or


[01/11/20 - 08:16 AM]
Friday's Broadcast Ratings: "WWE SmackDown" Pulls FOX Back 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 12 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (1/10/20):

FOX (2.502 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #1) was back in front among adults 18-49 with its weekly telecast of "WWE SmackDown" (2.502 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T1).

A close second went to CBS (7.513 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T2) with originals from "Hawaii Five-0" (7.601 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T1), "Magnum P.I." (7.065 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T3) and "Blue Bloods" (7.874 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T3).

Sharing the silver was NBC (4.176 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T2) with the debut of "Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector" (4.388 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T6) followed by "Dateline NBC" (4.070 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T3).

Meanwhile, ABC (3.106 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #4) offered up repeats of "American Housewife" (3.415 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T6) and "Fresh Off the Boat" (2.294 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.4, #9) plus a two-hour "20/20" (3.231 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T6).

And finally, repeats of "Penn & Teller: Fool Us" (1.087 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T10), "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (0.738 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T10) and another "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (0.668 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T10) rounded out the night on The CW (0.895 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.2, #5).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+16.67% - Dateline NBC
+14.29% - WWE SmackDown
0.00% - Blue Bloods
-11.11% - Hawaii Five-0
-12.50% - Magnum P.I.
-14.29% - 20/20

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+16.67% - Dateline NBC (vs. The Blacklist/Dateline NBC)
0.00% - Hawaii Five-0 (vs. MacGyver)
0.00% - 20/20
0.00% - Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector (vs. Blindspot)
-12.50% - Blue Bloods
-20.00% - WWE SmackDown (vs. Various)
-22.22% - Magnum P.I. (vs. Hawaii Five-0)


Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (1/11/19):

FOX (4.206 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.0, #1) took home top demo honors on Friday with its lineup of "Last Man Standing" (6.208 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.2, #1), "The Cool Kids" (4.776 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.0, #2) and "Hell's Kitchen" (2.921 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T4).

CBS (7.829 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.8, #2) then claimed the silver with its trio of "MacGyver" (6.625 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T4), "Hawaii Five-0" (7.885 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.9, #3) and "Blue Bloods" (8.979 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T4).

Next up was ABC (3.740 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T3) and its mix of "Fresh Off the Boat" (3.166 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.7, #7), "Speechless" (2.419 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.5, #12) and a two-hour "20/20" (4.214 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T8).

Meanwhile, NBC (3.334 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T3) served up the return of "Blindspot" (3.069 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T8) plus originals from "The Blacklist" (3.650 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T8) and "Dateline NBC" (3.283 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T8).

And finally, The CW (0.776 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.2, #5) opted for repeats of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (1.080 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T13), another "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (1.055 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T13) and a new "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" (0.485 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.1, #15).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+25.00% - The Cool Kids
+20.00% - Last Man Standing
+20.00% - Dateline NBC
+20.00% - Blindspot (vs. 12/7/18)
+14.29% - MacGyver
+14.29% - Hell's Kitchen
+12.50% - Hawaii Five-0
0.00% - Blue Bloods
0.00% - Fresh Off the Boat
0.00% - The Blacklist
0.00% - Speechless
0.00% - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (vs. 12/7/18)
-25.00% - 20/20

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+33.33% - Hell's Kitchen (vs. 9-1-1 (Repeat))
+20.00% - The Blacklist (vs. Taken)
+9.09% - Last Man Standing (vs. Hell's Kitchen)
-7.69% - 20/20 (vs. Marvel's Agents of SHIELD/20/20)
-9.09% - The Cool Kids (vs. Hell's Kitchen)
-10.00% - Hawaii Five-0
-12.50% - Fresh Off the Boat (vs. Child Support)
-14.29% - Blindspot
-20.00% - MacGyver
-20.00% - Blue Bloods
-25.00% - Dateline NBC
-37.50% - Speechless (vs. Child Support)
-50.00% - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (vs. Penn & Teller: Fool Us (Repeat))

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

· In Nielsen's 56 metered markets, household results were: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," 1.8/5; "Late Show with Stephen Colbert," 2.8/7; and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.7/4 with an encore.

· In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," 0.6/3; "Late Show," 0.4/2; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3 with an encore.

· From 12:35-1:05 a.m. ET, ABC's "Nightline" averaged a 1.2/4 in metered-market households and a 0.3/2 in 18-49 in the Local People Meters.

· From 12:35-1:35 a.m. ET, ratings were: "Late Night with Seth Meyers," 1.1/4 in metered-market households with an encore; CBS's "Late Late Show," 1.3/4 with an encore. In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, averages were: "Late Night," 0.3/3 in 18-49 with an encore; "Late Late Show," 0.2/1 with an encore.

· At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.6/3 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.2/2 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Source: Nielsen Media Research





  [june 2026]  
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
[06/09/26 - 10:29 AM]
May Continues ESPN Studio Shows' Year-Long Viewership Success
Combined, all ESPN studio shows were up 27 percent in viewership over May of 2025 and up 11% year-over-year (YOY) among younger viewers in the Persons ages 18-49 demographic.

[06/09/26 - 10:01 AM]
ESPN Delivers Most-Watched NCAA DI Women's College World Series on Record
The WCWS Finals, featuring Texas and Texas Tech, averaged 2.2 million viewers as the Longhorns claimed their second-straight national championship in the two-game series.

[06/08/26 - 09:03 AM]
ESPN Scores Second Most-Watched WCWS Finals on Record; Game 2 Delivers Most-Watched College Softball Game Ever
Game 2 averaged 2.5 million viewers across ESPN/ESPNU, delivering the most-watched college softball game on record.

[06/05/26 - 02:00 PM]
ABC's Most-Watched NBA Finals Game 1 Since 2018 with Average Audience of Nearly 17M Viewers (16.93M)
Game 1 peaked with nearly 20M viewers (19.63M) at 11 p.m. ET.

[06/05/26 - 01:23 PM]
ABC News Is No. 1 in Total Viewers on Sunday Morning, Friday Evening and in Late-Night
"20/20" stood as Friday's No. 1 program on broadcast and the No. 2 program on all of broadcast and cable in all key target demos on May 29.

[06/04/26 - 03:03 PM]
"The Mystery of Richard Simmons - A Diane Sawyer Special" Soars Over 10 Million Total Multiplatform Viewers Across ABC, Disney+ and Hulu
On its encore telecast on Monday, "The Mystery of Richard Simmons - A Diane Sawyer Special" averaged 2.704 million Total Viewers and ranked as the night's No. 1 program on broadcast.

[06/03/26 - 11:01 AM]
"Saturday Night Live" Season 51 Was #1 Among All Broadcast Comedy Series in the 18-49 Demo and #2 Among All Entertainment Series
The most-watched telecast of the season across all platforms was 10.1 million viewers on December 20 with host Ariana Grande and musical guest Cher.

[06/03/26 - 07:00 AM]
Fans Power UFL on ESPN to Significant Viewership Growth Across 10-Week Regular Season
ABC alone accounted for eight of the top 10 most-watched games.

[06/03/26 - 06:00 AM]
TNT Sports Caps Its Most Watched NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs with Its Most Watched Conference Final Ever
The record-setting series helped propel TNT Sports' overall coverage of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs to an average of 1.4 million viewers across TNT, TBS, truTV and HBO Max, up 50% from 2025 through the Conference Final.

[06/02/26 - 04:06 PM]
NBC and Peacock Deliver Most-Watched Conference Finals Game Since 2016 with 15.9 Million Viewers for Spurs-Thunder Game 7 on Saturday Night
Across 28 playoff games, NBC Sports' presentation of the 2026 NBA Playoffs averaged 7.2 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, up 72% versus comparable coverage last season.

[06/02/26 - 02:36 PM]
ESPN's WCWS Viewership Success Continues
Texas Tech-UCLA averaged 2.0 million viewers, with a peak of 2.6 million.

[06/02/26 - 02:13 PM]
FOX IndyCar Continues Ratings Growth with Strong Detroit Performance
Through eight races, IndyCar on FOX is averaging 2,241,000 viewers, up +12% from 2025 (2,007,000).

[06/02/26 - 02:00 PM]
FOX MLB's "Baseball Night in America" Delivers Most-Watched Baseball Telecast of the Week
2,322,000 viewers tuned-in to FOX for a two-game slate highlighted by the Cubs' 6-1 victory over the Cardinals in most of the country.

[06/02/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of May 25 - "The Boroughs" Makes Itself at Home at No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
Plus: "Nemesis" stole away with the No. 2 spot on the list, commanding 5.9 million views.

[06/01/26 - 11:04 AM]
ESPN Scored Most-Watched NCAA Women's College World Series Opening Thursday on Record
Arkansas-Nebraska averaged 1.4 million viewers, with a peak of 1.6 million.