or


[12/21/19 - 08:29 AM]
Friday's Broadcast Ratings: "WWE SmackDown" Continues Demo Reign
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 12 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (12/20/19):

FOX (2.414 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.7, #1) continued its demo reign on Friday with its weekly presentation of "WWE SmackDown" (2.414 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.7, #1).

The most-watched network then was CBS (4.431 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T2) with repeats of "I Love Lucy Christmas Special" (4.892 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2), "Magnum P.I." (3.823 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T4) and "Blue Bloods" (4.578 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T4).

Next up was ABC (2.815 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T2) and its pairing of "Celebrating Marvel's Stan Lee" (2.528 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T4) and a two-hour "20/20" (2.958 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T4).

Meanwhile, NBC (2.659 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T2) served up the "Global Citizen Prize" (1.849 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.3, #8) alongside its own two-hour "Dateline NBC" (3.064 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2).

And finally, repeats of "Penn & Teller: Fool Us" (0.903 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.2, #9), "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (0.669 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T10) and another "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (0.605 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T10) closed out the night on The CW (0.770 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
0.00% - WWE SmackDown
0.00% - Dateline NBC
-20.00% - 20/20

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+75.00% - WWE SmackDown (vs. Various)
+11.11% - Dateline NBC (vs. Various)
-20.00% - 20/20 (vs. Various)
-25.00% - Global Citizen Prize (vs. Midnight, Texas)
-42.86% - Celebrating Marvel's Stan Lee (vs. I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown (Repeat))


Here are the highlights of the 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (12/21/18):

CBS (4.261 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T1) was the most-watched network on Friday with its mix of "A Home for the Holidays: The 20th Anniversary" (3.474 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2), "Hawaii Five-0" (4.111 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T9) and "Blue Bloods" (5.199 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2).

NBC (2.803 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T1) then was the number two draw with "Midnight, Texas" (2.604 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T9), a rebroadcast of "America's Got Talent: A Holiday of Champions" (2.752 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T9) and "Dateline NBC" (3.054 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2).

Next up was ABC (2.787 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T1) and its second run lineup of "I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown" (3.422 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.7, #1), "The Great Christmas Light Fight: All Stars" (2.409 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2) and "20/20" (2.531 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2).

Meanwhile, FOX (2.227 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #4) served up repeats of "Last Man Standing" (3.304 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2), "The Cool Kids" (2.731 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2) and "Hell's Kitchen" (1.437 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T9).

And finally, a new "Dynasty" (0.675 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T13) and a repeat "Penn & Teller: Fool Us" (0.728 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T13) rounded out the night on The CW (0.702 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
0.00% - Midnight, Texas
-37.50% - Dateline NBC
-50.00% - Dynasty (vs. 12/7/18)

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
-33.33% - Midnight, Texas (vs. Blindspot)
-37.50% - Dateline NBC
-37.50% - A Home for the Holidays: The 20th Anniversary (vs. I Love Lucy Christmas Special (Repeat))
-50.00% - Dynasty (vs. Masters of Illusion: Christmas Magic (Repeat))

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," 1.9/5; "Late Show with Stephen Colbert," 2.6/7; and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.4/4 with an encore.

· In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," 0.5/3; "Late Show," 0.3/2; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.4/2 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 0.3/2 in 18-49 in the Local People Meters.

· From 12:35-1:35 a.m. ET, ratings were: "Late Night with Seth Meyers," 1.1/4 in metered-market households with an encore; CBS's "Late Late Show," 1.2/4 with an encore. In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, averages were: "Late Night," 0.3/2 in 18-49 with an encore; "Late Late Show," 0.1/1 with an encore.

Source: Nielsen Media Research





  [december 2019]  
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
[06/12/26 - 08:15 AM]
"Nightline" Ranks No. 1 Across the Board and Posts Increases Both Week to Week and Year to Year in All Key Target Demos
"Nightline" posted week-to-week increases in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49, delivering its strongest numbers in both key Adult demos in nearly 2 1/2 years.

[06/11/26 - 03:15 PM]
ABC Dominates Full Season Competitive Multiplatform Rankers
"High Potential" and "Dancing with the Stars" rank in the Top 5 among Total Viewers while the network excels among Adults 18-49 with four of the Top 5 shows.

[06/10/26 - 01:49 PM]
23.8M Viewers! ABC and ESPN Deliver Largest NBA Finals Game 3 Audience Since 1998
Through three games, the 2026 NBA Finals is ABC and ESPN's second most-watched ever, averaging 19.1M viewers.

[06/10/26 - 12:01 PM]
Top 10 Most-Watched Prime Original Films & Series for the Week of June 1
"Off Campus," "Spider-Noir," "The Boys," "Clarkson's Farm," and "Citadel" led all original series worldwide.

[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.