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[12/18/20 - 09:36 AM]
Thursday's Broadcast Ratings: FOX Tops Competition with "Thursday Night Football"
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 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (12/17/20):

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

FOX (8.635 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.2, #1) scored another victory on Thursday thanks to "Thursday Night Football Pre-Game" (8.395 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.0, #2) and "Thursday Night Football" (8.683 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.2, #1).

The silver went to ABC (4.749 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.8, #2) with its fall finales of "Station 19" (5.394 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.9, #4), "Grey's Anatomy" (5.547 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.0, #3) and "A Million Little Things" (3.306 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T6).

Next up was CBS (3.742 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3) with its 2020 closers to "Young Sheldon" (6.690 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.7, #5), "B Positive" (4.568 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T6), "Mom" (4.487 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T6) and "The Unicorn" (3.275 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T9) plus "Star Trek: Discovery" (1.716 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.2, #12).

Meanwhile, NBC (3.127 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3) offered up the feature "Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors" (3.124 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T9) and "Dateline NBC" (3.131 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T9).

And finally, The CW (0.696 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5) closed out the night with "Dogs of the Year" (0.817 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T13), "World's Funniest Animals" (0.595 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T13) and a repeat "World's Funniest Animals" (0.555 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T13).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+12.50% - Station 19
0.00% - Thursday Night Football Pre-Game
0.00% - A Million Little Things
0.00% - Dateline NBC (vs. 12/3/20)
0.00% - Star Trek: Discovery
0.00% - World's Funniest Animals (vs. 12/3/20)
-9.09% - Grey's Anatomy
-9.17% - Thursday Night Football
-12.50% - Young Sheldon (vs. 12/3/20)
-16.67% - B Positive (vs. 12/3/20)
-16.67% - Mom (vs. 12/3/20)
-20.00% - The Unicorn (vs. 12/3/20)

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+489.19% - Thursday Night Football (vs. Various (Repeats))
+300.00% - Thursday Night Football Pre-Game (vs. Last Man Standing (Repeat))
+100.00% - Grey's Anatomy (vs. The Great American Baking Show: Holiday Edition)
+50.00% - Station 19 (vs. Various (Repeats))
+40.00% - Young Sheldon (vs. Young Sheldon (Repeat))
+25.00% - B Positive (vs. The Unicorn (Repeat))
+25.00% - Mom (vs. Mom (Repeat))
0.00% - A Million Little Things (vs. The Great American Baking Show: Holiday Edition)
0.00% - Star Trek: Discovery (vs. Evil (Repeat))
0.00% - The Unicorn (vs. Carol's Second Act (Repeat))
-20.00% - Dateline NBC (vs. Gwen Stefani's You Make It Feel Like Christmas (Repeat))
-66.67% - World's Funniest Animals (vs. iHeartRadio Jingle Ball 2019)
-66.67% - Dogs of the Year (vs. iHeartRadio Jingle Ball 2019)


Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (12/19/19):

NBC (3.341 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #1) claimed the adults 18-49 crown on Thursday thanks to "Miss America 2020" (3.609 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1) followed by a rebroadcast of "Gwen Stefani's You Make It Feel Like Christmas" (2.805 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T4).

ABC (2.712 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #2) was a close second with encores of "Disney Prep & Landing" (3.032 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1) and "Disney Prep & Landing 2: Naughty vs. Nice" (2.639 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1) plus a new "The Great American Baking Show: Holiday Edition" (2.651 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T4).

Next up was CBS (3.574 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3) and its repeat lineup of "Young Sheldon" (5.528 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T4), "The Unicorn" (3.906 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T9), "Mom" (4.111 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T9), "Carol's Second Act" (3.520 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T9) and "Evil" (2.188 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T14).

Meanwhile, FOX (2.004 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T3) offered up second runs of "Last Man Standing" (2.659 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T4), another "Last Man Standing" (2.669 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T4) and "Prodigal Son" (1.344 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T12).

And finally, The CW (0.907 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.2, #5) closed out the night with "iHeartRadio Jingle Ball 2019" (0.983 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T12) and a repeat "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (0.680 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T14).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
0.00% - The Great American Baking Show: Holiday Edition

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+50.00% - iHeartRadio Jingle Ball 2019 (vs. The 4th Annual Howie Mandel Stand-Up Extravaganza)
0.00% - Miss America 2020 (vs. Timeless)
-28.57% - The Great American Baking Show: Holiday Edition

Source: Nielsen Media Research





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