or


[03/06/21 - 10:11 AM]
Friday's Broadcast Ratings: ABC, FOX Claim Demo Honors
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 (3/5/21):

ABC (3.795 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1) and FOX (2.166 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1) shared the demo crown on Friday as the former offered up new episodes of "Shark Tank" (4.465 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.7, #1) and "20/20" (3.460 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T2) while the latter served up a new installment of "WWE SmackDown" (2.166 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T2).

Next up was CBS (5.251 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.4, #3) with originals from "MacGyver" (4.360 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T5), "Magnum P.I." (5.378 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.5, #4) and "Blue Bloods" (6.016 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T5).

Meanwhile, NBC (2.785 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.3, #4) aired new episodes of "The Blacklist" (3.147 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.3, #8) and "Dateline NBC" (2.605 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T5).

And finally, The CW (0.741 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5) closed out the night with "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (0.748 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T10), a repeat "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (0.790 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.2, #9) and "Penn & Teller: Fool Us" (0.712 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T10).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+33.33% - Dateline NBC
+20.00% - WWE SmackDown
0.00% - Shark Tank
0.00% - 20/20
0.00% - Magnum P.I. (vs. 2/19/21)
0.00% - The Blacklist
0.00% - Whose Line Is It Anyway?
0.00% - Penn & Teller: Fool Us
-20.00% - Blue Bloods (vs. 2/12/21)
-20.00% - MacGyver (vs. 2/19/21)

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
0.00% - Penn & Teller: Fool Us (vs. Whose Line Is It Anyway? (Repeats))
-12.50% - Shark Tank
-14.29% - WWE SmackDown
-14.29% - 20/20
-16.67% - Magnum P.I. (vs. Hawaii Five-0)
-33.33% - Dateline NBC
-33.33% - Blue Bloods
-33.33% - MacGyver
-40.00% - The Blacklist (vs. Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector)
-50.00% - Whose Line Is It Anyway? (vs. Penn & Teller: Fool Us (Repeat))


Here are the highlights of the 11 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (3/6/20):

ABC (4.354 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T1) shared in the demo honors with new episodes from "Shark Tank" (4.372 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #1) and "20/20" (4.345 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T2).

FOX (2.453 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T1) likewise led the adults 18-49 race with "WWE SmackDown" (2.453 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T2).

Next up was CBS (6.618 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.6, #3) and its trio of "MacGyver" (5.646 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T4), "Hawaii Five-0" (6.905 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T4) and "Blue Bloods" (7.304 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T4).

Meanwhile, NBC (3.743 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #4) offered up new episodes of "Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector" (3.709 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.5, #8) and "Dateline NBC" (3.760 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T4).

And finally, The CW (0.711 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5) opted for repeats of "Penn & Teller: Fool Us" (0.843 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.2, #9), "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (0.543 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T10) and another "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (0.614 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T10) to round out the night.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+25.00% - Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector
+20.00% - Dateline NBC
+16.67% - 20/20
+14.29% - Shark Tank
0.00% - MacGyver
-12.50% - WWE SmackDown
-14.29% - Blue Bloods (vs. 2/14/20)
-14.29% - Hawaii Five-0

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+60.00% - Shark Tank (vs. Fresh Off the Boat/Speechless)
+16.67% - 20/20
+16.67% - WWE SmackDown (vs. Various)
+9.09% - Dateline NBC (vs. The Blacklist/Dateline NBC)
0.00% - Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector (vs. Blindspot)
-33.33% - Blue Bloods
-33.33% - Hawaii Five-0
-50.00% - MacGyver (vs. CBS News Special: The Gayle King Interview with R. Kelly)

Source: Nielsen Media Research, ShowBuzzDaily.com





  [january 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
[01/02/26 - 03:45 PM]
"Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve" Rises to Four Year High Reaching 30 Million Total Viewers at Midnight
The telecast averaged 18.8 million total viewers in the 11:30pm-12:30am hour alone.

[01/02/26 - 09:49 AM]
FOX NFL's Week 17 "America's Game of the Week" Comes Out on Top with 28.8 Million Viewers
The Eagles-Bills close finish marked FOX's second most-watched telecast of the regular season.

[12/31/25 - 12:46 PM]
NFL Christmas Gameday on Netflix Scores Again With the Lions-Vikings Becoming the Most-Streamed NFL Game in US History
Said coverage averaged 27.5 million viewers in the US, with US viewership peaking at over 30 million viewers.

[12/31/25 - 10:11 AM]
NFL on Prime's Christmas Night Showdown Between the Broncos and Chiefs Sets New Viewership Marks for "TNF"
The streamer's "Thursday Night Football" finale averaged 21.06 million viewers, peaking with 22.90 million.

[12/31/25 - 10:08 AM]
ESPN Delivered Largest Average NBA Christmas Audience Since 2018
The San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma City Thunder game in the 2:30 p.m. window became ESPN's most-watched NBA Christmas game in the timeslot since 2017, averaging 6.7 million viewers.

[12/30/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of December 22 - "Stranger Things 5" Runs Up That Hill to No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
At No. 2 on the list was "Emily in Paris" Season 5 with 13.3 million views.

[12/30/25 - 08:00 AM]
Aced It! ESPN Scored Most-Watched 2025 NCAA Women's College Volleyball Season on Record
The entirety of the NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament finished up 13% year over year, averaging 666,000 viewers across the 15 matches and featured the most-watched Regionals on record.

[12/24/25 - 10:01 AM]
Dec. 20 Holiday Episode Ranks as #1 "Saturday Night Live" Telecast of the Season
Hosted by Ariana Grande with musical guest Cher, the episode drew 5.4 million viewers.

[12/23/25 - 03:11 PM]
College Football Playoff First Round Presented by Allstate Averages 9.9 Million Viewers Across Four Games on ESPN/ABC and TNT Sports
Alabama vs. Oklahoma delivered 14.9 million viewers on Friday.

[12/23/25 - 03:03 PM]
FOX NFL Exclusive Week 16 Doubleheader Delivers 21.3 Million for Packers-Bears and 15.4 Million for Eagles-Commanders
Plus: 15,460,000 viewers watched FOX Sports' exclusive Week 16 Saturday presentation of the Eagles victory over the Commanders and divisional clinch of the NFC East.

[12/23/25 - 12:16 PM]
"Stranger Things" by the Numbers: How the Global Phenomenon Shaped Culture
In just four weeks, Season 5 Vol. 1 has already reached 102.6M views globally and all five seasons still remain in the Top 10 this week.

[12/23/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of December 15 - "The Great Flood" Rises to No. 1; "Wake Up Dead Man" Stays on Top for a Second Week
Plus: "Emily in Paris" returned with its fifth season, taking the No. 2 spot on the list with 13.5 million views.

[12/23/25 - 10:01 AM]
33 Million Global Viewers on Netflix Watched Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua's Epic Six-Round Battle
The event reached Netflix's Top 10 in 91 countries and ranked #1 in 45 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Australia, Mexico, and Argentina.

[12/19/25 - 02:33 PM]
ABC Celebrates Record-Breaking 2025 with Top Six Shows Among Adults 18-49 and TV's No. 1 Show, "High Potential"
"High Potential" stands as the No. 1 series for the year in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, with the network also owning the Top Six shows in the key Adult demo.

[12/17/25 - 01:30 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks #1 in Total Viewers
"Nightline" also posted week-to-week increases in Total Viewers and Adults 25-54.