or


[12/11/20 - 09:06 AM]
Thursday's Broadcast Ratings: "Thursday Night Football" Returns on Top for FOX
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 (12/10/20):

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

FOX (9.115 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.3, #1) remained on top on Thursday with its presentations of "Thursday Night Football Pre-Game" (8.419 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.0, #2) and "Thursday Night Football" (9.255 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.4, #1).

ABC (4.813 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.8, #2) took home the silver with its drama trio of "Station 19" (5.399 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #4), "Grey's Anatomy" (5.502 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.1, #3) and "A Million Little Things" (3.540 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T5).

Next up was NBC (3.110 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #3) and its pair of specials "One Night Only: The Best of Broadway" (3.544 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T5) and "Time Person of the Year" (2.242 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T8).

Meanwhile, CBS (2.564 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.3, #4) opted for repeats of "Young Sheldon" (4.142 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #7), "B Positive" (2.921 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T8), "Mom" (2.682 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T8) and another "Mom" (2.682 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T8) plus "Star Trek: Discovery" (1.583 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.2, #12).

And finally, The CW (0.643 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5) closed out the night with its holiday offering "Silent Night - A Song for the World" (0.643 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.1, #13).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
0.00% - Station 19
0.00% - Star Trek: Discovery
-8.33% - Grey's Anatomy
-11.11% - Thursday Night Football (vs. 11/19/20)
-16.67% - A Million Little Things
-20.00% - Thursday Night Football Pre-Game (vs. 11/19/20)

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+120.00% - Grey's Anatomy (vs. The Great American Baking Show: Holiday Edition)
+33.33% - Station 19 (vs. Various (Repeats))
+5.26% - Thursday Night Football Pre-Game
0.00% - A Million Little Things (vs. The Great American Baking Show: Holiday Edition)
0.00% - Time Person of the Year (vs. A Legendary Christmas with John and Chrissy (Repeat))
-7.69% - Thursday Night Football
-33.33% - One Night Only: The Best of Broadway (vs. Various)
-60.00% - Star Trek: Discovery (vs. Evil)
-66.67% - Silent Night - A Song for the World (vs. Supernatural/Legacies)


Here are the highlights of the 16 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (12/12/19):

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

FOX (9.017 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.5, #1) cruised to victory on Thursday with its telecasts of "Thursday Night Football Pre-Game" (7.461 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.9, #2) and "Thursday Night Football" (9.328 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.6, #1).

CBS (5.379 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.7, #2) then settled for silver with its fall finales from "Young Sheldon" (8.205 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T3), "The Unicorn" (5.616 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T5), "Mom" (6.191 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T5), "Carol's Second Act" (5.000 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T7) and "Evil" (3.630 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T11).

Next up was NBC (3.293 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #3) and the conclusion to "Ellen's Greatest Night of Giveaways" (5.888 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T3) followed by the fall finales of "Superstore" (2.831 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T7) and "Perfect Harmony" (1.797 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.4, #13) plus an encore of "A Legendary Christmas with John and Chrissy" (1.676 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T14).

Meanwhile, ABC (2.908 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #4) offered up repeats of "Olaf's Frozen Adventure" (3.272 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T7) and "Toy Story That Time Forgot" (2.639 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T7) alongside the return of "The Great American Baking Show: Holiday Edition" (2.884 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T11).

And finally, The CW (1.018 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) closed out the night with the fall finales of "Supernatural" (1.106 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T14) and "Legacies" (0.929 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T14).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
0.00% - Carol's Second Act
0.00% - Evil
0.00% - Perfect Harmony (vs. 11/21/19)
0.00% - Supernatural
0.00% - Legacies
-9.09% - Young Sheldon
-12.50% - Mom
-12.50% - The Unicorn
-14.29% - Superstore (vs. 11/21/19)
-33.33% - Thursday Night Football
-34.48% - Thursday Night Football Pre-Game

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+81.82% - Ellen's Greatest Night of Giveaways (vs. Superstore/I Feel Bad)
+20.00% - Superstore (vs. A Saturday Night Live Christmas Special (Repeat))
0.00% - Evil (vs. SWAT (Repeat))
0.00% - Legacies
-9.09% - Young Sheldon (vs. The Big Bang Theory (Repeat))
-14.29% - Carol's Second Act (vs. Murphy Brown)
-16.67% - The Great American Baking Show: Holiday Edition
-20.00% - Perfect Harmony (vs. A Saturday Night Live Christmas Special (Repeat))
-25.00% - Supernatural
-25.71% - Thursday Night Football
-34.48% - Thursday Night Football Pre-Game
-36.36% - The Unicorn (vs. Young Sheldon (Repeat))
-41.67% - Mom

Source: Nielsen Media Research





  [december 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
[10/28/26 - 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.

[10/26/26 - 09:26 AM]
"CMA Presents I Will Always Love You: A Celebration of Dolly Parton" Scores Nearly 5 Million Total Viewers on ABC and Disney+
The special ranked No. 1 in Total Viewers from 9-11 p.m. (4.74 million), leading its closest competitors in the timeslot by double digits.

[10/23/26 - 03:54 PM]
ESPN's NBA Opening Wednesday Delivered Its Second-Largest Audience Ever
The Minnesota Timberwolves' victory over the Miami Heat averaged 2.52 million viewers, up 16% from last year's comparable game.

[10/23/26 - 03:25 PM]
USA Sports Delivers Most-Watched WNBA Finals Game 3 Since 1999, Best Ever on Cable
1.71 million viewers on average tuned into Wednesday night's Game 3 coverage across USA Sports' linear platforms (USA Network and CNBC) and streaming on Peacock.