or


[07/25/20 - 08:32 AM]
Friday's Broadcast Ratings: CBS Tops Viewers, FOX Leads Demos
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 (7/24/20):

FOX (1.970 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #1) was the demo champ on Friday with its latest installment from "WWE SmackDown" (1.970 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.5, #1).

CBS (3.389 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.3, #4) was the most-watched network thanks to its premiere of "The Greatest #AtHome Videos" (3.583 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T2) followed by repeats of "Magnum P.I." (3.264 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T5) and "Blue Bloods" (3.319 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T5).

Next up was NBC (2.665 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T2) with repeats of "The Wall" (2.298 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T5) and "Dateline NBC" (2.848 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T2).

ABC (2.624 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T2) likewise opted for second runs of "Shark Tank" (2.594 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T5) and "20/20" (2.639 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T2).

And finally, The CW (0.575 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5) closed out the night with repeats of "Masters of Illusion" (0.650 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T9), another "Masters of Illusion" (0.528 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T9), "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (0.535 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T9) and another "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (0.586 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T9).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
0.00% - WWE SmackDown

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+66.67% - WWE SmackDown (vs. Various)
+33.33% - The Greatest #AtHome Videos (vs. Love Island)


Here are the highlights of the 12 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (7/26/19):

CBS (2.564 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T3) was the most-watched network on another modest Friday thanks to a new "Love Island" (2.037 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T5) and repeats of "Hawaii Five-0" (2.532 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T10) and "Blue Bloods" (3.122 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T5).

NBC (2.447 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T1) and ABC (2.208 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T1) then shared in the demo honors as the former served up "American Ninja Warrior" (2.365 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T1) and "Dateline NBC" (2.611 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T1) while the latter opted for "Marvel's Agents of SHIELD" (2.155 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T1) and "20/20" (2.235 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T1).

Next up was FOX (1.386 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T3) with repeats of "First Responders Live" (1.552 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T5) and "MasterChef" (1.220 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T5).

And finally, new episodes of "Masters of Illusion" (1.189 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T5) and "The Big Stage" (0.945 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T10) plus a repeat "The Outpost" (0.719 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.1, #12) rounded out the night on The CW (0.893 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.2, #5).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+50.00% - Masters of Illusion
0.00% - Marvel's Agents of SHIELD
0.00% - The Big Stage
-20.00% - Dateline NBC
-40.00% - Love Island

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+50.00% - Masters of Illusion
0.00% - Marvel's Agents of SHIELD (vs. Quantico)
0.00% - The Big Stage (vs. Masters of Illusion (Repeat))
-25.00% - Love Island (vs. Whistleblower)
-33.33% - Dateline NBC

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

TBA

Source: Nielsen Media Research





  [july 2020]  
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
[06/05/26 - 02:00 PM]
ABC's Most-Watched NBA Finals Game 1 Since 2018 with Average Audience of Nearly 17M Viewers (16.93M)
Game 1 peaked with nearly 20M viewers (19.63M) at 11 p.m. ET.

[06/05/26 - 01:23 PM]
ABC News Is No. 1 in Total Viewers on Sunday Morning, Friday Evening and in Late-Night
"20/20" stood as Friday's No. 1 program on broadcast and the No. 2 program on all of broadcast and cable in all key target demos on May 29.

[06/04/26 - 03:03 PM]
"The Mystery of Richard Simmons - A Diane Sawyer Special" Soars Over 10 Million Total Multiplatform Viewers Across ABC, Disney+ and Hulu
On its encore telecast on Monday, "The Mystery of Richard Simmons - A Diane Sawyer Special" averaged 2.704 million Total Viewers and ranked as the night's No. 1 program on broadcast.

[06/03/26 - 11:01 AM]
"Saturday Night Live" Season 51 Was #1 Among All Broadcast Comedy Series in the 18-49 Demo and #2 Among All Entertainment Series
The most-watched telecast of the season across all platforms was 10.1 million viewers on December 20 with host Ariana Grande and musical guest Cher.

[06/03/26 - 07:00 AM]
Fans Power UFL on ESPN to Significant Viewership Growth Across 10-Week Regular Season
ABC alone accounted for eight of the top 10 most-watched games.

[06/03/26 - 06:00 AM]
TNT Sports Caps Its Most Watched NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs with Its Most Watched Conference Final Ever
The record-setting series helped propel TNT Sports' overall coverage of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs to an average of 1.4 million viewers across TNT, TBS, truTV and HBO Max, up 50% from 2025 through the Conference Final.

[06/02/26 - 04:06 PM]
NBC and Peacock Deliver Most-Watched Conference Finals Game Since 2016 with 15.9 Million Viewers for Spurs-Thunder Game 7 on Saturday Night
Across 28 playoff games, NBC Sports' presentation of the 2026 NBA Playoffs averaged 7.2 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, up 72% versus comparable coverage last season.

[06/02/26 - 02:36 PM]
ESPN's WCWS Viewership Success Continues
Texas Tech-UCLA averaged 2.0 million viewers, with a peak of 2.6 million.

[06/02/26 - 02:13 PM]
FOX IndyCar Continues Ratings Growth with Strong Detroit Performance
Through eight races, IndyCar on FOX is averaging 2,241,000 viewers, up +12% from 2025 (2,007,000).

[06/02/26 - 02:00 PM]
FOX MLB's "Baseball Night in America" Delivers Most-Watched Baseball Telecast of the Week
2,322,000 viewers tuned-in to FOX for a two-game slate highlighted by the Cubs' 6-1 victory over the Cardinals in most of the country.

[06/02/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of May 25 - "The Boroughs" Makes Itself at Home at No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
Plus: "Nemesis" stole away with the No. 2 spot on the list, commanding 5.9 million views.

[06/01/26 - 11:04 AM]
ESPN Scored Most-Watched NCAA Women's College World Series Opening Thursday on Record
Arkansas-Nebraska averaged 1.4 million viewers, with a peak of 1.6 million.

[06/01/26 - 08:27 AM]
ESPN Scores Most-Viewed Stanley Cup Playoffs Western Conference Final Since 2015, The Latest Viewership Successes Headed Into the Stanley Cup Final
Across four games on ESPN, the series averaged 2.2 million viewers and was up 44% vs. the Western Conference Final last year (Edmonton vs. Dallas) which went five games on ESPN.

[05/29/26 - 03:02 PM]
"20/20" Is Friday's No. 1 Newsmagazine, Leading "Dateline" in Total Viewers for the 5th Consecutive Broadcast Season
"20/20" improved on the previous season in Total Viewers (+5%/+170,000 - 3.672 million vs. 3.502 million).

[05/29/26 - 03:01 PM]
ABC News Is #1 in Total Viewers Sunday Morning and in Late-Night
"Nightline" posted double-digit gains week to week in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49.