TV Ratings: Critics’ Choice Awards Tumble as NFL Playoffs Dominate

Will Thorne

The 2020 Critics’ Choice Awards saw a TV ratings tumble from last year on Sunday night, as the NFL playoffs dominated proceedings.

The awards show was down 33% in the key 18-49 demographic on the CW, scoring a 0.2 rating, and down roughly 22% on total viewership, drawing just under 1.2 million total viewers.

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Fox easily won the night thanks to its NFL coverage of the playoff game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers, which averaged just under 30 million viewers according to fast national figures. As ever, those numbers are likely to adjust upwards later in the day given the nature of live sports. “Bob’s Burgers” benefited from its huge NFL lead-in to post a 2.7 rating and 8.7 million total viewers, its second highest tally ever. “Bless the Harts” rounded off the night with a season high 1.3 rating and 4 million total viewers. The numbers for both animated series could well adjust downwards when the more accurate numbers come in.

Over on CBS, “60 Minutes” led the night with a 1.5 rating and 10.1 million total viewers. “God Friended Me” and “NCIS: Los Angeles” both scored a 0.8 rating, with the former drawing 6.2 million viewers and the latter 6.3 million. A replay of “FBI: Most Wanted” came in at a 0.5 and 4.2 million viewers.

On ABC, “America’s Funniest Home Videos” led the night with a 0.7 rating and 4.3 million viewers, followed by “Kids Say the Darndest Things” with a 0.5 and 2.9 million viewers. “Shark Tank” scored a 0.5 rating in both the 9 and 10 p.m. time slots. The latter episode was a replay.

NBC aired only reruns, with “America’s Got Talent Champions” and “Ellen’s Game of Games” scoring a 0.4, followed by another episode of “Games of Games” at a 0.5.

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