or


[09/26/20 - 08:04 AM]
Friday's Broadcast Ratings: ABC Tops Viewers; Shares Demo Crown with FOX, NBC
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 (9/25/20):

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

ABC (3.538 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T1) was the most-watched network on Friday with a special repeat of "America's Funniest Home Videos" (2.982 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T4) alongside "20/20" (3.816 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T1).

FOX (2.032 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T1) and NBC (1.942 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T1) shared in the demo honors with "WWE SmackDown" (2.032 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T1) and "Stanley Cup Finals: Tampa Bay at Dallas" (1.942 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T1), respectively.

Next up was CBS (2.490 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.3, #4) with the return of "The Greatest #AtHome Videos" (3.125 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T6) plus repeats of "Magnum P.I." (1.830 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T4) and "Blue Bloods" (2.516 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T6).

And finally, The CW (0.665 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5) rounded out the night with "Masters of Illusion" (0.647 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T8), a repeat "Masters of Illusion" (0.539 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T8), "World's Funniest Animals" (0.738 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T8) and a repeat "World's Funniest Animals" (0.737 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T8).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+25.00% - 20/20
0.00% - WWE SmackDown
0.00% - World's Funniest Animals
0.00% - Masters of Illusion
-25.00% - The Greatest #AtHome Videos (vs. 8/14/20)

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+25.00% - WWE SmackDown (vs. Various)
0.00% - 20/20
-50.00% - World's Funniest Animals (vs. Red Bull Peaking)
-50.00% - Masters of Illusion
-57.14% - The Greatest #AtHome Videos (vs. Hawaii Five-0)


Here are the highlights of the 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (9/27/19):

CBS (6.992 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1) was the top draw on Friday with its debut lineup of "Hawaii Five-0" (6.798 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T1), "Magnum P.I." (6.359 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T3) and "Blue Bloods" (7.818 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T3).

ABC (3.135 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1) shared in the demo honors with the season premieres of "American Housewife" (3.385 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T1), "Fresh Off the Boat" (2.439 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T6) and "20/20" (3.247 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T6).

Next up was NBC (3.307 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.5, #3) with an encore of "Bluff City Law" (2.698 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T8) and a two-hour "Dateline NBC" (3.612 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T3).

Meanwhile, FOX (1.328 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #4) offered up the special "WWE SmackDown's Greatest Hits" (1.391 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T8) followed by a rebroadcast of "Prodigal Son" (1.265 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.3, #10).

And finally, The CW (0.849 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.2, #5) closed out the night with its quartet of "Masters of Illusion" (0.975 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T11), "The Big Stage" (0.887 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T11), "Red Bull Peaking" (0.824 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T11) and another "Red Bull Peaking" (0.709 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.1, #14).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+100.00% - Red Bull Peaking - 9:00
+50.00% - Dateline NBC
0.00% - 20/20
0.00% - Masters of Illusion
0.00% - The Big Stage
0.00% - Red Bull Peaking - 9:30

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+16.67% - American Housewife (vs. Truth and Lies: Jonestown, Paradise Lost)
0.00% - Red Bull Peaking - 9:00 (vs. Penn & Teller: Fool Us (Repeat))
0.00% - Dateline NBC (vs. New Amsterdam (Repeat)/Dateline NBC)
0.00% - Masters of Illusion
0.00% - The Big Stage (vs. Masters of Illusion (Repeat))
0.00% - Hawaii Five-0 (vs. MacGyver)
-16.67% - Fresh Off the Boat (vs. Truth and Lies: Jonestown, Paradise Lost)
-23.08% - 20/20 (vs. Truth and Lies: Jonestown, Paradise Lost/20/20)
-33.33% - Blue Bloods
-33.33% - Magnum P.I. (vs. Hawaii Five-0)
-50.00% - Red Bull Peaking - 9:30 (vs. Penn & Teller: Fool Us (Repeat))
-75.76% - WWE SmackDown's Greatest Hits (vs. Last Man Standing/The Cool Kids)

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," 1.6/4; "Late Show with Stephen Colbert," 2.5/7; 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; "Late Show," 0.3/2; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.3/2 with an encore.

· From 12:35-1:05 a.m. ET, ABC's "Nightline" averaged a 1.0/3 in metered-market households and a 0.3/3 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 with an encore; CBS's "Late Late Show," 1.1/4 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," 0.2/2 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
[07/20/26 - 10:00 AM]
CBS Leads Broadcast Series in Multiplatform Viewing for the 2025-2026 Season
Against broadcast competition, CBS finishes the season with four of the top five series.

[07/17/26 - 03:12 PM]
FOX Sports' 15.088 Million Average Viewers for FIFA World Cup 2026 Semifinals is Best in U.S. History
16.900 million viewers watched Argentina knock out England in the semifinals Wednesday afternoon on FOX.

[07/17/26 - 02:01 PM]
ABC News Is No. 1 in Total Viewers on Sunday Morning, in Late Night and Friday Evening
"20/20" improved on the year-ago telecast by double digits in all key target demos: Total Viewers, Adults 25-54, and Adults 18-49.

[07/16/26 - 02:41 PM]
FOX Sports Rings the Bell, Captures Most-Watched MLB All-Star Game Since 2018
Coverage reached a peak audience of 10,186,000 viewers from 8:45-9:00 PM ET.

[07/16/26 - 01:48 PM]
Netflix: What We Watched the First Half of 2026
Starting in Q1 2027, Netflix will move from a six-month to a yearly snapshot.

[07/16/26 - 01:09 PM]
Messi Shines, FOX Sports is Golden with Record-Breaking England-Argentina FIFA World Cup 2026 Semifinal
15.063 million viewers watched Lionel Messi and Argentina knock out England in the semifinal Wednesday afternoon on FOX.

[07/16/26 - 12:03 PM]
Paramount+ Reaches Nearly 16M Viewers for UFC 329: McGregor vs Holloway 2, Peaking with Record-Breaking 8M Streams in U.S. and Latin America
The main event concluded in 69 seconds as Max Holloway secured a first-round TKO against Conor McGregor, whose return from a five-year layoff ended after he suffered an early knee injury.

[07/16/26 - 11:00 AM]
ESPN Delivers Strongest First Half Viewership Performance Since 2012 Across Television Networks
Fans consumed a combined 288 billion minutes of sports content across ESPN and ESPN on ABC during Nielsen's first half 2026 calendar period.

[07/15/26 - 01:01 PM]
"The Five Star Weekend" Is the #1 Original Scripted Launch in Peacock's History
Off to a five star start.

[07/15/26 - 12:50 PM]
FOX Sports Secures Most-Watched FIFA Men's World Cup Semifinals Telecast in English-Language U.S. History
11.462 million viewers watched Spain knock out France in the semifinal Tuesday afternoon on FOX.

[07/15/26 - 12:01 PM]
Top 10 Most-Watched Prime Original Films & Series for the Week of July 6
"Elle," "Off Campus," "Every Year After," "Clarkson's Farm," and "The Boys" led all original series worldwide.

[07/15/26 - 08:28 AM]
NBC and Peacock Deliver Most-Watched WNBA Game of 2026 Season with Fever-Aces on "Sunday Night Basketball"
The July 12 game averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 2.64 million viewers on NBC and Peacock in primetime.

[07/14/26 - 05:18 PM]
ESPN Delivers Its Second Most-Watched Wimbledon Coverage
Saturday's Wimbledon Ladies Championship, a three-set victory for No. 9 Linda Noskova over No. 10 Karolina Muchova, averaged 1.9 million viewers, an increase of 48% compared to last year and ranking as ESPN's most-viewed women's championship ever.

[07/14/26 - 03:38 PM]
FOX Sports Continues to Smash Records - 15.644 Million Average Viewers for FIFA World Cup 2026 Quarterfinals - Best in English-Language U.S. History
21.796 million viewers watched Norway-England Saturday on FOX.

[07/14/26 - 02:03 PM]
NBC Sports Delivers Largest Final Round Audience for American Century Championship Celebrity Tournament Since 2004
The final round audience averaged 1.5 million viewers on NBC and Peacock.