Friday Ratings: The ‘Eye’ Has It, As CBS Wins The Evening’s Demo Wars

Bruce Haring
·3 min read

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The CBS law enforcement drama lineup continued strong on Friday night, sweeping the network to an overall victory over its rivals.

At 8:00 PM, Hawaii Five-0 was the hour’s most-watched broadcast with 7.48 million viewers. The drama also was tops in adults 25-54 (1.2) and adults 18-49 (0.7, tie). At 9:00 PM, Magnum P.I. (7.09m, its second-highest viewer number this season) was the most-viewed network program, while also leading the way in adults 25-54 (1.1) and adults 18-49 (0.7, tie).

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Capping the evening, the 10 PM Blue Bloods attracted the night’s largest audience (7.49m) and finished on top in adults 25-54 (1.0) and adults 18-49 (0.6, tie).

CBS won Friday across the board with 7.35 million viewers, adults 25-54 (1.1) and adults 18-49 (0.7, tie).

At NBC, Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector had an 0.4 rating in 18-49, scoring 3.3 million viewers overall from 8-9 p.m. ET. Despite last week’s preemption, it maintained 100% of the show’s previous telecast in 18-49 (0.4 vs. 0.4 on Jan. 17).

The NBC Special The Road to F9: Fast & Furious Fan Fest had an 0.3 rating in adults 18-49, with 1.4 million viewers overall from 9-10 p.m. ET. Dateline NBC had an 0.5 rating in adults 18-49, 0.7 in adults 25-54, 2.6 million viewers overall from 10-11 p.m. ET)

For ABC, 20/20 was the big story, coming in as Friday’s #1 newsmagazine in all key demos: Total Viewers, Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54. More highlights below. It was up week-to-week in Total Viewers (+3% – 3.6 million vs. 3.5 million), while holding even in Adults 18-49 (0.6/3) and Adults 25-54 (0.9/4). 20/20 outdelivered NBC’s Dateline by double-digits in all key target demos: Total Viewers (+38% – 3.6 million vs. 2.6 million), Adults 18-49 (+20% – 0.6/3 vs. 0.5/3) and Adults 25-54 (+29% – 0.9/4 vs. 0.7/3).

Fox’s WWE Friday Night SmackDown had a strong 0.7 following its 2020 Royal Rumble, with competitiors vying for a Wrestlemania berth.

Finally, the CW saw Charmed hold on with an 0.2 at 8 PM, while 9 PM’s Dynasty held with an 0.1.

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