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[12/13/19 - 08:15 AM]
Thursday's Broadcast Ratings: "Thursday Night Football" Holds Onto Top Spot for FOX
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 16 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (12/12/19):

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

FOX (9.017 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.5, #1) cruised to victory on Thursday with its telecasts of "Thursday Night Football Pre-Game" (7.461 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.9, #2) and "Thursday Night Football" (9.328 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.6, #1).

CBS (5.379 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.7, #2) then settled for silver with its fall finales from "Young Sheldon" (8.205 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T3), "The Unicorn" (5.616 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T5), "Mom" (6.191 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T5), "Carol's Second Act" (5.000 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T7) and "Evil" (3.630 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T11).

Next up was NBC (3.293 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #3) and the conclusion to "Ellen's Greatest Night of Giveaways" (5.888 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T3) followed by the fall finales of "Superstore" (2.831 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T7) and "Perfect Harmony" (1.797 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.4, #13) plus an encore of "A Legendary Christmas with John and Chrissy" (1.676 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T14).

Meanwhile, ABC (2.908 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #4) offered up repeats of "Olaf's Frozen Adventure" (3.272 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T7) and "Toy Story That Time Forgot" (2.639 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T7) alongside the return of "The Great American Baking Show: Holiday Edition" (2.884 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T11).

And finally, The CW (1.018 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) closed out the night with the fall finales of "Supernatural" (1.106 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T14) and "Legacies" (0.929 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T14).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
0.00% - Carol's Second Act
0.00% - Evil
0.00% - Perfect Harmony (vs. 11/21/19)
0.00% - Supernatural
0.00% - Legacies
-9.09% - Young Sheldon
-12.50% - Mom
-12.50% - The Unicorn
-14.29% - Superstore (vs. 11/21/19)
-33.33% - Thursday Night Football
-34.48% - Thursday Night Football Pre-Game

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+81.82% - Ellen's Greatest Night of Giveaways (vs. Superstore/I Feel Bad)
+20.00% - Superstore (vs. A Saturday Night Live Christmas Special (Repeat))
0.00% - Evil (vs. SWAT (Repeat))
0.00% - Legacies
-9.09% - Young Sheldon (vs. The Big Bang Theory (Repeat))
-14.29% - Carol's Second Act (vs. Murphy Brown)
-16.67% - The Great American Baking Show: Holiday Edition
-20.00% - Perfect Harmony (vs. A Saturday Night Live Christmas Special (Repeat))
-25.00% - Supernatural
-25.71% - Thursday Night Football
-34.48% - Thursday Night Football Pre-Game
-36.36% - The Unicorn (vs. Young Sheldon (Repeat))
-41.67% - Mom


Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (12/13/18):

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

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

FOX (12.314 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.4, #1) was the network to beat on Thursday thanks to its final telecasts of "Thursday Night Football Pre-Game" (11.157 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.9, #2) and "Thursday Night Football" (12.545 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.5, #1).

CBS (6.172 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.8, #2) then was the silver draw with its mix of "The Big Bang Theory" (8.078 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T4) and "Young Sheldon" (7.720 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T4) repeats, followed by new episodes of "Mom" (7.671 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.2, #3) and "Murphy Brown" (5.513 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T6) and a second run "SWAT" (4.024 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T11).

Next up was ABC (2.984 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #3) with encores of "Disney Prep & Landing" (3.193 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T6) and "Disney Prep & Landing 2: Naughty vs. Nice" (2.552 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T9) plus a new "The Great American Baking Show: Holiday Edition" (3.039 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T9).

Meanwhile, NBC (2.223 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #4) offered up originals from "Superstore" (3.004 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T6) and "I Feel Bad" (1.850 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T13) alongside a rebroadcast of "A Saturday Night Live Christmas Special" (2.121 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T11).

And finally, The CW (1.251 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) closed out the evening with its fall finales to "Supernatural" (1.426 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T13) and "Legacies" (1.076 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.3, #15).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+70.59% - Thursday Night Football Pre-Game
+52.17% - Thursday Night Football
0.00% - Mom
0.00% - I Feel Bad
-12.50% - Murphy Brown
-14.29% - The Great American Baking Show: Holiday Edition
-20.00% - Supernatural
-22.22% - Superstore
-25.00% - Legacies

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+400.00% - Thursday Night Football (vs. Various)
+314.29% - Thursday Night Football Pre-Game (vs. Showtime at the Apollo: Christmas)
0.00% - Supernatural (vs. iHeartRadio Jingle Ball 2017)
0.00% - Legacies (vs. Various)
-14.29% - Mom
-14.29% - The Great American Baking Show: Holiday Edition
-36.36% - Murphy Brown (vs. Life in Pieces)
-53.33% - Superstore (vs. Thursday Night Football Pre-Game)
-80.95% - I Feel Bad (vs. Thursday Night Football)

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," 1.8/5; "Late Show with Stephen Colbert," 2.4/7; and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.6/4.

· In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," 0.5/3; "Late Show," 0.4/2; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.4/3.

· From 12:35-1:05 a.m. ET, ABC's "Nightline" averaged a 1.0/3 in metered-market households and a 0.3/2 in 18-49 in the Local People Meters.

· From 12:35-1:35 a.m. ET, ratings were: "Late Night with Seth Meyers," 1.2/4 in metered-market households; CBS's "Late Late Show," 1.2/5. In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, averages were: "Late Night," 0.4/4 in 18-49; "Late Late Show," 0.2/2.

· At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.7/3 in metered-market households and a 0.3/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Source: Nielsen Media Research





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