or


[05/22/20 - 08:13 AM]
Thursday's Broadcast Ratings: ABC Tops Charts with "Holey Moley," "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?"
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 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (5/21/20):

ABC (4.729 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.7, #1) was the network to beat on Thursday with a new "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" (5.979 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T1) alongside the returns of "Holey Moley" (4.439 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T1) and "To Tell the Truth" (3.769 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.7, #4).

The silver went to CBS (4.385 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2) with its mix of "Young Sheldon" (5.460 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T5), a new "Man with a Plan" (5.350 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T5), "Mom" (4.832 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T5), a new "Broke" (4.317 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.5, #8) and "SWAT" (3.175 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T9).

Next up was NBC (2.561 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2) with its specials "Celebrity Escape Room" (3.803 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T1) and "Red Nose Day" (1.940 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T9).

Meanwhile, FOX (1.159 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.3, #4) offered up a new "Celebrity Watch Party" (1.409 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.3, #11) and the debut of "Labor of Love" (0.909 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.2, #12).

And finally, closing out the night were the season premiere of "Burden of Truth" (0.619 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T13) and a new "In the Dark" (0.535 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T13) on The CW (0.577 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
0.00% - Celebrity Watch Party
0.00% - In the Dark
-11.11% - Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
-14.29% - Man with a Plan
-16.67% - Broke

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+100.00% - Celebrity Escape Room (vs. Red Nose Day Special)
+75.00% - To Tell the Truth (vs. Shark Tank (Repeat))
+14.29% - Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (vs. This Is Farrah Fawcett)
+14.29% - Holey Moley (vs. This Is Farrah Fawcett)
0.00% - Red Nose Day (vs. Red Nose Day Special/Hollywood Game Night)
-14.29% - Man with a Plan (vs. Young Sheldon (Repeat))
-16.67% - Broke (vs. Life in Pieces)
-25.00% - Celebrity Watch Party (vs. Paradise Hotel)
-50.00% - In the Dark
-50.00% - Labor of Love (vs. Paradise Hotel)
-50.00% - Burden of Truth (vs. iZombie)


Here are the highlights of the 13 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (5/23/19):

ABC (4.820 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1) claimed top honors on Thursday with its two-hour special "This Is Farrah Fawcett" (5.780 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T1) and a repeat of "Shark Tank" (2.900 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T7).

CBS (4.664 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1) then shared the demo crown with its lineup of "Young Sheldon" (5.249 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T3), "Young Sheldon" (5.347 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T1) and "Mom" (4.738 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T3) plus a new "Life in Pieces" (4.459 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T3) and the return of "Elementary" (4.095 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.5, #6).

Next up was NBC (2.166 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3) with its annual "Red Nose Day Special" (2.245 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T7) and a special "Hollywood Game Night" (2.007 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T7).

Meanwhile, FOX (1.237 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3) offered up fresh installments of "Paradise Hotel" (1.274 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T7) and a second "Paradise Hotel" (1.201 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T7).

And finally, The CW (0.673 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.2, #5) closed out the night with originals from "iZombie" (0.751 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T12) and "In the Dark" (0.594 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T12).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+33.33% - Paradise Hotel - 8:00
+33.33% - Paradise Hotel - 9:00
0.00% - iZombie
0.00% - In the Dark
-25.00% - Life in Pieces (vs. 5/9/19)

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+100.00% - In the Dark (vs. Black Lightning (Repeat))
0.00% - iZombie (vs. Supernatural (Repeat))
0.00% - Elementary (vs. SWAT (Repeat))
-14.29% - Life in Pieces (vs. Life in Pieces (Repeat))
-20.00% - Paradise Hotel - 8:00 (vs. Terrence Howard's Fright Club)
-20.00% - Hollywood Game Night (vs. The Red Nose Day Special)
-22.22% - This Is Farrah Fawcett (vs. The Last Days of Michael Jackson)
-33.33% - Paradise Hotel - 9:00 (vs. Showtime at the Apollo)
-50.00% - Red Nose Day Special (vs. Celebrity Ninja Warrior for Red Nose Day/Hollywood Game Night)

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

TBA

Source: Nielsen Media Research





  [april 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
[04/22/26 - 01:00 PM]
ESPN Opens NBA Playoffs with Most-Watched Playoff Game of Opening Weekend
Saturday's Houston Rockets vs. Los Angeles Lakers matchup on ABC averaged 5.2 million viewers, peaking at 6.4 million viewers during the 11 p.m. ET quarter hour.

[04/22/26 - 11:07 AM]
NBC Sports' Manchester City-Arsenal Is Most-Watched Premier League Match in U.S. History
Coverage averaged 2.6 million viewers across NBC, Peacock, Telemundo and NBC Sports Digital platforms this past Sunday.

[04/22/26 - 09:32 AM]
Record Setter! ESPN Opens 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs with Three Most-Watched First Round Games on Cable Ever, Excluding Game 7's
The Philadelphia Flyers-Pittsburgh Penguins matchup (Saturday, 8 p.m. ET) drew 2.1 million viewers, becoming the most-viewed First Round Playoff game ever on cable (excluding game 7's).

[04/22/26 - 08:51 AM]
"High Potential" Shoots to Six-Week High with Season Two Finale
On linear over seven days, the show earned 8.71 million Total Viewers and a 0.61 rating among Adults 18-49, also marking a six-week high in both measures and standing as the No. 1 show of the night.

[04/21/26 - 02:35 PM]
FOX Saturday Baseball Scores Double-Digit Year-Over-Year Growth
2,094,000 viewers tuned-in to FOX Saturday for a two-game slate highlighted by Atlanta's 3-1 victory over Philadelphia in most of the country.

[04/21/26 - 10:51 AM]
A New High! NHL on ESPN Networks Score Most-Viewed Regular Season of the Current Rights Deal
Individually, the NHL on ESPN averaged 602K viewers (38 games) and the NHL on ABC averaged 1.1 million viewers (16 games), both new highs in ESPN's current rights era.

[04/20/26 - 02:36 PM]
"The Pitt" Delivers Its Biggest Episode Yet, With the Season 2 Finale Reaching a Series-High 9.7 Million U.S. Viewers in Its First Weekend
The season is now averaging 15.4 million viewers, up 50% vs. Season 1, becoming the sixth current HBO Max series to surpass 15 million U.S. viewers.

[04/17/26 - 03:01 PM]
ABC News Is #1 on Sunday Morning and Friday Night
For the third week in a row, "20/20" built on its year-ago telecast in all key target demos: Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49.

[04/16/26 - 10:36 AM]
"American Idol" Rocks to a 5-Week High
Among Adults 18-49, "American Idol" grew over the prior week, delivering its best performance in 7 weeks.

[04/16/26 - 09:01 AM]
HBO Originals "Euphoria" and "DTF St. Louis" Viewership Performance
"Euphoria" made its much-anticipated season 3 return to amass 8.5 million U.S. viewers in its first three days of availability.

[04/15/26 - 02:03 PM]
ESPN Delivers Second Most-Watched WNBA Draft Ever
Said coverage averaged 1.50 million viewers, up 20% year-over-year.

[04/15/26 - 12:49 PM]
TNT Sports Delivers Its Most-Watched NHL on TNT Regular Season
All in, NHL coverage across TNT Sports' networks reached 20.4 million viewers this season, up 37% vs. last season.

[04/15/26 - 11:38 AM]
ESPN's Most-Watched NBA Regular Season in Seven Years
Through 80 telecasts, the 2025-26 NBA regular season on ABC & ESPN averaged 1.9 million viewers, up 11 percent from last season (1.7M viewers).

[04/15/26 - 09:30 AM]
CBS Series Deliver Strong Results vs. Broadcast and Streaming Originals in Live Plus 28-Day Multiplatform Viewership
CBS series make up six of the top 20 most-watched series among all broadcast and streaming competition - more than any broadcast competitor, according to Nielsen.

[04/15/26 - 06:32 AM]
Unscripted Prank Comedy Series "Foul Play with Anthony Davis" Scores Strong Premiere Performance with Triple Digit Gains for TBS on Monday, April 6
Following the NCAA Championship Game, the premiere reached a combined 2 million viewers across TBS, TNT and truTV.