or


[03/20/21 - 10:07 AM]
Friday's Broadcast Ratings: NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Tops Charts for CBS
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 11 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (3/19/21):

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

CBS (3.362 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.8, #1) was the top draw on Friday thanks to its primetime coverage of the "NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament: (8) North Carolina vs. (9) Wisconsin" (3.719 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T1) and "NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament: (6) San Diego State vs. (11) Syracuse" (3.005 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T1).

FOX (1.946 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #2) had to settle for second with its latest installment of "WWE SmackDown" (1.946 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.5, #3).

Next up was ABC (2.568 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #3) with repeats of "Shark Tank" (3.058 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T4) and "20/20" (2.618 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T4) plus a special "20/20" (2.027 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.3, #7).

Meanwhile, NBC (2.462 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.3, #4) offered up a repeat "The Blacklist" (2.017 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.2, #8) and a new "Dateline NBC" (2.685 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T4).

And finally, The CW (0.753 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5) closed out the night with "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (0.765 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T9), a repeat "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (0.655 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T9) and "Penn & Teller: Fool Us" (0.796 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T9).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
0.00% - WWE SmackDown
0.00% - Penn & Teller: Fool Us
0.00% - Whose Line Is It Anyway?
-20.00% - Dateline NBC
-25.00% - 20/20

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
0.00% - Penn & Teller: Fool Us (vs. Whose Line Is It Anyway? (Repeats))
0.00% - Whose Line Is It Anyway? (vs. Penn & Teller: Fool Us (Repeat))
-37.50% - WWE SmackDown
-42.86% - Dateline NBC
-62.50% - 20/20


Here are the highlights of the 11 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (3/20/20):

ABC (5.073 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.9, #1) pulled in front on Friday with its duo of "Shark Tank" (5.969 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.1, #1) and "20/20" (4.626 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T2).

FOX (2.563 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #2) had to settle for second with its weekly "WWE SmackDown" (2.563 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T2).

Next up was NBC (4.462 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.7, #3) with the return of "The Blacklist" (5.391 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T2) plus a new "Dateline NBC" (3.997 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T5).

Meanwhile, CBS (5.316 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.6, #4) opted for repeats of "MacGyver" (5.388 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T5), "Hawaii Five-0" (5.410 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #7) and "Blue Bloods" (5.148 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.5, #8).

And finally, The CW (0.756 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5) likewise served up second runs of "Penn & Teller: Fool Us" (0.871 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T9), "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (0.619 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T9) and another "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (0.665 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T9).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+60.00% - The Blacklist (vs. 12/13/19)
+37.50% - Shark Tank
+16.67% - Dateline NBC
+14.29% - 20/20
+14.29% - WWE SmackDown

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+100.00% - The Blacklist (vs. Blindspot)
+100.00% - Shark Tank (vs. Fresh Off the Boat/Speechless)
+33.33% - WWE SmackDown (vs. Various)
+27.27% - Dateline NBC (vs. The Blacklist/Dateline NBC)
0.00% - 20/20

Source: Nielsen Media Research, ShowBuzzDaily.com





  [march 2021]  
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
[10/03/25 - 02:17 PM]
ESPN's Record-Setting '25 MLB Wild Card Series
Across eight games, the MLB Wild Card Series is averaging 4.4 million viewers, up 65% from last year.

[10/03/25 - 12:07 PM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Continues to Shatter Records - Growing Two Weeks in a Row Since Season Premiere for First Time Since 2005
Plus: "High Potential" hit a season high in Total Viewers (4.24 million), growing by double digits over the show's comparable third episode from last fall.

[10/02/25 - 04:09 PM]
ESPN Delivers the Most-Watched WNBA Semifinals Ever
Game 5 between the Indiana Fever and the Las Vegas Aces averaged 1.8 million viewers, peaking at 2.1 million.

[10/02/25 - 02:51 PM]
ESPN's Record-Setting Day One of MLB Wild Card Series
Coverage of Red Sox versus Yankees averaged 6.5 million viewers, peaking at 9.9 million.

[10/02/25 - 11:00 AM]
"Survivor" and "The Amazing Race" Season Premieres Hit Their Largest 3-Day Streaming Viewerships Ever
The "Survivor" season 49 premiere grew to 6.83 million viewers with three days of multiplatform viewership; while "The Amazing Race" season 38 premiere grew to 4.01 million viewers.

[10/02/25 - 09:38 AM]
"Celebrity Wheel of Fortune" Scores on Friday Nights with Biggest Total Viewer Audience in Nearly Two Years
"Celebrity Wheel of Fortune" stood as the No. 1 program of the night, rising by double digits in Total Viewers over its previous season premiere.

[10/01/25 - 10:27 AM]
"Big Brother" Season Finale Is Most-Watched Episode in Over Three Years
The finale was up +33% from its year ago finale and up +33% from this season's average.

[09/30/25 - 03:44 PM]
ESPN and ABC Win College Football's Week 5; "College GameDay's" Most-Viewed Season Rolls On
ABC is off to its best start ever with 7.1 million average viewers per game, and the network has aired eight of the top 10 most-viewed games this season.

[09/30/25 - 02:08 PM]
Packers-Cowboys OT Thriller Averages 26.9 Million Viewers on NBC & Peacock, As NBC Sports Opens with Best Four-Week Audience Average in 20 Seasons of NBC "SNF"
The audience peaked at 29.9 million viewers in the second quarter (9-9:15 p.m. ET).

[09/30/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of September 22: "Wayward" Lures Viewers at No. 1, "KPop Demon Hunters" Sets Top 10 Record
New on Netflix this week is "House of Guinness," a historical drama series created by Steven Knight, which debuted at No. 3 on the English TV list with 5.2 million views.

[09/30/25 - 10:24 AM]
"High Potential" Season Premiere Vaults to Nearly 16 Million in First Week Across Platforms
This marks ABC's best season premiere for a drama among Total Viewers in five years.

[09/29/25 - 06:06 AM]
ESPN's 2025 MLB Game Viewership Up 21 Percent from Last Year
Coverage delivered 1.8 million viewers on average across 30 games this season.

[09/26/25 - 01:11 PM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Week Two Delivers Over 5 Million Total Viewers Rising Over Season Premiere for First Time in 14 Years
Once again, the show led its time period and stood as the No. 1 show of the night in Total Viewers (5.46 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.02 rating).

[09/25/25 - 02:05 PM]
Viewers Have Watched More Than 8 Billion Minutes of "Big Brother" This Summer - Up +27% from Last Year
Multiplatform average episode viewership grew to 5.1 million, up +23% versus last year in 35-days of viewing, outpacing the competition.

[09/24/25 - 02:47 PM]
"Jimmy Kimmel Live" Returned on Tuesday to 6.26 Million Total Viewers on Broadcast, According to Initial Live+Same Day Measurement
In addition to linear ratings, the monologue has garnered more than 26 million views across YouTube and social platforms.