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[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





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