or


[01/22/21 - 09:26 AM]
Thursday's Broadcast Ratings: ABC's Game Shows Hold Off Competition
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 17 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (1/21/21):

ABC (4.352 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.7, #1) was still the network to beat on Thursday with its trio of "Celebrity Wheel of Fortune" (6.093 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T1), "The Chase" (4.307 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T3) and "The Hustler" (2.656 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T8).

A close second was FOX (2.483 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #2) with its mix of "Hell's Kitchen" (2.470 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T3), "Call Me Kat" (2.452 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T8) and "Last Man Standing" (2.541 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T11).

Next up was CBS (4.009 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T3) with the return of "Young Sheldon" (7.149 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T1), "B Positive" (5.035 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T5), "Mom" (4.916 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T5) and "The Unicorn" (3.454 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T11) plus "Star Trek: Discovery" (1.748 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T16).

Meanwhile, NBC (3.084 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T3) offered up its lineup of "Mr. Mayor" (3.091 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T8), "Superstore" (2.155 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T11), "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (3.633 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T5) and "Dateline NBC" (2.996 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.3, #15).

And finally, The CW (1.574 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) closed out the night with the premiere of "Walker" (2.431 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T11) alongside the return of "Legacies" (0.717 million viewers, #17; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T16).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+100.00% - Star Trek: Discovery
+20.00% - B Positive
+20.00% - Mom
+14.29% - Young Sheldon
0.00% - Hell's Kitchen
0.00% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
0.00% - Mr. Mayor
0.00% - Call Me Kat
0.00% - The Unicorn
-12.50% - The Chase
-16.67% - The Hustler
-20.00% - Last Man Standing
-20.00% - Superstore
-25.00% - Dateline NBC
-27.27% - Celebrity Wheel of Fortune

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+100.00% - Walker (vs. Supernatural)
+50.00% - B Positive (vs. The Unicorn (Repeat))
+50.00% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (vs. Will & Grace/Perfect Harmony)
+20.00% - Mom (vs. Young Sheldon (Repeat))
+14.29% - Young Sheldon (vs. Young Sheldon (Repeat))
0.00% - Call Me Kat (vs. Deputy)
0.00% - Legacies
-6.67% - Hell's Kitchen (vs. Last Man Standing/Outmatched)
-20.00% - The Unicorn (vs. Mom (Repeat))
-20.00% - Last Man Standing (vs. Deputy)
-25.00% - Dateline NBC (vs. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (Repeat))
-28.57% - Mr. Mayor (vs. Superstore)
-33.33% - Star Trek: Discovery (vs. The Gayle King Grammy Special)
-33.33% - Superstore (vs. The Good Place)
-33.33% - Celebrity Wheel of Fortune (vs. Station 19)
-37.50% - The Hustler (vs. A Million Little Things)
-50.00% - The Chase (vs. Grey's Anatomy)


Here are the highlights of the 18 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (1/23/20):

ABC (5.943 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.1, #1) pulled into the top spot on Thursday with the return of "Station 19" (6.981 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.2, #2), "Grey's Anatomy" (6.648 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.4, #1) and "A Million Little Things" (4.200 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T3).

The silver went to FOX (3.508 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #2) with a new "Last Man Standing" (4.445 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T3), the premiere of "Outmatched" (3.233 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T5) and a new "Deputy" (3.178 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T9).

Next up was CBS (3.788 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T3) with repeats of "Young Sheldon" (5.584 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T5), "The Unicorn" (3.800 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T13), another "Young Sheldon" (4.116 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T9) and "Mom" (3.973 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T9) plus "The Gayle King Grammy Special" (2.627 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T15).

Meanwhile, NBC (2.225 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T3) served up originals from "Superstore" (2.733 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T5), "The Good Place" (2.106 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.6, #8) and "Will & Grace" (2.302 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T9) alongside the season finale of "Perfect Harmony" (1.420 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T15) and a repeat "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (2.394 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T13).

And finally, fresh installments of "Supernatural" (1.015 million viewers, #17; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T17) and "Legacies" (0.718 million viewers, #18; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T17) closed out the night on The CW (0.867 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.2, #5).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+25.00% - Will & Grace
+20.00% - The Good Place
+16.67% - Superstore
+7.69% - Grey's Anatomy (vs. 11/21/19)
0.00% - Last Man Standing
0.00% - A Million Little Things (vs. 11/21/19)
0.00% - Perfect Harmony
0.00% - Legacies
-16.67% - Deputy
-33.33% - Supernatural

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+33.33% - Last Man Standing (vs. Gotham)
+33.33% - A Million Little Things (vs. How to Get Away with Murder)
+27.27% - Grey's Anatomy (vs. A Million Little Things)
+16.67% - Outmatched
-25.00% - Station 19 (vs. Grey's Anatomy)
-28.57% - Deputy (vs. The Orville)
-33.33% - Legacies
-41.67% - Superstore (vs. The Titan Games)
-50.00% - Will & Grace (vs. Brooklyn Nine-Nine)
-50.00% - The Good Place (vs. The Titan Games)
-50.00% - Supernatural
-50.00% - The Gayle King Grammy Special (vs. SWAT (Repeat))
-62.50% - Perfect Harmony (vs. The Good Place)

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
[06/10/26 - 09:08 AM]
NBC Sports Delivers 2nd-Largest Final Round Audience for U.S. Women's Open Since 2014
Coverage averaged 1.3 million viewers across NBC and Peacock.

[06/09/26 - 03:59 PM]
Belmont Stakes Audience Peaks at 4.7 Million Viewers Across FOX & FS1
The combined telecast on FOX and FS1 averaged 3,730,000 viewers.

[06/09/26 - 03:34 PM]
FOX UFL Scores Strong Finish
1,066,000 viewers watched FOX UFL as the Louisville Kings defeated the St. Louis Battlehawks Sunday and advanced to the United Bowl.

[06/09/26 - 02:50 PM]
ABC's Most-Watched NBA Finals Game 2 Since 2018 with Average Audience of 16.43M Viewers
Viewership peaked with 19.42 million viewers at 11:15 p.m. ET.

[06/09/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of June 1 - "Office Romance" Sneaks to No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
Plus: "Michael Jackson: The Verdict" has grabbed viewers' attention, landing at No. 1 on the English TV list with 17.8 million views.

[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.