or


[08/14/20 - 08:11 AM]
Thursday's Broadcast Ratings: ABC Holds Off Competition in Viewers, 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 13 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (8/13/20):

[Note: Fast affiliate ratings are inaccurate for live sports.]

ABC (2.961 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.6, #1) held off the competition on Thursday with its mix of "Holey Moley" (3.349 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T2), the season finale of "Don't" (2.490 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.5, #4) and "To Tell the Truth" (3.044 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T2).

CBS (2.806 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.5, #2) was a close second thanks to a new "Big Brother 22" (4.060 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.0, #1) alongside repeats of "Young Sheldon" (2.582 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T5), "The Unicorn" (1.961 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T8) and "Bull" (2.087 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T8).

Next up was FOX (1.668 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #3) with its latest installment of "MLB on FOX" (1.668 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T5).

Meanwhile, NBC (2.070 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.3, #4) served up its "NBC News Special: Coronavirus & The Classroom" (2.607 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T5) alongside repeats of "Ellen's Game of Games" (1.708 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T8) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (1.896 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T8).

And finally, the season finale of "Killer Camp" (0.480 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T12) and a repeat "Penn & Teller: Fool Us" (0.515 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T12) rounded out the night on The CW (0.497 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+20.00% - Holey Moley
0.00% - To Tell the Truth
0.00% - Don't
0.00% - MLB on FOX
0.00% - Killer Camp

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+100.00% - To Tell the Truth (vs. Reef Break)
+66.67% - Don't (vs. Family Food Fight)
+66.67% - Big Brother 22 (vs. The Big Bang Theory/Young Sheldon (Repeats))
+20.00% - Holey Moley
-42.86% - MLB on FOX (vs. MasterChef/Spin the Wheel)
-50.00% - Killer Camp (vs. The Outpost)
-50.00% - NBC News Special: Coronavirus & The Classroom (vs. The Wall (Repeat))


Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (8/15/19):

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Some high rated local pre-season NFL games (across all networks) are included here but will be excluded from Officials.]

NBC (3.736 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.8, #1) was the top adults 18-49 draw on another NFL-fueled Thursday with its lineup of "The Wall" (4.159 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T2), "Ellen's Game of Games" (3.901 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T2) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (3.149 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T5).

CBS (3.865 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T2) then was a close second with its mix of "The Big Bang Theory" (4.150 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T5), "Young Sheldon" (3.990 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T5), "Big Brother 21" (4.401 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.1, #1) and the series finale of "Elementary" (3.123 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.4, #10).

Sharing the silver was FOX (3.021 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T2) with originals from "MasterChef" (3.450 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T2) and "Spin the Wheel" (2.593 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T5).

Meanwhile, ABC (2.312 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #4) offered up a new "Holey Moley" (2.877 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.5, #9), the season finale of "Family Food Fight" (1.982 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T11) and a new "Reef Break" (2.078 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T11).

And finally, The CW (0.804 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.2, #5) closed out the evening with "The Outpost" (0.898 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T13), "Two Sentence Horror Stories" (0.708 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T13) and another "Two Sentence Horror Stories" (0.713 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T13).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
0.00% - The Outpost
-15.38% - Big Brother 21
-33.33% - MasterChef
-33.33% - Elementary
-33.33% - Two Sentence Horror Stories - 9:00
-33.33% - Two Sentence Horror Stories - 9:30
-40.00% - Spin the Wheel
-54.55% - Holey Moley
-57.14% - Reef Break
-66.67% - Family Food Fight

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+166.67% - MasterChef (vs. NASCAR Camping World Truck Series)
+100.00% - Spin the Wheel (vs. NASCAR Camping World Truck Series)
0.00% - The Outpost (vs. Supernatural (Repeat))
0.00% - Two Sentence Horror Stories - 9:00 (vs. Black Lightning (Repeat))
0.00% - Two Sentence Horror Stories - 9:30 (vs. Black Lightning (Repeat))
-37.50% - Holey Moley (vs. 20/20: Aretha: Soul, Song, R E S P E C T)
-38.89% - Big Brother 21
-42.86% - Elementary (vs. SWAT (Repeat))
-50.00% - Reef Break (vs. Take Two)
-62.50% - Family Food Fight (vs. Match Game)

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," 1.6/5; "Late Show with Stephen Colbert," 2.1/6; and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.3/4.

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

· From 12:35-1:05 a.m. ET, ABC's "Nightline," averaged a 0.9/3 in metered-market households and a 0.2/2 in 18-49 in the Local People Meters.

· From 12:35-1:35 a.m. ET, ratings were: "Late Night with Seth Meyers," 1.0/4 in metered-market households; CBS's "Late Late Show," 1.0/4. In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, averages were: "Late Night," 0.2/2 in 18-49; "Late Late Show," 0.2/2.

· At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.6/3 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.1/2 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Source: Nielsen Media Research





  [august 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
[12/19/25 - 02:33 PM]
ABC Celebrates Record-Breaking 2025 with Top Six Shows Among Adults 18-49 and TV's No. 1 Show, "High Potential"
"High Potential" stands as the No. 1 series for the year in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, with the network also owning the Top Six shows in the key Adult demo.

[12/17/25 - 01:30 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks #1 in Total Viewers
"Nightline" also posted week-to-week increases in Total Viewers and Adults 25-54.

[12/17/25 - 06:42 AM]
Cricket Celebration Bowl Delivered Double-Digit Increases on ABC
Coverage averaged 2.3 million viewers with a peak of 3.0 million.

[12/16/25 - 02:15 PM]
FOX NFL Week 15 Scores 19.4 Million Viewers for "America's Game of the Week"
Season-to-date, the NFL on FOX is averaging 20,055,000 viewers; up +8% over last year's average (18,630,000) and its best since 2015.

[12/16/25 - 02:15 PM]
"CBS News Presents: A Town Hall with Erika Kirk" Boosts CBS' Time Period Performance in Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49
The special delivered 1.9 million viewers with 265,000 in the adults 25-54 demographic on Saturday, December 13.

[12/16/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of December 8 - "Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery" Cracks the Case at No. 1 in the Top 10
New comedy series "Man vs. Baby" took No. 1 on the English TV list with 19.1 million views, with the Rowan Atkinson vehicle eliciting laughs over the bumbling Trevor Bingley trying to earn money house-sitting for millionaires while a lost baby keeps him on his toes.

[12/15/25 - 09:19 AM]
Driven by Strong November Viewership, ESPN Earns Third Straight Month of Year-Over-Year Audience Growth for Weekday Studio Programming
Highlights include "The Pat McAfee Show" having its most-viewed November of all time across linear and YouTube with 445,000 average viewers per show and "NFL Live" reaching its second most-watched November since 2016 with 445,000 average viewers.

[12/12/25 - 03:04 PM]
ESPN Scored Most-Watched Jimmy V Women's Classic Ever; Men's Classic Most-Watched in Five Years
The former averaged 1.0 million viewers, peaking with 1.3 million.

[12/11/25 - 03:15 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in All Key Target Demos
The series also saw gains on the same week last year in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49.

[12/10/25 - 02:59 PM]
FOX NFL Scores Massive Week 14 Viewership
28 million viewers watched FOX Sports' Week 14 "America's Game of the Week," featuring the Green Bay Packers divisional win over the Chicago Bears.

[12/10/25 - 12:08 PM]
NBCU's November to Remember Showcases the Power of Company's Programming
"All Her Fault" became the most-watched original series launch in Peacock history with 46 million hours.

[12/10/25 - 09:54 AM]
ABC Unwraps Holiday Presentations of Fan Favorite Shows
"Dancing with the Holidays" was the top-performing holiday-themed special across the broadcast networks among Adults 18-49 in two years.

[12/09/25 - 04:11 PM]
"College GameDay" Delivers Second Most-Watched Conference Championship Episode Ever; ABC/ESPN Score Second Most-Watched Conference Championship Week Since 2014
The SEC Championship delivered 16.9 million viewers on Saturday, December 6.

[12/09/25 - 02:03 PM]
18.3 Million Viewers Tuned in for Big Ten Championship Game on FOX
Indiana's win peaked with 19,993,000 viewers from 11:00-11:15 PM ET.

[12/09/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of December 1 - "My Secret Santa" Sleigh Rides to No. 1 and "Stranger Things" Slays the Top 10 Again
The extensive four-part docuseries "Sean Combs: The Reckoning" grabbed the No. 2 spot on the TV list with 21.8 million views in its opening weekend.