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
[05/26/26 - 12:03 PM]
"Off Campus" Season 1 Has Reached 36 Million Viewers Worldwide in Its First 12 Days
Off Campus. On everyone's screen.

[05/26/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of May 18 - In Ruthless Pursuit, "Nemesis" Steals No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
Retirement in "The Boroughs" is anything but sleepy as the Duffer Brothers-produced sci-fi series took No. 2 on the list with 5.6 million views.

[05/26/26 - 11:00 AM]
"Dutton Ranch" Is the Biggest Original Series Debut in Paramount+ History
In addition to its record-setting performance on Paramount+, "Dutton Ranch" is also the #1 streaming series according to Nielsen based on average audience for the week of May 11 according to preliminary data.

[05/21/26 - 02:32 PM]
ESPN Delivered Most-Watched NBA Eastern Conference Finals Game 1 Since 2018
The New York Knicks overtime victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers on May 19 generated an average audience of 7.1 million viewers and peaked with 8.87 million viewers at 10:45 p.m. ET.

[05/21/26 - 02:00 PM]
"Survivor" Historic 50th Season Concludes with Most-Watched Finale Since 2020
The season finale drew an average of 5.78 million viewers, based on Nielsen Preliminary panel only data.

[05/21/26 - 07:01 AM]
NBC Sports' 2026 SuperMotocross Coverage Delivers Viewership Gains and Milestones
The seven races featured on NBC and Peacock averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 468,000 viewers on NBC and Peacock, up 8% vs. 2025.

[05/20/26 - 03:05 PM]
NBC and Peacock Deliver the Most-Watched Western Conference Finals Game 1 Ever for Monday's Spurs-Thunder Double Overtime Thriller
Coverage peaked with 12.0 million viewers from 11:30-11:43 p.m. ET for the second overtime and game's conclusion.

[05/20/26 - 03:04 PM]
ESPN Aired Its Most Viewed 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round of the Current Rights Deal
Collectively all 11 Second Round games, with nine airing on ESPN and two on ABC, delivered 2.2 million viewers, up 76% year-over-year.

[05/20/26 - 07:36 AM]
After Record-Setting 2025 Season, "Sunday Night Football" Finishes Fall-Spring TV Season as Primetime's No. 1 Show for Unprecedented 15th Consecutive Year
The series averaged 23.5 million viewers in 2025, marking the show's best-ever viewership - up nearly 1 million viewers from the prior record for the series set a decade ago (22.6 million in 2015 season) and an increase of 9% over the '24 season (21.6 million).

[05/19/26 - 02:52 PM]
Subway Series Delivers Second Most-Watched FOX Saturday Baseball Telecast of the Season
2,500,000 viewers tuned-in to the two-game slate highlighted by the Mets' 6-3 victory over the Yankees in most of the country.

[05/19/26 - 02:01 PM]
Netflix Viewership Peaks with Nearly 17 Million Global Viewers for MVP MMA's Rousey vs. Carano, Averaging 12.4 Million Viewers Across the Triple Main Event
In the US, the triple-main card averaged 9.3 million viewers, peaking at 11.6 million viewers during Rousey vs. Carano.

[05/19/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of May 11 - "The Roast of Kevin Hart" Heats Up to No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
True crime audiences also streamed the second season of "Worst Ex Ever," which rose to the No. 2 spot on the English TV list with 8.1 million views.

[05/19/26 - 07:07 AM]
TNT Sports Posts Its Most-Watched NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round Ever
Thursday's Game 5 of the Montreal/Buffalo series averaged 1.9 million viewers, making it the most-watched, Second Round, Game 5 on cable ever featuring a Canadian team.

[05/18/26 - 04:03 PM]
"The Rookie" Season 8 Finale Surges to Over 9 Million Total Viewers
Setting new records with its exceptional momentum this season, "The Rookie" finale earned an all-time streaming high for the series based on views over seven days on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+.

[05/15/26 - 02:03 PM]
ABC News Is #1 in Total Viewers on Sunday Morning, in Late-Night and on Friday Night
"20/20" saw week-to-week increases in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49, hitting 4-week highs in both measures.