. (vs. 2/19/21)
0.00% - The Blacklist
0.00% - Whose Line Is It Anyway?
0.00% - Penn & Teller: Fool Us
-20.00% - Blue Bloods (vs. 2/12/21)
-20.00% - MacGyver (vs. 2/19/21)

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
0.00% - Penn & Teller: Fool Us (vs. Whose Line Is It Anyway? (Repeats))
-12.50% - Shark Tank
-14.29% - WWE SmackDown
-14.29% - 20/20
-16.67% - Magnum P.I. (vs. Hawaii Five-0)
-33.33% - Dateline NBC
-33.33% - Blue Bloods
-33.33% - MacGyver
-40.00% - The Blacklist (vs. Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector)
-50.00% - Whose Line Is It Anyway? (vs. Penn & Teller: Fool Us (Repeat))


Here are the highlights of the 11 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (3/6/20):

ABC (4.354 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T1) shared in the demo honors with new episodes from "Shark Tank" (4.372 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #1) and "20/20" (4.345 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T2).

FOX (2.453 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T1) likewise led the adults 18-49 race with "WWE SmackDown" (2.453 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T2).

Next up was CBS (6.618 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.6, #3) and its trio of "MacGyver" (5.646 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T4), "Hawaii Five-0" (6.905 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T4) and "Blue Bloods" (7.304 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T4).

Meanwhile, NBC (3.743 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #4) offered up new episodes of "Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector" (3.709 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.5, #8) and "Dateline NBC" (3.760 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T4).

And finally, The CW (0.711 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5) opted for repeats of "Penn & Teller: Fool Us" (0.843 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.2, #9), "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (0.543 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T10) and another "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (0.614 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T10) to round out the night.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+25.00% - Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector
+20.00% - Dateline NBC
+16.67% - 20/20
+14.29% - Shark Tank
0.00% - MacGyver
-12.50% - WWE SmackDown
-14.29% - Blue Bloods (vs. 2/14/20)
-14.29% - Hawaii Five-0

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+60.00% - Shark Tank (vs. Fresh Off the Boat/Speechless)
+16.67% - 20/20
+16.67% - WWE SmackDown (vs. Various)
+9.09% - Dateline NBC (vs. The Blacklist/Dateline NBC)
0.00% - Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector (vs. Blindspot)
-33.33% - Blue Bloods
-33.33% - Hawaii Five-0
-50.00% - MacGyver (vs. CBS News Special: The Gayle King Interview with R. Kelly)

Source: Nielsen Media Research, ShowBuzzDaily.com





  [november 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
[11/13/26 - 02:55 PM]
NBA on ESPN November 11 Doubleheader Delivered 1.8M Viewers, Up 29 Percent from Last Year
The Cleveland Cavaliers vs. New York Knicks matchup averaged 1.9 million viewers, while the Golden State Warriors vs. Houston Rockets matchup averaged 1.7 million viewers.

[11/13/26 - 09:54 AM]
Star-Studded "Grammy Night" on "Dancing with the Stars" Shoots to Season Highs Ahead of Semi-Finals
In fact, "Dancing with the Stars" stood as the No. 1 program overall on Tuesday among Adults 18-49 (1.59 rating).

[11/13/26 - 08:42 AM]
ABC News Wins Sunday Morning and Late-Night
"Nightline" was up over the previous week in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.

[11/12/26 - 02:30 PM]
NBC Sports' "Coast 2 Coast Tuesday" Highlighted by Celtics-76ers Delivers NBA's Largest Pre-Christmas, Non-NBA Tip-Off Tuesday Audience Ever
Viewership peaked at 4.7 million from 8:45-9:00 p.m. ET during Boston-Philadelphia.

[11/11/26 - 04:44 PM]
"Jimmy Kimmel Live" Ranks No. 1 in Late Night Every Week This Season
On Tuesday, "Jimmy Kimmel Live" marked the midterm elections with a special airing that garnered 2.38 million Total Viewers and shot to a 0.32 rating among Adults 18-49.

[11/11/26 - 03:22 PM]
Bills-Vikings Draws 21.7M Viewers, ESPN's Most-Watched Week 9 Game Ever
Nine weeks into ESPN's Super Bowl LXI season, "Monday Night Football" is averaging 19 million viewers, up 24% from the same point in the 2025 season.

[11/11/26 - 11:01 AM]
Top 10 Most-Watched Prime Original Films & Series for the Week of November 2
"The Terminal List," "Campus Drivers," "Carrie," "Reacher," and "The Greatest" led all original series worldwide.

[11/11/26 - 09:30 AM]
The 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series on The CW Network Delivers Strongest Viewership in Five Years
Coverage averaged 1,044,000 total viewers for all 33 races, per Nielsen Panel + Big Data.

[11/11/26 - 08:27 AM]
"Saturday Night Live" Reaches Two-Year High with Host Druski and Musical Guest The Strokes
The 5.6 million topped the previous week's telecast of 5.2 million viewers, which at that point was the best of the season.

[11/10/26 - 03:19 PM]
Madrid Finale Culminates NFL Network's Most-Watched International Series Slate
Sunday's Cincinnati Bengals-Atlanta Falcons game from Bernabéu Stadium averaged 6.2 million viewers on NFL Network and NFL+.

[11/10/26 - 03:10 PM]
"College GameDay Built by The Home Depot" Records Fifth-Most-Watched Episode of All Time
ESPN networks delivered three of the weekend's top five games, including the top game of the week for the eighth time this season.

[11/10/26 - 03:01 PM]
"America's Game of the Week" Delivers 25.7 Million Viewers for Packers' Dominant Win Over Patriots
Said coverage was the most-watched telecast of the week on any network.

[11/10/26 - 02:51 PM]
Notre Dame Victory Over No. 1 Miami Is Third Most-Watched Primetime Game in 35 Years of Fighting Irish Football on NBC
The audience for the Fighting Irish's 31-24 victory over No. 1 Miami peaked at 12 million viewers in the fourth quarter (11 p.m.-11:10 p.m. ET) as Notre Dame held off the Hurricanes' last-minute touchdown attempt to seal the win.

[11/10/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of November 2 - "A Dog's Perfect Christmas" Unwraps the No. 1 Spot in This Week's Top 10
"Taken: Natalee Holloway" premiered in the No. 1 spot of the English TV list, gathering 12.9 million views.

[11/09/26 - 10:58 AM]
76ers-Pistons November 4 Matchup Delivered 2M Viewers on ESPN, Up 47 Percent from Last Year
The audience peaked with 2.6M viewers during the 9:45 p.m. ET quarter hour.