Ratings: 'Big Bang,' 'Young Sheldon' Bury ABC's 'A Charlie Brown Christmas'

You’re third-place material, Charlie Brown. NBC’s “Thursday Night Football” and the CBS sitcom combo of “The Big Bang Theory” and “Young Sheldon” crushed ABC’s annual broadcast of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” last night.

To be fair to the Peanuts characters, however, Snoopy and the gang were actually up year over year in both the key demo and among total viewers.

All told, NBC was first in ratings with a 3.1 rating/12 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and in total viewers with an average of 10.9 million, according to preliminary numbers. A pregame show and the Dallas Cowboys home victory over the Washington Redskins combined for those Nielsen numbers. Due to the nature of live sports and time zones, however, NBC’s fast-national ratings are subject to adjustment.

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CBS was second in ratings with a 1.5/6 and in viewers with 9 million. “The Big Bang Theory” at 8 p.m. scored a 2.4/10 and 13.6 million viewers. At 8:30, “Young Sheldon” posted a 2.1/8 and 12.1 million viewers. “Mom” at 9 put up a 1.4/5 and 8.7 million viewers. At 9:30, “Life in Pieces” had a 1.1/4 and 6.6 million viewers. “S.W.A.T.” at 10 got a 1.0/4 and 6.6 million viewers.

ABC was third in ratings with a 1.3/5 and in viewers with 5.5 million. “A Charlie Brown Christmas” at 8 landed a 1.6/6 and 6.5 million viewers. At 9, “The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration” received a 1.2/4 and 5 million viewers.

Fox was fourth in ratings with a 0.9/3 and in viewers with 3.1 million. “Gotham” at 8 had a 0.8/3 and 2.6 million viewers. At 9, “The Orville” got a 0.9/3 and 3.6 million viewers.

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Univision was fifth in ratings with a 0.6/2 and in viewers with 1.6 million.

Telemundo was sixth in ratings with a 0.5/2 and seventh in viewers with 1.2 million.

The CW was seventh in ratings with a 0.4/2 and sixth in viewers with 1.4 million. “Supernatural” at 8 had a 0.5/2 and 1.7 million viewers. The season finale of “Penn & Teller: Fool Us” got a 0.3/1 and 1.2 million viewers.

13 TV Shows With the Worst Audience Declines From Last Year (Photos)

We've already learned that just six entertainment (so, no sports or news programming) TV shows across the Big 4 broadcast channels were able to grow their audiences from Fall 2016 to this season -- but which ones are actually falling the hardest? TheWrap's got that answer for you today, and we've ranked them in order from bad-to-awful.

Unfortunately for Fox, the newest of the networks (again, we're leaving The CW alone here) owns each of the three worst year over year total-viewer drop-offs. All numbers in this story comes from Nielsen's "most current" metric, which includes a week's worth of delayed viewing where available.

Also Read: How Matt Lauer’s Firing Could Impact ‘Today’ Show in the Ratings
TheWrap
Rank: 13
Show: "NCIS: Los Angeles"
Net: CBS
Total-Viewer Average: 10.216 million
Year-Over-Year Decline: -20%

"NCIS: LA" moved from Sundays at 8 after "60 Minutes" to Sundays at 9 after the recently scraped "Wisdom of the Crowd." You do the math -- or rather, don't bother, as we just did for you.

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CBS
Rank: 11 (tie)
Show: "The Blacklist"
Net: NBC
Total-Viewer Average: 8.322 million
Year-Over-Year Decline: -21%

"The Blacklist" moved from Thursdays at 10 to Wednesdays at 8. It's now up against Fox's "Empire" and in the dead spot previously occupied by "Blindspot."

Also Read: Can ‘CBS This Morning’ Survive Without Disgraced Co-Anchor Charlie Rose?
NBC
Rank: 11 (tie)
Show: "Kevin Can Wait"
Net: CBS
Total-Viewer Average: 7.946 million
Year-Over-Year Decline: -21%

Kevin misses "The Big Bang Theory," which served as this sitcom's lead-in for six weeks last year. Not anymore.

Also Read: From ‘This Is Us’ to ‘Mom': The 6 TV Shows With More Viewers Than Last Year (Photos)
CBS
Rank: 10
Show: "Madam Secretary"
Net: CBS
Total-Viewer Average: 8.564 million
Year-Over-Year Decline: -22%

"Madam Secretary" was sent to Sundays at 10 this season -- though with NFL football overruns, it rarely even finishes within the confines of East Coast primetime.

Also Read: 18 New Fall TV Shows Ranked by Premiere Viewers, From ‘SWAT’ to ‘The Good Doctor’ (Photos)
CBS
Rank: 9
Show: "Scorpion"
Net: CBS
Total-Viewer Average: 7.599 million
Year-Over-Year Decline: -25%

"Scorpion" is mostly getting beaten-up by ABC's freshman drama"The Good Doctor." Bring back the good-old days when this batch of geniuses battled "Conviction." Plus, no one wants "Me, Myself & I" as a lead-in -- or in CBS' case, really, at all.

Also Read: 31 Highest and Lowest-Rated Shows of the Fall TV Season So Far (Photos)
CBS
Rank: 8
Show: "Black-ish"
Net: ABC
Total-Viewer Average: 5.641 million
Year-Over-Year Decline: -26%

Leaving "Modern Series" and entering the "This Is Us" time slot is not exactly a recipe for TV ratings success. Unfortunately, no one told ABC that.

Also Read: 10 Lowest-Rated TV Shows of Summer 2017 (Photos)
ABC
Rank: 7
Show: "Once Upon a Time"
Net: ABC
Total-Viewer Average: 3.550 million
Year-Over-Year Decline: -28%

Once upon a time this fairy-tale series had a cast viewers loved and a Sunday night time slot. Now, the Friday show has neither.

Also Read: 20 Highest-Rated Shows That Got Canceled Last Season (Photos)
ABC
Rank: 6
Show: "Speechless"
Net: ABC
Total-Viewer Average: 5.422 million
Year-Over-Year Decline: -31%

"Empire" moving from 9 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesdays shook up a lot of the standings: "Speechless" was not immune.

Also Read: The 22 Lowest-Rated Shows to Get Renewed Last Season (Photos)
ABC
Rank: 4 (tie)
Show: "Blindspot"
Net: NBC
Total-Viewer Average: 5.217 million
Year-Over-Year Decline: -33%

Worse than Wednesday at 8 o'clock on NBC? Friday at any time on any channel.

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NBC
Rank: 4 (tie)
Show: "Designated Survivor"
Net: ABC
Total-Viewer Average: 8.742 million
Year-Over-Year Decline: -33%

New lead-in "American Housewife": you are no "Black-ish."

Also Read: 11 Top-Rated TV Shows of Summer 2017 (Photos)
ABC
Rank: 3
Show: "Empire"
Net: Fox
Total-Viewer Average: 8.099 million
Year-Over-Year Decline: -36%

Sometimes 8 o'clock isn't better than 9 o'clock. Now a self-starter, "Empire" is sure helping companion series "Star," but who's helping "Empire"?

Also Read: 20 Lowest-Rated TV Shows of 2016-17 Season (Photos)
Fox
Rank: 1 (tie)
Show: "The Exorcist"
Net: Fox
Total-Viewer Average: 1.944 million
Year-Over-Year Decline: -37%

We'd call it a sophomore slump, but the devil didn't exactly earn his due in Season 1 either. Time to exorcise this show, Fox.

Also Read: 25 Top-Rated TV Shows of 2016-17 Season (Photos)
Fox
Rank: 1 (tie)
Show: "Lethal Weapon"
Net: Fox
Total-Viewer Average: 5.902 million
Year-Over-Year Decline: -37%

As a freshman, "Lethal Weapon" benefitted in its final 15 minutes as viewers flocked to Fox early for "Empire." Now the action-drama is on its own for Season 2, and Murtaugh and Riggs are maybe already getting too old for this s---.

Also Read: ‘9JKL’ Evicts 43 Percent of Key Demo Audience Without ‘Big Bang Theory’ Lead-In
Fox
Don't gloat too much, "Man With a Plan" and "Chicago Med" -- you were only saved from this list by virtue of a lack of delayed-viewing data.

We'll see how bad those declines truly are (or are not) in a week or so.

Also Read: Cancellation Watch: 9 TV Shows That Likely Won’t Last Beyond This Season (Photos)
CBS/NBC

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Fox actually claims all three of the biggest drops from Fall 2016

We've already learned that just six entertainment (so, no sports or news programming) TV shows across the Big 4 broadcast channels were able to grow their audiences from Fall 2016 to this season -- but which ones are actually falling the hardest? TheWrap's got that answer for you today, and we've ranked them in order from bad-to-awful.

Unfortunately for Fox, the newest of the networks (again, we're leaving The CW alone here) owns each of the three worst year over year total-viewer drop-offs. All numbers in this story comes from Nielsen's "most current" metric, which includes a week's worth of delayed viewing where available.

Also Read: How Matt Lauer’s Firing Could Impact ‘Today’ Show in the Ratings

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13 TV Shows With the Worst Audience Declines From Last Year (Photos)

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