or


[12/21/19 - 08:29 AM]
Friday's Broadcast Ratings: "WWE SmackDown" Continues Demo Reign
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 12 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (12/20/19):

FOX (2.414 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.7, #1) continued its demo reign on Friday with its weekly presentation of "WWE SmackDown" (2.414 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.7, #1).

The most-watched network then was CBS (4.431 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T2) with repeats of "I Love Lucy Christmas Special" (4.892 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2), "Magnum P.I." (3.823 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T4) and "Blue Bloods" (4.578 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T4).

Next up was ABC (2.815 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T2) and its pairing of "Celebrating Marvel's Stan Lee" (2.528 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T4) and a two-hour "20/20" (2.958 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T4).

Meanwhile, NBC (2.659 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T2) served up the "Global Citizen Prize" (1.849 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.3, #8) alongside its own two-hour "Dateline NBC" (3.064 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2).

And finally, repeats of "Penn & Teller: Fool Us" (0.903 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.2, #9), "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (0.669 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T10) and another "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (0.605 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T10) closed out the night on The CW (0.770 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
0.00% - WWE SmackDown
0.00% - Dateline NBC
-20.00% - 20/20

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+75.00% - WWE SmackDown (vs. Various)
+11.11% - Dateline NBC (vs. Various)
-20.00% - 20/20 (vs. Various)
-25.00% - Global Citizen Prize (vs. Midnight, Texas)
-42.86% - Celebrating Marvel's Stan Lee (vs. I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown (Repeat))


Here are the highlights of the 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (12/21/18):

CBS (4.261 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T1) was the most-watched network on Friday with its mix of "A Home for the Holidays: The 20th Anniversary" (3.474 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2), "Hawaii Five-0" (4.111 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T9) and "Blue Bloods" (5.199 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2).

NBC (2.803 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T1) then was the number two draw with "Midnight, Texas" (2.604 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T9), a rebroadcast of "America's Got Talent: A Holiday of Champions" (2.752 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T9) and "Dateline NBC" (3.054 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2).

Next up was ABC (2.787 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T1) and its second run lineup of "I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown" (3.422 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.7, #1), "The Great Christmas Light Fight: All Stars" (2.409 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2) and "20/20" (2.531 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2).

Meanwhile, FOX (2.227 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #4) served up repeats of "Last Man Standing" (3.304 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2), "The Cool Kids" (2.731 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2) and "Hell's Kitchen" (1.437 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T9).

And finally, a new "Dynasty" (0.675 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T13) and a repeat "Penn & Teller: Fool Us" (0.728 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T13) rounded out the night on The CW (0.702 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
0.00% - Midnight, Texas
-37.50% - Dateline NBC
-50.00% - Dynasty (vs. 12/7/18)

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
-33.33% - Midnight, Texas (vs. Blindspot)
-37.50% - Dateline NBC
-37.50% - A Home for the Holidays: The 20th Anniversary (vs. I Love Lucy Christmas Special (Repeat))
-50.00% - Dynasty (vs. Masters of Illusion: Christmas Magic (Repeat))

In late-night metered market ratings (via NBC's press release):

· In Nielsen's 56 metered markets, household results were: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," 1.9/5; "Late Show with Stephen Colbert," 2.6/7; and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.4/4 with an encore.

· In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," 0.5/3; "Late Show," 0.3/2; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.4/2 with an encore.

· From 12:35-1:05 a.m. ET, ABC's "Nightline" averaged a 1.0/3 in metered-market households and a 0.3/2 in 18-49 in the Local People Meters.

· From 12:35-1:35 a.m. ET, ratings were: "Late Night with Seth Meyers," 1.1/4 in metered-market households with an encore; CBS's "Late Late Show," 1.2/4 with an encore. In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, averages were: "Late Night," 0.3/2 in 18-49 with an encore; "Late Late Show," 0.1/1 with an encore.

Source: Nielsen Media Research





  [december 2019]  
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
[09/15/25 - 11:45 AM]
The "77th Emmy Awards" Delivers Its Largest Television Audience Since 2021, Up +8% from Last Year
Hosted by Nate Bargatze, the telecast was seen by more than 7.42 million viewers on the CBS Television Network and streaming on Paramount+.

[09/12/25 - 02:43 PM]
"The Groomsmen: First Look" Launches Hallmark Channel's "Fall Into Love" Seasonal Stunt with Chart-Topping Ratings
The film was the #1 most-watched entertainment cable program on Saturday among Households, Women 18+, Persons 18+, and Total Viewers.

[09/12/25 - 05:31 AM]
ESPN Networks Deliver Most-Watched WNBA Regular Season Ever
ESPN networks aired eight of the top 10 most-watched WNBA games during the 2025 season, highlighted by its most-watched WNBA game ever - 2.7 million viewers for Chicago Sky at Indiana Fever on May 17 (ABC).

[09/10/25 - 02:09 PM]
ESPN Delivers Most Viewed Tennis Telecast of the Year and Most Viewed US Open Since 2022
The Men's Championship averaged 3 million viewers on ABC, up 82% vs. 2024 while the Women's Championship averaged 2.4 million on ESPN, up 50% vs. 2024.

[09/09/25 - 03:43 PM]
On Pace for Record Year, ESPN Formula 1 Viewership Earns 10th Event High of '25 Season
F1 races are averaging 1.4M viewers this season across ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, ahead of the all-time series record average of 1.21M that was set in 2022.

[09/09/25 - 03:29 PM]
ABC Scores Three of the Top Four Best Audiences of College Football's Week 2; "College GameDay" Delivers Second Most-Watched Regular Season Show on Record
Michigan/Oklahoma (9.7 million viewers) was ABC's most-viewed Week 2 game since 2006.

[09/09/25 - 03:17 PM]
FOX's "Big Noon Saturday" & "Big Noon Kickoff" Up Big Through Week 2
Iowa-Iowa State scored 4,278,000 viewers on FOX, most-watched game in the noon window.

[09/09/25 - 02:26 PM]
NBC Sports Posts Largest Two-Game NFL Kickoff Weekend Audience in a Decade & Second Best All-Time, Averaging 26.5 Million Viewers Across NBC & Peacock
NBC's 2025 NFL Kickoff Weekend average viewership trailed only 2015, as Steelers-Patriots in NFL Kickoff '15 and Cowboys-Giants in the Sunday night opener averaged 27.2 million viewers.

[09/09/25 - 02:01 PM]
FOX NFL Delivers Most-Watched Week 1 NFL Singleheader on Any Network Since 2015
17.9 million viewers tuned in to watch Sunday's FOX NFL singleheader - the most-watched Week 1 NFL singleheader on any network since 2015.

[09/09/25 - 01:43 PM]
"20/20" Ranks No. 1 Across the Board for Friday, Sept. 5
Airing against NFL competition on YouTube and U.S. Open Tennis on ESPN, "20/20" turned in its strongest Adults 25-54 performance since June and best Total Viewer and Adults 18-49 numbers since July.

[09/09/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of September 1: "Wednesday" Season 2 Does the Dead Dance to No. 1 in Top 10
"My Life with the Walter Boys" collectively brought in another 10.9 million views, putting the series at No. 2 on the English TV list.

[09/09/25 - 07:00 AM]
TLC's "90 Day: Hunt for Love" Draws Over 11.6M Viewers Across Platforms
The series emerged as one of the network's most-watched new titles of the year and currently ranks as the #2 freshman series on cable in 2025 to date among P/W25-54.

[09/08/25 - 02:45 PM]
The "2025 MTV Video Music Awards" Delivers Its Largest Television Audience Since 2019, Up +42% from Last Year
The telecast was seen by more than 5.5 million viewers on the CBS Television Network, simulcast on MTV and streaming on Paramount+.

[09/08/25 - 09:40 AM]
Cowboys-Eagles on NBC & Peacock Is 2nd Most-Watched NFL Kickoff Game
The exciting back-and-forth put the Eagles ahead 21-20 at halftime and averaged 34.3 million viewers on NBC and Peacock from 9:30-9:45 p.m. ET (late second quarter) - marking the largest peak audience ever for an NFL Kickoff Game.

[09/05/25 - 09:01 AM]
ESPN Networks Command Historic Viewership with Second Most-Watched Labor Day Weekend in at Least 30 Years
From Saturday, August 30 through Monday, September 1, fans consumed 16.8 billion minutes across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2, up 25 percent year-over-year.