CBS premiered the last of their renewed dramas last week … just in time for the holiday break. SEAL Team opened a couple of tenths down from where it ended in the spring. More surprising is the hit taken by the Friday night lineup. In previous years, the Eye had a strong Friday night showing, even by Friday night standards. This year, MacGyver, Magnum PI, and Blue Bloods were all down several tenths from where they were last season. Part of it could certainly be chalked up to the viewer attrition seen so far this season, but it could be that Hawaii Five-0 was a stronger leadoff for the night than it was given credit for and the network is missing that this season.
| Program | Rating | Millions of Viewers | Renew/Cancel |
| NFL overrun | 6.0 | 23 | |
| 60 Minutes | 2.0 | 13.8 | |
| Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer | 1.1 | 5.9 | |
| College Football | 1.0 | 4.3 | |
| Young Sheldon | 0.8 | 7.3 | |
| The Neighborhood | 0.8 | 5.5 | |
| The Amazing Race | 0.7 | 4.3 | |
| The Neighborhood (rerun) | 0.7 | 3.8 | |
| B Positive | 0.6 | 5.2 | |
| Mom | 0.6 | 5.2 | |
| Bob (Hearts) Abishola | 0.6 | 4.9 | |
| Let's Make A Deal Special | 0.6 | 3.5 | |
| Sunday Night Movie: Coming To America | 0.6 | 2.9 | |
| Blue Bloods (premiere) | 0.5 | 6.2 | |
| Magnum PI (premiere) | 0.5 | 5.4 | |
| Bull | 0.5 | 4.9 | |
| MacGyver (premiere) | 0.5 | 4.8 | |
| All Rise | 0.5 | 4.2 | |
| SEAL Team (premiere) | 0.5 | 4.2 | |
| The Unicorn | 0.5 | 3.6 | |
| FBI: Most Wanted (rerun) | 0.4 | 2.7 | |
| Star Trek: Discovery | 0.2 | 1.9 | Import |
ABC saw the return of its Wednesday comedy block after taking a week off for holiday specials. The Goldbergs, The Conners, American Housewife, and Black-ish were all even. For Life lost a tenth it couldn't afford. Grey's Anatomy returned, down a tenth. Station 19 was down two tenths. Big Sky, however, continued to hold steady. Unless its ratings completely meltdown after the holidays, it should see an extended episode order and a season two renewal.
| Program | Rating | Millions of Viewers | Renew/Cancel |
| Disney Holiday Singalong | 1.2 | 5.7 | |
| Grey's Anatomy | 1.2 | 5.7 | |
| The Bachelorette | 1.2 | 4.3 | |
| Station 19 | 0.8 | 5.4 | |
| CMA Country Christmas | 0.7 | 4.2 | |
| Big Sky | 0.7 | 4.1 | |
| The Goldbergs | 0.7 | 3.9 | |
| The Good Doctor | 0.6 | 4.0 | |
| Shark Tank | 0.6 | 3.9 | |
| A Million Little Things | 0.6 | 3.8 | |
| The Conners | 0.6 | 3.6 | |
| College Football | 0.6 | 3.4 | |
| American Housewife | 0.6 | 3.1 | |
| Supermarket Sweep | 0.6 | 2.6 | |
| 20/20 | 0.5 | 3.4 | |
| Prep & Landing | 0.5 | 2.4 | |
| Who Wants to be a Millionaire | 0.4 | 2.9 | |
| Prep & Landing | 0.4 | 2.7 | |
| Black-ish | 0.4 | 2.2 | |
| For Life | 0.3 | 1.9 | |
| Card Sharks | 0.2 | 1.8 |
NBC ran episodes of The Voice just about every night last week. The only scripted show to air a new episode was Law & Order: SVU which gained a tenth from its last new episode a couple of weeks ago. The Peacock also announced last week that this would be the final season for Superstore.
| Program | Rating | Millions of Viewers | Renew/Cancel |
| Sunday Night Football | 4.9 | 16.5 | |
| Football Night in America | 3.7 | 12.7 | |
| Christmas at Rockefeller Center | 1.2 | 7.4 | |
| The Voice (Monday) | 0.9 | 7.2 | |
| Radio City Christmas Special | 0.9 | 5.1 | |
| The Voice (Tuesday) | 0.8 | 7.1 | |
| The Voice (Thursday) | 0.7 | 5.3 | |
| Law & Order: SVU | 0.6 | 4.0 | Renewed (through 2023) |
| The Weakest Link (rerun) | 0.6 | 3.5 | |
| The Weakest Link | 0.6 | 3.3 | |
| Transplant | 0.5 | 3.1 | Import |
| Dateline (Friday) | 0.4 | 3.0 | |
| Dateline (Thursday) | 0.4 | 2.9 | |
| The Wall (rerun) | 0.4 | 2.1 | |
| Ellen's Game of Games | 0.4 | 2.1 | |
| Vintage SNL | 0.4 | 1.9 | |
| The Voice (rerun) | 0.3 | 2.3 |
FOX saw The Masked Singer return to more normal numbers after the previous week's Thanksgiving football bump. Last week's two-hour program was down a tenth from its non-football boosted outing two weeks ago. The Simpsons was down almost a point without the NFL help on Sunday. Bob's Burgers was down a couple of tenths.
| Program | Rating | Millions of Viewers | Renew/Cancel |
| The Masked Singer | 1.6 | 6.6 | |
| The OT | 1.4 | 5.1 | |
| The Simpsons | 0.6 | 1.6 | |
| WWE Friday Night Smackdown | 0.5 | 2.0 | |
| College Football | 0.5 | 2.0 | |
| Bob's Burgers (rerun) | 0.5 | 1.2 | |
| Bob's Burgers | 0.5 | 1.2 | Renewed |
| Ice Age Mammoth Christmas | 0.4 | 1.1 | |
| Family Guy (rerun) | 0.4 | 1.1 | Renewed |
| LA's Finest | 0.3 | 1.6 | Import |
| Filthy Rich | 0.3 | 1.3 | Cancelled |
| Cosmos | 0.3 | 1.3 | Import |
| neXt | 0.2 | 1.2 | Cancelled |
| Major League Soccer | 0.2 | 0.8 |
The CW was still limping along last week. Pandora actually gained a rating tenth along with one hundred thousand viewers last week. The Outpost rolled a zero rating as it lost two hundred thousand viewers.
| Program | Rating | Millions of Viewers | Renew/Cancel |
| Whose Line Is It, Anyway? (rerun) | 0.2 | 0.9 | |
| Whose Line Is It, Anyway? (rerun) | 0.1 | 0.9 | |
| Penn & Teller: Fool Us (rerun) | 0.1 | 0.6 | |
| Swamp Thing | 0.1 | 0.6 | Import |
| Coroner | 0.1 | 0.6 | Import |
| World's Funniest Animals | 0.1 | 0.6 | |
| World's Funniest Animals (rerun) | 0.1 | 0.6 | |
| Hollywood Christmas Parade | 0.1 | 0.6 | |
| iHeartRadio Jingle Ball | 0.1 | 0.5 | |
| Tell Me A Story | 0.1 | 0.4 | Import |
| Pandora | 0.1 | 0.3 | |
| Devils | 0.1 | 0.3 | Import |
| The Outpost | 0.0 | 0.2 | Renewed |
It is interesting to note the number of programs slated for cancellation at the end of the current season. It appears at least some network execs are using the pandemic as an opportunity to clear the decks, so to speak, and reinvent their network image for next season. So how are your favorite shows doing so far?
Written by LadyShelley on Dec 7, 2020
Ahh, I don't watch either so did not know about that.
I think the real reason for dropped ratings is the social issues they introduced to both shows in the recent seasons. It's not to say that it's a bad thing, but it automatically divides people which in turn makes one side happy and the other one angry. Personally, I hope they will go back to the formula of the older seasons.
It's hard to say. The numbers came up after the premiere, but SEAL Team and SWAT have always been tail-end Charlie for the CBS dramas, and yet they keep getting renewed. With this season so screwy thanks to COVID and filming restrictions, I suspect any veteran show that does even marginally well, will be renewed regardless of what the ratings look like.
SEAL Team was so awkward at the start of new season, it looks like they are coming to the finish line.
Big Sky got an extended order today, 16 episodes in season one.
Shh! That was supposed to be a secret!
It's a pilot for a spin-off ... ;)
Fixed. :)
Slight typo in the ABC round-up, it's Station 19, not Station 29. Aside from that, another great post :D