ABC Scores 6 Million Viewers With Commercial-Free ‘Black Panther’ Airing in Honor of Chadwick Boseman

ABC was Sunday’s highest-rated and most-watched broadcast network thanks to a commercial-free airing of Marvel’s “Black Panther” and an ABC News’ tribute to star Chadwick Boseman, who died Friday at the age of 43 after a 4-year battle with colon cancer. ABC was first in ratings with a 1.2 rating/7 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and in total viewers with an average of 5.6 million, according to preliminary numbers. Following a repeat of “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” the commercial-free airing of 2018’s “Black Panther” drew a 1.4/8 and 6.1 million viewers. At 10:30, ABC News’ “Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King” earned a 1.1/7 and 4.7 million viewers. CBS and NBC tied for second in ratings, both with a 0.5/3. CBS was second in total viewers with 3.3 million and NBC was third with 1.9 million. Due to the nature of live programming, the below numbers for NBC and The CW are subject to adjustment. For CBS, “60 Minutes” at 7 scored a 0.5/3 and 6.1 million viewers. At 8, “Big Brother” received a 0.9/5 and 3.8 million viewers. “Love Island” at 9 settled for a 0.3/2 and 1.5 million viewers. A rerun followed. For NBC, at 7, an overrun of the “PGA BMW Championship” combined with a rebroadcast of USA Network’s “Cannonball” to put up a 0.5/3 and 2.7 million viewers. From 8-11, the NHL playoff game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Islanders got a 0.5/3 and 1.6 million viewers. Univision and Telemundo tied for fourth in ratings, each with a 0.3/2. Univision was fourth in viewers with 1.2 million and Telemundo was fifth with 1 million. Fox and The CW tied for seventh in ratings, both with a 0.2/1. Fox, which aired only repeats, was sixth in total viewers with 729,000 and The CW was seventh with 713,000. For The CW, following local programming, the “2020 MTV Video Music Awards”  managed a 0.2/1 and 758,000 total viewers from 8-10 p.m.