or


[09/25/20 - 08:16 AM]
Thursday's Broadcast Ratings: ABC Tops Viewers, Splits Demos with 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 12 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (9/24/20):

[EDITOR'S NOTE: The ABC station in Miami and the FOX station in Jacksonville carried NFL football.]

ABC (3.823 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1) was the top draw on Thursday thanks to the return of "Celebrity Family Feud" (5.107 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.7, #2), "Press Your Luck" (3.451 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #3) and "Match Game" (2.911 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T4).

CBS (2.522 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1) however shared in the demo honors with its mix of "Big Brother 22" (4.004 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.1, #1), "Love Island" (1.884 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T4) and "Star Trek: Discovery" (1.679 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.2, #10).

Next up was NBC (3.168 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #3) with the Thursday bows of "The Wall" (2.872 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T6) and "Dateline NBC" (3.316 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T6).

Meanwhile, FOX (1.361 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.3, #4) served up encores of "The Masked Singer: Special Season Four Sneak Peek" (1.454 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T8) and "Filthy Rich" (1.267 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T8).

And finally, The CW (0.719 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5) closed out the night with "Mysteries Decoded" (0.787 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T11) and "Penn & Teller: Fool Us" (0.652 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T11).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+10.00% - Big Brother 22
0.00% - Celebrity Family Feud (vs. 9/20/20)
0.00% - Press Your Luck (vs. 7/12/20)
0.00% - Match Game (vs. 7/12/20)
0.00% - Love Island
-42.86% - The Wall (vs. 6/29/20)

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+22.22% - Big Brother 22 (vs. Young Sheldon/The Unicorn)
-16.67% - Match Game (vs. How to Get Away with Murder)
-33.33% - Love Island (vs. Mom/Carol's Second Act)
-36.51% - Dateline NBC (vs. Various)
-38.46% - The Wall (vs. Superstore/Perfect Harmony)
-45.45% - Press Your Luck (vs. A Million Little Things)
-53.33% - Celebrity Family Feud (vs. Grey's Anatomy)
-71.43% - Star Trek: Discovery (vs. Evil)


Here are the highlights of the 17 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (9/26/19):

FOX (12.710 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.9, #1) overshadowed the competition on Thursday with its telecasts of "Thursday Night Football Pre-Game" (10.081 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.8, #2) and "Thursday Night Football" (13.236 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.1, #1).

The silver then went to ABC (4.663 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.0, #2) with the return of "Grey's Anatomy" (6.461 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #3), "A Million Little Things" (5.004 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.1, #4) and "How to Get Away with Murder" (2.525 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.6, #13).

Next up was CBS (5.915 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.8, #3) and its debut lineup of "Young Sheldon" (8.058 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.0, #5), "The Unicorn" (6.007 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T6), "Mom" (6.224 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T6), "Carol's Second Act" (5.965 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T9) and "Evil" (4.618 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T9).

Meanwhile, NBC (2.856 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #4) offered up the openers to "Superstore" (2.876 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T6), "Perfect Harmony" (2.601 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.5, #14), "The Good Place" (2.432 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T9), "Sunnyside" (1.794 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.4, #15) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (3.715 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T9).

And finally, The CW (0.578 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5) closed out the evening the penultimate "The Outpost" (0.651 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T16) and the season finale of "The Outpost" (0.506 million viewers, #17; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T16).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
-50.00% - The Outpost

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+20.59% - Thursday Night Football
+12.00% - Thursday Night Football Pre-Game
0.00% - Evil (vs. SWAT)
0.00% - The Outpost - 9:00 (vs. The Originals (Repeat))
-20.00% - Superstore (vs. The Good Place)
-21.05% - Grey's Anatomy
-25.00% - How to Get Away with Murder
-30.00% - The Good Place (vs. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit)
-36.36% - Carol's Second Act (vs. Murphy Brown)
-38.46% - Mom
-38.89% - A Million Little Things (vs. Grey's Anatomy)
-41.67% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
-44.44% - Perfect Harmony (vs. The Good Place)
-50.00% - The Unicorn (vs. Young Sheldon)
-50.00% - The Outpost - 8:00 (vs. Supernatural (Repeat))
-52.38% - Young Sheldon (vs. The Big Bang Theory)
-60.00% - Sunnyside (vs. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit)

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," 1.3/4; "Late Show with Stephen Colbert," 2.6/7; and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.4/4.

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

· From 12:35-1:05 a.m. ET, ABC's "Nightline," averaged a 1.0/4 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," 1.0/4 in metered-market households; CBS's "Late Late Show," 1.0/4. In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, averages were: "Late Night," 0.2/2 in 18-49; "Late Late Show," 0.2/2.

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.