It should come as no surprise that Fox’s WWE “Friday Night Smackdown” wrestled its way to another ratings win on Friday. The primetime matchups took home a 0.6 in the demo, crowning Fox the primetime champion among the major broadcasters.
But it was ABC that came in first in terms of total viewers, with an average of 3.1 million people tuning in for “Shark Tank” and “20/20.” The network got a 0.4 overall in the demo.
That’s compared to the 2.5 million total viewers that “Smackdown” managed, which is still an impressive feat for the program. In fact, it’s the largest audience since Christmas Day 2020, when 3.3 million people tuned in.
Here’s how primetime broke down across the major broadcast networks:
Fox, which aired “Smackdown” across primetime, was first in ratings with an average 0.6 rating in the key demo, while ABC was first in total viewers with an average of 3.1 million, according to official live plus same-day Nielsen data.
ABC was second in ratings with an average 0.4 in the demo. Fox and NBC tied for second in total viewers with an average of 2.5 million. NBC was third in ratings with an average 0.3 in the demo.
On ABC, “Shark Tank” mustered a 0.5 demo rating and 3.8 million total viewers at 8 p.m. At 9, “20/20” managed a 0.3 in the demo as well as 2.7 million total viewers.
As for NBC, the “Capital One College Bowl” scored a 0.2 demo rating and about 1.9 million total viewers at 8 p.m. “Dateline” took home a 0.3 demo rating and 2.7 million total viewers at 9.
CBS was fourth in ratings with an average 0.2 in the demo and in total viewers with an average of 2.1 million. A special episode of “Big Brother” aired to a 0.4 demo rating and 2.4 million total viewers at 8 p.m. At 9, “Secret Celebrity Renovation” secured a 0.1 in the demo and 1.6 million total viewers. A rerun of “Blue Bloods” rounded things out with a 0.2 and 2.3 million total viewers at 10.
The CW was fifth in ratings with an average 0.1 in the demo and in total viewers with an average of 290,000. “Killer Camp” was first with a 0.1 and 234,000 total viewers at 8 p.m. That was followed by back-to-back episodes of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” at 9 — the first of which had a 0.1 and 312,000 total viewers and the second of which got a 0.1 and 380,000 total viewers.
Among the Spanish-language networks, Univision was first with a 0.4 in the demo and 1.2 million total viewers across primetime. “La Herencia, Un Legado de Amor,” which aired from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., received a 0.4 demo rating and 1.3 million total viewers. “Los ricos también lloran” got a 0.4 in the demo and 1.2 million total viewers at 10.
Telemundo came in second with an average of 0.3 in the demo and 1 million total viewers. “Top Chef: VIP,” which ran from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., cooked up a 0.3 demo rating and 1.2 million total viewers. It was followed by “Fuego del Destino,” which earned a 0.3 demo rating and 899,000 total viewers from 9 to 10. “Infiel: Historia de Un Engaño” ended the night with a 0.3 demo rating and 966,000 total viewers.
