or


[11/06/20 - 08:17 AM]
Thursday's Broadcast Ratings: FOX, "Thursday Night Football" Hold Off Competition
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 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (11/5/20):

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

FOX (8.602 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.4, #1) held off the competition on Thursday with fresh installments of "Thursday Night Football Pre-Game" (7.982 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.2, #2) and "Thursday Night Football" (8.726 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.5, #1).

The silver went to ABC (4.458 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.1, #2) with a special "The Bachelorette" (5.318 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.4, #3) followed by "Your Voice/Your Vote: Election 2020" (2.737 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T7).

Next up was CBS (3.879 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #3) and its season premieres of "Young Sheldon" (6.536 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.7, #4), "B Positive" (4.961 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T5) and "Mom" (4.727 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T5) alongside a repeat "Young Sheldon" (3.065 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T9) and the special "CBS News 2020: America Decides" (1.993 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T11).

Meanwhile, NBC (1.883 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #4) offered up a new "Superstore" (2.312 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T7), a repeat "Superstore" (1.353 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T11) and "NBC News: Decision 2020: Election Special" (1.908 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T9).

And finally, The CW (0.746 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.2, #5) closed out the night with originals from "Supernatural" (1.032 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T11) and "The Outpost" (0.459 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.1, #14).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+50.00% - Supernatural
+22.22% - Thursday Night Football Pre-Game
+16.67% - The Bachelorette (vs. 10/27/20)
+8.70% - Thursday Night Football
0.00% - The Outpost
-16.67% - Superstore

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+33.33% - The Bachelorette (vs. Grey's Anatomy/A Million Little Things)
+25.00% - Your Voice/Your Vote: Election 2020 (vs. How to Get Away with Murder)
0.00% - Supernatural
-7.41% - Thursday Night Football
-12.00% - Thursday Night Football Pre-Game
-25.00% - B Positive (vs. The Unicorn)
-25.00% - Mom
-28.57% - Superstore
-31.03% - NBC News: Decision 2020: Election Special (vs. Various)
-36.36% - Young Sheldon
-40.00% - CBS News 2020: America Decides (vs. Evil)
-50.00% - The Outpost (vs. Legacies)


Here are the highlights of the 17 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (11/7/19):

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

FOX (9.424 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.6, #1) was the top draw on Thursday thanks to the "Thursday Night Football Pre-Game" (9.539 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.5, #2) and "Thursday Night Football" (9.401 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.7, #1).

ABC (4.296 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.8, #2) then was the number two network with its trio of "Grey's Anatomy" (6.134 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.3, #3), "A Million Little Things" (4.485 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T5) and "How to Get Away with Murder" (2.271 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.4, #15).

Next up was CBS (5.466 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.7, #3) and its original mix of "Young Sheldon" (8.725 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.1, #4), "The Unicorn" (5.929 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T5), "Mom" (6.198 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T5), "Carol's Second Act" (4.994 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T8) and "Evil" (3.475 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T12).

Meanwhile, NBC (2.651 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #4) offered up fresh installments of "Superstore" (2.609 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T8), "Perfect Harmony" (1.986 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T12), "The Good Place" (1.989 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T10), "Will & Grace" (2.175 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T12) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (3.572 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T10).

And finally, new episodes of "Supernatural" (1.123 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.3, #16) and "Legacies" (0.787 million viewers, #17; adults 18-49: 0.2, #17) on The CW (0.955 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.2, #5) closed out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+18.18% - Grey's Anatomy
+14.29% - A Million Little Things
+4.17% - Thursday Night Football Pre-Game
0.00% - Young Sheldon (vs. 10/24/19)
0.00% - Mom (vs. 10/24/19)
0.00% - The Unicorn (vs. 10/24/19)
0.00% - Carol's Second Act (vs. 10/24/19)
0.00% - Superstore
0.00% - Evil (vs. 10/24/19)
0.00% - Perfect Harmony
0.00% - How to Get Away with Murder
0.00% - Supernatural (vs. 10/24/19)
0.00% - Legacies (vs. 10/24/19)
-6.90% - Thursday Night Football
-14.29% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
-14.29% - The Good Place
-16.67% - Will & Grace

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
0.00% - Supernatural
-3.85% - Thursday Night Football Pre-Game
-12.50% - Carol's Second Act (vs. Murphy Brown)
-14.29% - The Good Place (vs. The Voice: Road to Live Shows)
-15.63% - Thursday Night Football
-18.75% - Grey's Anatomy
-20.00% - A Million Little Things (vs. Station 19)
-22.22% - Superstore
-28.57% - Evil (vs. SWAT)
-28.57% - Will & Grace (vs. The Voice: Road to Live Shows)
-33.33% - Mom
-33.33% - Legacies
-33.33% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
-37.50% - Perfect Harmony (vs. The Good Place)
-42.86% - How to Get Away with Murder
-52.17% - Young Sheldon (vs. The Big Bang Theory)
-55.56% - The Unicorn (vs. Young Sheldon)

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

TBA

Source: Nielsen Media Research





  [november 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
[10/30/26 - 08:57 AM]
ABC News Wins Across Friday Night, Sunday Morning and Late-Night
"20/20: Help Dale Find Dee" ranked as Friday's No. 1 newsmagazine in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54, and Adults 18-49.

[10/29/26 - 03:25 PM]
Champions at Last: 14.2 Million Viewers Projected for FOX Sports' Coverage of Milwaukee Brewers World Series Clinch
13,476,000 viewers tuned in for World Series Game 4 presented by Capital One across FOX and FOX Deportes.

[10/29/26 - 12:21 PM]
ABC Thursday Returns Strong with "9-1-1" and "9-1-1: Nashville" Rising Over Previous Season Averages
The Season 10 debut of "9-1-1" (8 p.m.) earned 8.14 million Total Viewers after seven days of viewing on ABC, Hulu, Hulu on Disney+ and digital platforms, based on Nielsen's competitive multiplatform measurement.

[10/28/26 - 03:31 PM]
Cowboys-Eagles on "Monday Night Football" Delivers 18.8M Viewers
Seven weeks into ESPN's Super Bowl LXI season, "Monday Night Football" is up 26% compared to the same point in 2025, averaging 19M viewers.

[10/28/26 - 11:30 AM]
"The Drew Barrymore Show" Hits All-Time Series High
This season to date, "The Drew Barrymore Show" averaged 1.90 million total viewers, up +36% year over year.

[10/28/26 - 11:01 AM]
Top 10 Most-Watched Prime Original Films & Series for the Week of October 19
"The Terminal List," "Carrie," "Reacher," "Neagley," and "Off Campus" led all original series worldwide.

[10/27/26 - 03:36 PM]
College Football on FOX Scores Big Numbers in Week 8
7,015,000 viewers tuned into FOX "Big Noon Saturday" for Indiana's win over Michigan.

[10/27/26 - 03:14 PM]
FOX's "America's Game of the Week" Roars with 24,670,000 Viewers in Week 7
The network's Sunday window ranks as the #1 program in all of television through the first seven weeks of the season (24,749,000 average).

[10/27/26 - 03:10 PM]
NFL's First-Ever Paris Game Draws 7.7M Viewers, Concluding Strong October for NFL Network
NFL Network's October International Series slate is averaging 7.1M viewers, up 18% vs. the network's overall six-game International Series average last season.

[10/27/26 - 03:03 PM]
No Time Like October: FOX Sports Drives in 12,259,000 Viewers for Game 1 and 10,854,000 Viewers for Game 2
Both telecasts were the most-watched of their respective days on any network.

[10/27/26 - 02:59 PM]
NBC and Peacock Deliver Most-Watched WNBA Finals Game 4 Ever
Led by Gabby Williams' 17 points, Golden State's 67-62 win over Atlanta peaked at 2.5 million viewers for the game's exciting conclusion from 3:30-3:45 p.m. ET.

[10/27/26 - 02:40 PM]
"College GameDay Built by The Home Depot" Continues Record-Setting Season; ESPN Networks Deliver Three of the Top Five Games Across All Nets
Ole Miss/Texas (8.1 million) was the top game of the week and added to ESPN's nine total games this season with 8+ million viewers.

[10/27/26 - 02:06 PM]
Chiefs-Seahawks Is Most Watched Week 7 NBC "Sunday Night Football" Game Since 2013, Averaging 26.3 Million Viewers on NBC & Peacock
The audience peaked at 29.0 million viewers on NBC and Peacock in the second quarter (9:30-9:45 p.m. ET).

[10/27/26 - 01:01 PM]
"Crystal Lake" Makes Killer Debut on Peacock
"Crystal Lake" has generated 1.3 billion minutes watched over its first 11 days, making it the fourth highest scripted original series ever on Peacock.

[10/26/26 - 11:32 AM]
ESPN's NBA Opening Week Delivered Its Largest Audience Since 2014
The Philadelphia 76ers' victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers averaged 2.5 million viewers, up 26% from last year's comparable game.