or


[09/12/20 - 09:46 AM]
Friday's Broadcast Ratings: FOX, "SmackDown" Hold Onto Demo Crown
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 (9/11/20):

FOX (2.261 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #1) was still the demo champ on Friday with its weekly telecast of "WWE SmackDown" (2.261 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #1).

The silver went to ABC (3.284 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.5, #2) with its duo of "9/11 Remembered: The Day We Came Together" (2.790 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T6) and "20/20" (3.532 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2).

Next up was CBS (2.422 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #3) and its mix of "MacGyver" (2.804 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T4), "Love Island" (1.797 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2) and "Blue Bloods" (2.664 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T6).

Meanwhile, NBC (1.895 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.3, #4) served up "America's Got Talent" (1.815 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T6) and "Dateline NBC" (2.055 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T4).

And finally, repeats of "Masters of Illusion" (0.684 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T9) and another "Masters of Illusion" (0.551 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T9) led into a new "Being Rueben" (0.258 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.0, #T11) and the season finale of "Being Rueben" (0.225 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.0, #T11) to round out the night on The CW (0.429 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
#DIV/0! - Being Rueben - 9:00
#DIV/0! - Being Rueben - 9:30
+150.00% - 20/20 (vs. 8/28/20)
+66.67% - Love Island
0.00% - WWE SmackDown
-20.00% - Dateline NBC (vs. 5/15/20)

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+100.00% - WWE SmackDown (vs. Various)
+42.86% - 20/20 (vs. Reef Break/20/20)
+25.00% - Love Island (vs. Magnum P.I. (Repeat))
-14.29% - 9/11 Remembered: The Day We Came Together (vs. American Housewife/Fresh Off the Boat (Repeats))
-33.33% - Dateline NBC
-100.00% - Being Rueben - 9:00 (vs. Red Bull Peaking)
-100.00% - Being Rueben - 9:30 (vs. Red Bull Peaking)


Here are the highlights of the 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (9/13/19):

NBC (2.823 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #1) was the demo champ for the third consecutive Friday with its duo of "American Ninja Warrior" (2.539 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.5, #2) and "Dateline NBC" (3.390 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #1).

CBS (3.962 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.4, #2) then was the silver draw with its repeat mix of "Hawaii Five-0" (3.860 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3), "Magnum P.I." (3.836 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3) and "Blue Bloods" (4.191 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T7).

Next up was ABC (2.245 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T3) with repeats of "American Housewife" (2.349 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3) and "Fresh Off the Boat" (1.909 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T7) followed by the season finale of "Reef Break" (2.075 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T7) and a new "20/20" (2.531 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3).

Meanwhile, FOX (0.993 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T3) offered up encores of "BH90210" (0.927 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T7) and "MasterChef" (1.058 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T7).

And finally, The CW (0.339 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5) closed out the night with the special "EA Sports Madden NFL 20 Classic" (0.434 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T12) followed by the premiere of "Red Bull Peaking" (0.250 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T12) and a second "Red Bull Peaking" (0.239 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T12).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
0.00% - Dateline NBC
0.00% - Reef Break (vs. 9/5/19)
-20.00% - 20/20

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
-14.29% - Dateline NBC
-20.00% - 20/20
-25.00% - Reef Break (vs. Child Support (Repeat))
-50.00% - EA Sports Madden NFL 20 Classic (vs. Masters of Illusion)
-50.00% - Red Bull Peaking - 9:00 (vs. Penn & Teller: Fool Us (Repeat))
-50.00% - Red Bull Peaking - 9:30 (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," 1.5/4 with an encore telecast; "Late Show with Stephen Colbert," 1.8/5 with an encore; and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.3/4 with an encore.

· In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," 0.4/3 with an encore; "Late Show," 0.2/2 with an encore; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.3/2 with an encore.

· From 12:35-1:05 a.m. ET, ABC's "Nightline" averaged a 0.9/3 in metered-market households and a 0.2/2 in 18-49 in the Local People Meters.

· From 12:35-1:35 a.m. ET, ratings were: "Late Night with Seth Meyers," 0.9/3 in metered-market households with an encore; CBS's "Late Late Show," 0.9/3 with an encore. In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, averages were: "Late Night," 0.2/2 in 18-49 with an encore; "Late Late Show," 0.1/1 with an encore.

Source: Nielsen Media Research





  [july 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
[07/02/26 - 06:09 PM]
ESPN Delivers Most-Watched Wimbledon Day 2 Coverage on Record
Serena Williams' Wimbledon return on Tuesday, June 30, delivered record viewership.

[07/02/26 - 03:18 PM]
FOX Sports' Strong FIFA World Cup 2026 Viewership Continues with 10.43 Million viewers Tuning in for Mexico-Ecuador
The telecast reached a peak viewership of 13.087 million viewers from 10:30-10:45 PM ET.

[07/02/26 - 02:49 PM]
ABC News Is No. 1 in Total Viewers for the Second Quarter on Sunday Morning and Friday Evening
"20/20" ranked as Friday's No. 1 newsmagazine during the 2nd Quarter 2026 in Total Viewers (3.806 million) and Adults 18-49 (473,000).

[07/02/26 - 01:48 PM]
FOX Sports Soars Into the Record Books with Most-Watched Soccer Telecast in English-Language U.S. History
24.429 million viewers watched the USMNT's historic FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 32 victory Wednesday on FOX.

[07/02/26 - 08:27 AM]
"BET Awards" 2026 Grows Across Every Platform with First-Time Host Druski, Cementing BET as the Epicenter of Black Culture
The telecast was the highest-rated "BET Awards" on BET since 2019 among P18-49, with P18-49 impressions up +50% year-over-year.

[07/01/26 - 03:00 PM]
FOX Scores 10.579 Million Viewers for Netherlands-Morocco FIFA World Cup 2026 Knock Out Thriller - Monday's Most-Watched Telecast on Any Network
Coverage peaked with 12.657 million viewers from 10:45-11:00 PM ET.

[07/01/26 - 01:07 PM]
"Dateline" Is the #1 Friday Newsmagazine in Both Key Demos for the 10th Consecutive Quarter
According to Nielsen Media Research, the true crime original averages 786,000 A25-54 viewers, +31,000 vs. last quarter and +11,000 vs. last year.

[07/01/26 - 12:11 PM]
Top 10 Most-Watched Prime Original Films & Series for the Week of June 22
"Off Campus," "Every Year After," "Clarkson's Farm," "Spider-Noir," and "The Boys" led all original series worldwide.

[07/01/26 - 11:19 AM]
ABC Delivers Most-Watched Banana Ball Telecast Ever!
The June 28 broadcast averaged 1.2 million viewers across the two-hour showcase.

[06/30/26 - 05:54 PM]
FOX Sports Smashes FIFA World Cup Group Stage Records as U.S. Men's National Team and Global Superstars Shine Bright
Averaging 5,052,000 viewers across 72 matches, the Group Stage on FOX, FS1 and Tubi was up +92% versus 2022 (2,638,000 viewers), for the most-watched FIFA Men's World Cup Group Stage telecast average in English-language U.S. history.

[06/30/26 - 02:17 PM]
NBC Sports Delivers Audience Milestones for Sunday Golf and Baseball Coverage on NBC and Peacock
NBC Sports' first New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox game since 1995, a 10-inning, 5-4 victory by the Red Sox, averaged 4.0 million viewers from 8:28-10:35 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.

[06/30/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of June 22 - The Search Continues as "I Will Find You" Holds at No. 1 for a Second Week
The second season of "Avatar: The Last Airbender" launched in the No. 2 spot on the English TV list with 8.7 million views, and the first season reentered the list in the No. 3 spot with 3 million views.

[06/29/26 - 10:00 AM]
USMNT FIFA World Cup 2026 Group Stage Finale Pulls in 17.015 Million Viewers on FOX
Said coverage delivered a peak audience of 19,471,000 viewers from 10:30-10:45 PM ET.

[06/26/26 - 05:35 PM]
Third Leg of FIFA World Cup 2026 Group Stage Kicks Off, FOX Sports Viewership Stays Strong
8.7 million viewers tuned into 9:00 PM ET window featuring Mexico-Czechia on FOX and South Africa-Korea Republic on FS1.

[06/26/26 - 02:44 PM]
USMNT Caps Historic FIFA World Cup 2026 Group Stage with 15.856M Viewers on FOX
Said coverage marked the third most-watched FIFA Men's World Cup Group Stage telecast in English-language U.S. history.