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
[07/17/25 - 01:31 PM]
Netflix: What We Watched the First Half of 2025
This report, which captures ~99% of all viewing in the first half of 2025, shows that people watched a lot of Netflix - over 95B hours - spanning a wide range of genres and languages.

[07/17/25 - 09:57 AM]
"Dexter: Resurrection" Debuts to a Killer 3.1 Million Cross-Platform Viewers
Said premiere was up 44% versus "Dexter: Original Sin" and 79% versus "Dexter: New Blood."

[07/16/25 - 04:01 PM]
ESPN Airs Another of Its Most-Watched WNBA Games Ever: Indiana Fever vs Connecticut Sun Averaged 1.7 Million Viewers, Up 48% from Last Year's ESPN Average
Said telecast peaked with 2 million viewers.

[07/15/25 - 02:06 PM]
Viewership for 2025 T-Mobile Home Run Derby Exclusively on ESPN Platforms Up Five Percent From Last Year
An average audience of 5,729,000 viewers watched the event, compared to 5,451,000 viewers in 2024.

[07/15/25 - 01:04 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 vs. CBS' "After Midnight" and NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers" for 2nd Consecutive Week
"Nightline" posted Total Viewer gains both week to week and year to year.

[07/15/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of July 7: "KPop Demon Hunters" Spends Another Golden Week at No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
"The Sandman's" second season entered the Top 10 in 89 countries last week, while claiming the No. 1 spot in English TV with 5.9 million views.

[07/15/25 - 09:04 AM]
ABC Airs Another of Its Most-Watched WNBA Games Ever: Dallas Wings vs Indiana Fever Averaged 2.1 Million Viewers, Up 69% from Last Year's ABC Average
Said audience peaked with 2.5 million viewers.

[07/14/25 - 06:08 PM]
"Celebrity Family Feud" Returns with Best Premiere in Three Years
Overall, the season 11 premiere notched the show's best performance for any telecast in Total Viewers (4.16 million) and Adults 18-49 (0.42 rating) since 8/28/22 and 8/13/23, respectively.

[07/14/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix and MVP's Taylor-Serrano 3 Goes the Distance with Nearly 6 Million Global Viewers
In the US, an estimated AMA of 4.2 million viewers tuned in to the main event (Live+1) according to VideoAmp and Netflix, making it the most-watched professional women's sports event of 2025.

[07/11/25 - 12:45 PM]
ABC Concludes September to May Season with Top Five Shows Among Adults 18-49 Including "High Potential," "Abbott Elementary," "The Rookie," "Shifting Gears" and "9-1-1"
Continuing to lead among broadcast series, ABC's "High Potential" stood as the No. 1 new drama among Total Viewers (16.41 million) and No. 1 new show among Adults 18-49 (3.85 rating).

[07/11/25 - 11:28 AM]
"Big Brother: Summer of Mystery" Premiere Up +10% from Last Summer
Last night, season 27 premiered to nearly 3 million viewers.

[07/09/25 - 03:03 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 vs. CBS' "After Midnight" and NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers"
"Nightline" saw gains on the same week last year in Total Viewers (+3% - 663,000 vs. 644,000) and Adults 18-49 (+4% - 96,000 vs. 92,000).

[07/08/25 - 06:05 PM]
ESPN Formula 1 Coverage Enjoying Record-Breaking Season of Viewership
11 of 12 races held so far this season have had year-over-year viewership growth and seven of the 12 have set event viewership records.

[07/08/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of June 30: "Squid Game" Season 3 Leads Top 10 Globally, Climbs to No. 3 on Most Popular
Plus: "The Waterfront" maintained its Top 10 empire as the No. 1 English show in its third week with 5.6 million views.

[07/08/25 - 06:30 AM]
New AMC/AMC+ Epic Adventure Drama "Nautilus" Surfaces with 2.6 Million Premiere Night Viewers on Linear TV
The highly anticipated series premiered on Sunday, June 29 on AMC and AMC+, with new episodes premiering weekly on Sundays until the thrilling two-episode season finale on August 17.