or


[12/13/20 - 01:09 PM]
Saturday's Broadcast Ratings: Holiday Repeats Put CBS in Front
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 10 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (12/12/20):

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

CBS (2.601 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T1) was the most-watched network on Saturday with its mix of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (2.799 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T1), "Frosty the Snowman" (2.684 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T1), "Frosty Returns" (2.107 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3) and "48 Hours" (2.609 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3).

Sharing the demo crown was ABC (2.204 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T1) and its weekly installment of "Saturday Night Football" (2.204 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3).

Next up was NBC (2.163 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.3, #3) with its lineup of "Ellen's Game of Games" (1.956 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T7), "The Wall" (2.326 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3) and "SNL Vintage" (2.208 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T7).

And finally, FOX (0.691 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.2, #4) closed out the night with the "2020 MLS Cup Pre-Game" (0.495 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.1, #10) and "2020 MLS Cup" (0.740 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T7).

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

TBA


Here are the highlights of the 12 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (12/14/19):

CBS (2.719 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.5, #1) was the top draw on Saturday with its holiday mix of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (3.058 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1), "Frosty the Snowman" (3.057 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1), "Frosty Returns" (2.307 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3) and "48 Hours" (2.417 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T6).

Second place then went to NBC (2.047 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T2) and its lineup of "How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming" (1.347 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.2, #12), "DreamWorks Trolls Holiday" (1.443 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T6), "Dateline Saturday Night Mystery" (2.492 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3) and "SNL Vintage" (2.255 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3).

Next up was FOX (1.657 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T2) with repeats of "The Masked Singer" (1.517 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T6) and another "The Masked Singer" (1.797 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T6).

And finally, ABC (1.488 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T2) closed out the night with encores of "The Wonderful World of Disney Presents The Little Mermaid Live!" (1.385 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T6) and "20/20 Saturday" (1.696 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T6).

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

· The Dec. 14 edition of "Saturday Night Live," with host Scarlett Johansson and musical guest Niall Horan, has averaged a 4.0 rating in "live plus same day" household results from 44 local markets metered by Nielsen Media Research and a 1.7 rating in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

· Note that current metered-market results are not compatible with data issued before Oct. 5 due to changes in Nielsen methodology.

· Versus primetime programming on the Big 4 networks last night, "SNL" is easily the #1 show of the night in metered-market households and in 18-49 in the local people meters,

· In fact, "Saturday Night Live" doubled the #2 show of the night on the Big 4 in both measures (4.0 vs. 2.0 for CBS' encore of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" in households, 1.7 vs. 0.8 each for "Rudolph" and CBS' rebroadcast of "Frosty the Snowman" in 18-49).

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
[11/14/25 - 10:30 AM]
"High Potential" Season 2 Premiere Scores Over 21 Million Total Viewers Across 35 Days
Season to date, the powerhouse drama continues to dominate, ranking as the No. 1 original broadcast series for the second season in a row among Adults 18-49 (2.42 rating), based on Nielsen cross-platform rankings.

[11/14/25 - 09:35 AM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Rises Week to Week with 6.67 Million Total Viewers as Show Heads to Semi-Finals
This marks the show's best performance for its last episode before the semi-finals among Total Viewers in six years and among Adults 18-49 in eight years.

[11/14/25 - 09:31 AM]
"Wicked: One Wonderful Night" Shines for NBC
Across all platforms, the special drew 3.6 million viewers, which was up 64% from last year's "Defying Gravity: The Curtain Rises on Wicked" special.

[11/12/25 - 08:27 AM]
ABC Scores Top Game of the Week for the 10th Straight Week; "College GameDay" Posts Week 11 Growth and Record Season Rolls On
LSU-Alabama (7.5 million viewers) was the most-watched game of the week, followed by Texas A&M-Missouri (4.9 million) and BYU-Texas Tech (4.0 million) among the top five.

[11/11/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of November 3 - "Frankenstein" Comes to Life at No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
For more monsters, viewers turned to Season 4 of "The Witcher," putting the series at No. 1 on the English TV list with 7.4 million views.

[11/06/25 - 02:15 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers and Adults 25-54
"Nightline" was up on the previous week by double digits in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.

[11/05/25 - 09:39 AM]
"College GameDay" and ESPN College Football on ABC Win Week 10
Georgia-Florida led the week with 7.8 million viewers, marking the largest audience on record for this rivalry in a full national window.

[11/05/25 - 08:00 AM]
The NASCAR Xfinity Series Concludes First Full Year on The Cw Network with Most-Watched Season in Four Years
The championship race, which saw Jesse Love emerge as the season winner, drew 1,015,000 total viewers and peaked at 1,191,000 total viewers from 9:30-9:45pm ET.

[11/04/25 - 04:19 PM]
FOX Scores 7.19 Million Viewers for Penn State-Ohio State
Plus, Texas Tech's win over K-State earned 3,131,000 viewers on FOX - up +42% over last year's average of Big 12 games on the network.

[11/04/25 - 03:38 PM]
FOX Sports Wraps Unforgettable Postseason as Epic World Series Game 7 Delivers 27.3 Million Viewers
On FOX, the 11-inning Fall Classic conclusion peaked at 33,064,000 viewers from 11:45 PM-12:00 AM ET.

[11/04/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of October 27 - "Nobody Wants This" Season 2 Steals Hearts and the No. 1 Spot in Top 10
Those looking for a more magical and mature spooky-weekend watch indulged in the new season of "The Witcher," casting its spell at No. 2 on the English TV list with 7.4 million views.

[11/03/25 - 11:00 AM]
CBS Premiere Week Leads Live+7 Multiplatform Viewership with Television's #1 Show "Tracker" and Four of the Top Five Series
The network claimed 10 of the top 20 series, twice as many top 20 shows as the competition.

[11/03/25 - 05:11 AM]
25,984,000 Viewers Tuned in for the Dodgers Back-to-Back, Dramatic Clinch of the Fall Classic Across FOX, FOX Deportes and FOX Sports Streaming Services - The Most Since 2017
On FOX, World Series Game 7 peaked with 31,543,000 viewers from 11:30-11:45 PM ET.

[10/31/25 - 02:22 PM]
FOX Sports Hits 14.6 Million Viewers for Game 5 of the World Series
The telecast reached a peak viewership of 16,034,000 viewers on FOX between 10:00-10:15 PM ET.

[10/31/25 - 10:42 AM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Scares Up More Wins - Rising for Historic Sixth Week in a Row
"Dancing with the Stars" is the only fall show to increase its overall audience for six consecutive weeks following its season premiere.