Primetime Ratings: Fox Wins With Tight Football Contest

Fox won big in Thursday ratings, as booming Thursday Night Football paved the way to a 4.3 score in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and a 17 share. In second was CBS at 0.9/4.

The Cowboys squeaked by the Saints on Thursday Night Football, which occupied all of Fox’s prime. The telecast was up 30% over last week’s.

On CBS, comedy repeats led into a new Mom that fell 15% to 1.1 and Murphy Brown was down 11% for a 0.8. SWAT closed out prime off 13% at 0.7.

ABC did a 0.8/3 with holiday specials. Olaf’s Frozen Adventure rated a 0.9 and Toy Story That Time Forgot a 0.8, both down a tenth of a point from their showings last year. Wonderful World of Disney rated a 0.7 from 9 to 11 p.m. Last year’s Wonderful World did a 1.2.

NBC got a 0.6/2. Special Lego: Jurassic World did a 0.5 and Will & Grace a 0.6, then I Feel Bad a 0.4. Law & Order: SVU tallied a 0.7. All three series were down a tenth of a point.

Univision did a 0.4/2 and Telemundo a 0.4/1.

The CW too got a 0.4/1, with Supernatural at 0.4 and Legacies at 0.3. Both shows were flat. 

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.