or


[02/20/21 - 08:01 AM]
Friday's Broadcast Ratings: ABC, CBS & FOX Share 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 (2/19/21):

CBS (4.964 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T1) was the top draw on Friday thanks to originals from "MacGyver" (4.839 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2) and "Magnum P.I." (5.780 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2) plus a repeat "Blue Bloods" (4.274 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T5).

ABC (3.540 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T1) shared in the demo honors with "Shark Tank" (4.438 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #1) and "20/20" (3.092 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T5) as did FOX (2.071 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T1) and "WWE SmackDown" (2.071 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2).

Next up was NBC (3.081 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #4) with a new "The Blacklist" (3.258 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #8) alongside night two of "The Widower" (2.992 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T5).

And finally, The CW (7.220 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5) closed out the night with "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (0.836 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.2, #9), a repeat "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (0.696 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T10) and "Penn & Teller: Fool Us" (0.679 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.1, #T10).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+100.00% - Whose Line Is It Anyway? (vs. 2/5/21)
0.00% - Magnum P.I.
0.00% - MacGyver
0.00% - WWE SmackDown
0.00% - The Blacklist
0.00% - Penn & Teller: Fool Us (vs. 2/5/21)
-14.29% - Shark Tank
-20.00% - The Widower (vs. 2/18/21)
-33.33% - 20/20

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+33.33% - Shark Tank (vs. Fresh Off the Boat/Fresh Off the Boat)
0.00% - Whose Line Is It Anyway? (vs. Charmed)
0.00% - Penn & Teller: Fool Us (vs. Dynasty)
0.00% - 20/20 (vs. 20/20 (Repeat))
-16.67% - Magnum P.I. (vs. Hawaii Five-0)
-16.67% - MacGyver
-25.00% - The Blacklist (vs. Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector)
-28.57% - WWE SmackDown
-33.33% - The Widower (vs. Dateline NBC)


Here are the highlights of the 11 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (2/21/20):

FOX (2.490 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.7, #1) was the demo champ on Friday with its weekly telecast of "WWE SmackDown" (2.490 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.7, #1).

CBS (5.857 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T2) was a close second with originals from "MacGyver" (5.864 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T2) and "Hawaii Five-0" (6.535 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T2) plus a repeat "Blue Bloods" (5.172 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T5).

Sharing the silver was NBC (3.619 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T2) with a new "Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector" (3.598 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T7) and a two-hour "Dateline NBC" (3.629 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T2).

Meanwhile, ABC (2.667 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #4) offered up the penultimate "Fresh Off the Boat" (2.998 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T5), the final "Fresh Off the Boat" (2.397 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T7) and a repeat "20/20" (2.652 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T7).

And finally, new episodes from "Charmed" (0.615 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.2, #10) and "Dynasty" (0.324 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.1, #11) closed out the night on The CW (0.470 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+33.33% - Fresh Off the Boat (vs. 1/31/20)
0.00% - WWE SmackDown
0.00% - Dateline NBC
0.00% - Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector
0.00% - Charmed (vs. 2/7/20)
0.00% - Dynasty (vs. 2/7/20)
-14.29% - Hawaii Five-0
-14.29% - MacGyver

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+16.67% - WWE SmackDown (vs. Various)
+9.09% - Dateline NBC (vs. The Blacklist/Dateline NBC)
0.00% - Charmed (vs. Whose Line Is It Anyway? (Repeats))
-16.67% - Fresh Off the Boat - 8:00
-20.00% - Fresh Off the Boat - 8:30 (vs. Speechless)
-25.00% - Hawaii Five-0
-25.00% - MacGyver
-33.33% - Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector (vs. The Blacklist)
-50.00% - Dynasty (vs. Penn & Teller: Fool Us (Repeat))

Source: Nielsen Media Research





  [february 2021]  
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
[01/26/26 - 01:23 PM]
UFC Delivers Historic Night in Paramount+ Debut
UFC 324 on Saturday, January 24 delivered nearly five million streaming views and over seven million households, the platform's largest exclusive live event to date.

[01/23/26 - 12:44 PM]
"20/20" Improves on the Previous Week in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49, Hitting an 8-Week High in the Key Adult News Demo
"20/20" ranked No. 1 in its two-hour time period in Adults 25-54.

[01/23/26 - 12:28 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers
"Nightline" posted double-digit increases week to week in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49.

[01/23/26 - 10:31 AM]
"College GameDay Built by The Home Depot" Closes Out Historic Season with 2.6 Million Viewers Highlighting Hurricanes and Hoosiers
The six postseason GameDay shows delivered 2.4 million average viewers, up 30 percent year-over-year.

[01/23/26 - 07:37 AM]
Historic Back-to-Back Stretch: ESPN Delivers Its No. 1 and No. 8 Most-Watched Events Ever on Consecutive Days
Across Sunday and Monday, fans consumed 18.7 billion total minutes across ESPN, ABC and ESPN2 - a 28% increase from last season's Divisional Round game and Championship Monday on the same networks.

[01/22/26 - 03:39 PM]
Special Premiere of "The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins" Is the Season's Most-Watched Comedy Episode
The series drew 5.8 million viewers and a 1.4 rating in the 18-49 demo in its special premiere that aired Sunday, January 18.

[01/22/26 - 02:05 PM]
ESPN's MegaCast of the College Football Playoff National Championship Presented by AT&T Delivers 30.1 Million Viewers - The Most-Viewed College Football Game in 11 Years
The game scored 30.1 million viewers, the most-watched college football game since the inaugural CFP National Championship (33.9 million viewers, Oregon/Ohio State, 2014-15) and the second most-watched National Championship of the CFP era.

[01/22/26 - 12:48 PM]
ABC Wednesday Comedies Score with Stellar Midseason Premieres
"Shifting Gears" and "Abbott Elementary" are among top scripted shows of the week in adults 18-49.

[01/22/26 - 07:58 AM]
NBC Sports Delivers Its Most Watched NFL Divisional Playoff Game on Record as Rams-Bears Thriller Averages 45.4 Million Viewers on NBC & Peacock
The audience for Rams-Bears - which increased in every quarter hour from 8:15 p.m. ET until the game-winning score - peaked in the game's closing minutes, with an average of 52.6 million viewers from 9:45-10 pm ET.

[01/21/26 - 10:58 AM]
ABC's Tuesday Dramas Soar with Midseason Premieres
In fact, "High Potential" and "Will Trent" were the top two scripted programs of the week among Total Viewers.

[01/20/26 - 01:01 PM]
Netflix: What We Watched the Second Half of 2025
"KPop Demon Hunters" took the world by storm, breaking records as our most-watched title over a six-month period with 482M views.

[01/20/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of January 12 - "The Rip" Confiscates the No. 1 Spot in This Week's Top 10
Mistrust was the theme of the week, as viewers put the murder-mystery thriller "His & Hers" at No. 1 on the English TV list with 29.5 million views.

[01/16/26 - 01:08 PM]
"20/20" Is the Most-Watched Program Across Broadcast and Cable on Friday Night - Scoring Largest Viewership in Over 7 Months
For the second week in a row, "20/20" posted Total Viewers increases versus the previous week and the corresponding year-ago telecast.

[01/15/26 - 01:38 PM]
"Live with Kelly and Mark" Christmas Week Shoots to a Season High Among Total Viewers - Scoring Show's Best Performance in 10 Months
"Live" has now ranked as the No. 1 talk show in syndication for 152 consecutive weeks across all key measures.

[01/13/26 - 03:02 PM]
2025-26 College Football Playoff Semifinals Averaging 14.9 Million Viewers, On Par with 2024-25 Season
The Peach Bowl (Oregon vs. Indiana) drew 18 million viewers on average, while the Fiesta Bowl (Miami vs. Ole Miss) scored 15.8 million viewers.