Friday Ratings: ‘WWE SmackDown’ And The Grinch Tie For The Top In Demos

Bruce Haring
·2 min read
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Forget Santa, Frosty, and Grandma. When it comes to Friday ratings, the vox populi went with The Grinch and the Fox WWE Friday Night SmackDown.

On a night heavy with holiday specials, the WWE SmackDown tied for the top in the demo wars with an 0.5, as the battle royal to determine the No. 1 contender (won by Sami Zayn) was in the spotlight. The night also saw the return of bad boy Brock Lesnar, who was announced for next week’s event.

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Perennial Dr. Seuss favorite How The Grinch Stole Christmas also came in with an 0.5 for NBC, tying for the night’s largest viewership with 3.18 million. The animated 5 More Sleeps Until Christmas, based on Jimmy Fallon’s best-selling book, slipped from there to bring in an 0.3. That was also the demo score for its 9 PM bookend the Trolls Holiday in Harmony special. NBC closed the night on the upswing with its A Saturday Night Live Christmas Special, which brought in an 0.4.

Early on CBS, the animated perennial Frosty the Snowman and its sequel, Frosty Returns, both pulled in an 0.4. The Eye Network’s night was capped by a Blue Bloods rerun, which had an 0.3 demo score.

At ABC, the Santa Claus is Comin’ To Town special drew an 0.3, with the trailing 20/20 newsmag suffering a huge drop from last week, also coming in at an 0.3 with its Ahmaud Arbery feature.

The CW had Masters of Illusion: Christmas Magic kicking off its evening in the 8 PM slot and scoring an 0.1. That was also the demo score for its night-closing Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer

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