or


[01/23/21 - 09:24 AM]
Friday's Broadcast Ratings: ABC, FOX Top Demos; CBS Leads Total Viewers
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 (1/22/21):

ABC (3.066 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1) and FOX (2.282 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1) shared the demo crown on Friday as the former served up "Shark Tank" (3.969 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.7, #1) and a repeat "20/20" (2.615 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T4) while the latter aired "WWE SmackDown" (2.282 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T2).

Next up was CBS (5.707 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.5, #3) with originals from "MacGyver" (4.879 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T4), "Magnum P.I." (5.659 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T2) and "Blue Bloods" (6.582 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T4).

Meanwhile, NBC (2.891 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #4) offered up the return of "The Blacklist" (3.167 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T7) and "Dateline NBC" (2.753 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T7).

And finally, The CW (0.813 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5) closed out the evening with "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (0.947 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.2, #9), a repeat "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (0.787 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T10) and "Penn & Teller: Fool Us" (0.758 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T10).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+20.00% - Magnum P.I.
0.00% - Shark Tank
0.00% - WWE SmackDown
0.00% - MacGyver
0.00% - The Blacklist (vs. 11/20/20)
0.00% - Dateline NBC (vs. 1/8/21)
0.00% - Whose Line Is It Anyway?
-16.67% - Blue Bloods (vs. 1/8/21)
-50.00% - Penn & Teller: Fool Us

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+50.00% - Magnum P.I. (vs. Magnum P.I. (Repeat))
+33.33% - The Blacklist (vs. U.S. Figure Skating Championships)
+33.33% - Dateline NBC (vs. U.S. Figure Skating Championships)
+27.27% - Shark Tank (vs. American Housewife/Fresh Off the Boat)
+25.00% - MacGyver (vs. Hawaii Five-0 (Repeat))
+25.00% - Blue Bloods (vs. Blue Bloods (Repeat))
0.00% - Whose Line Is It Anyway? (vs. Charmed)
0.00% - Penn & Teller: Fool Us (vs. Dynasty)
-14.29% - WWE SmackDown


Here are the highlights of the 10 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (1/24/20):

FOX (2.469 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.7, #1) held off the demo competition on Friday with another edition of "WWE SmackDown" (2.469 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.7, #1).

ABC (3.329 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #2) was a close second with its mix of "American Housewife" (3.404 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T2), "Fresh Off the Boat" (2.379 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.5, #4) and "20/20" (3.547 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T2).

Next up was NBC (2.390 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.3, #4) and its primetime coverage of the "U.S. Figure Skating Championships" (2.390 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.3, #8).

Meanwhile, CBS (5.146 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.4, #3) opted for repeats of "Hawaii Five-0" (5.298 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T5), "Magnum P.I." (4.968 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T5) and "Blue Bloods" (5.171 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T5).

And finally, originals from "Charmed" (0.609 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.2, #9) and "Dynasty" (0.347 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.1, #10) closed out the night on The CW (0.478 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+25.00% - Fresh Off the Boat
+20.00% - 20/20
+20.00% - American Housewife
0.00% - Charmed
0.00% - Dynasty
-12.50% - WWE SmackDown

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+16.67% - WWE SmackDown (vs. Various)
0.00% - Charmed (vs. Dynasty)
0.00% - Dynasty (vs. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend)
-14.29% - American Housewife (vs. Fresh Off the Boat)
-16.67% - Fresh Off the Boat (vs. Speechless)
-25.00% - 20/20
-25.00% - U.S. Figure Skating Championships

Source: Nielsen Media Research





  [november 2025]  
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
[11/14/25 - 10:30 AM]
"High Potential" Season 2 Premiere Scores Over 21 Million Total Viewers Across 35 Days
Season to date, the powerhouse drama continues to dominate, ranking as the No. 1 original broadcast series for the second season in a row among Adults 18-49 (2.42 rating), based on Nielsen cross-platform rankings.

[11/14/25 - 09:35 AM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Rises Week to Week with 6.67 Million Total Viewers as Show Heads to Semi-Finals
This marks the show's best performance for its last episode before the semi-finals among Total Viewers in six years and among Adults 18-49 in eight years.

[11/14/25 - 09:31 AM]
"Wicked: One Wonderful Night" Shines for NBC
Across all platforms, the special drew 3.6 million viewers, which was up 64% from last year's "Defying Gravity: The Curtain Rises on Wicked" special.

[11/12/25 - 08:27 AM]
ABC Scores Top Game of the Week for the 10th Straight Week; "College GameDay" Posts Week 11 Growth and Record Season Rolls On
LSU-Alabama (7.5 million viewers) was the most-watched game of the week, followed by Texas A&M-Missouri (4.9 million) and BYU-Texas Tech (4.0 million) among the top five.

[11/11/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of November 3 - "Frankenstein" Comes to Life at No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
For more monsters, viewers turned to Season 4 of "The Witcher," putting the series at No. 1 on the English TV list with 7.4 million views.

[11/06/25 - 02:15 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers and Adults 25-54
"Nightline" was up on the previous week by double digits in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.

[11/05/25 - 09:39 AM]
"College GameDay" and ESPN College Football on ABC Win Week 10
Georgia-Florida led the week with 7.8 million viewers, marking the largest audience on record for this rivalry in a full national window.

[11/05/25 - 08:00 AM]
The NASCAR Xfinity Series Concludes First Full Year on The Cw Network with Most-Watched Season in Four Years
The championship race, which saw Jesse Love emerge as the season winner, drew 1,015,000 total viewers and peaked at 1,191,000 total viewers from 9:30-9:45pm ET.

[11/04/25 - 04:19 PM]
FOX Scores 7.19 Million Viewers for Penn State-Ohio State
Plus, Texas Tech's win over K-State earned 3,131,000 viewers on FOX - up +42% over last year's average of Big 12 games on the network.

[11/04/25 - 03:38 PM]
FOX Sports Wraps Unforgettable Postseason as Epic World Series Game 7 Delivers 27.3 Million Viewers
On FOX, the 11-inning Fall Classic conclusion peaked at 33,064,000 viewers from 11:45 PM-12:00 AM ET.

[11/04/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of October 27 - "Nobody Wants This" Season 2 Steals Hearts and the No. 1 Spot in Top 10
Those looking for a more magical and mature spooky-weekend watch indulged in the new season of "The Witcher," casting its spell at No. 2 on the English TV list with 7.4 million views.

[11/03/25 - 11:00 AM]
CBS Premiere Week Leads Live+7 Multiplatform Viewership with Television's #1 Show "Tracker" and Four of the Top Five Series
The network claimed 10 of the top 20 series, twice as many top 20 shows as the competition.

[11/03/25 - 05:11 AM]
25,984,000 Viewers Tuned in for the Dodgers Back-to-Back, Dramatic Clinch of the Fall Classic Across FOX, FOX Deportes and FOX Sports Streaming Services - The Most Since 2017
On FOX, World Series Game 7 peaked with 31,543,000 viewers from 11:30-11:45 PM ET.

[10/31/25 - 02:22 PM]
FOX Sports Hits 14.6 Million Viewers for Game 5 of the World Series
The telecast reached a peak viewership of 16,034,000 viewers on FOX between 10:00-10:15 PM ET.

[10/31/25 - 10:42 AM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Scares Up More Wins - Rising for Historic Sixth Week in a Row
"Dancing with the Stars" is the only fall show to increase its overall audience for six consecutive weeks following its season premiere.