“Grey’s Anatomy” pulled ABC away from a Thursday logjam, when CBS, Fox and NBC all tied for third place in the key demo. But the Disney-owned network wasn’t actually broadcast’s winner in ratings among adults 18-49 — that victory went to Spanish-language network Univision, which aired the awards show “Premio Lo Nuestro 2020.”
The strength of “Young Sheldon” and the relative softness of “A Million Little Things” allowed CBS to finish first in total viewers, besting ABC by a primetime average of 600,000 more audience members.
Univision and the others weren’t even close in that Nielsen metric.
Univision was first in ratings with a 1.0 rating/5 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic, airing the celebration of Spanish-language music throughout primetime. It was fourth in total viewers with 2.7 million.
ABC was second in ratings with a 0.9/5 and third in total viewers with an average of 5.3 million, according to preliminary numbers. “Station 19” at 8 p.m. put up a 1.0/5 and 9 million viewers. At 9, “Grey’s” posted a 1.1/5 and 6 million viewers. “A Million Little Things” at 10 p.m. had a 0.6/3 and 3.7 million viewers.
CBS, Fox and NBC all tied for third in ratings, each with a 0.6/3. CBS was first in total viewers with 5.9 million, Fox was third with 3.1 million, NBC was fifth with 2.5 million.
For CBS, “Young Sheldon” at 8 p.m. drew a 1.0/5 and 9 p.m. million viewers. “The Unicorn” at 8:30 had a 0.7/3 and 6 million viewers. At 9 p.m., “Mom” got a 0.7/4 and 6.3 million viewers. “Carol’s Second Act” at 9:30 p.m. received a 0.6/3 and 4.7 million viewers. “Tommy” at 10 p.m. tallied a 0.4/2 and 4.7 million viewers.
For Fox, “Last Man Standing” at 8 p.m. had a 0.7/4 and 3.6 million viewers. “Outmatched” at 8:30 p.m. got a 0.5/3 and 2.1 million viewers. “Deputy” at 9 p.m. received a 0.5/3 and 3.3 million viewers.
For NBC, “Superstore” at 8 p.m. had a 0.7/4 and 2.7 million viewers. At 8:30, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” got a 0.6/3 and 1.9 million viewers. “Will & Grace” at 9 received a 0.4/2 and 2 million viewers. At 9:30, “Indebted” managed a 0.4/2 and 1.6 million viewers. “Law & Order: SVU” picked things up at 10 with a 0.7/4 and 3.4 million viewers.
Telemundo was sixth in ratings with a 0.3/2 and in viewers with 1 million.
The CW was seventh in ratings with a 0.1/1 and in viewers with 537,000. “Katy Keene” at 8 settled for a 0.1/1 and 538,000 viewers. Special “Dogs of the Year” at 9 managed a 0.1/1 and 536,000 viewers.
(For the record: A previous version of this story was published before we received the Nielsen numbers for Univision and Telemundo.)
18 New Midseason TV Shows Ranked by Premiere Viewers: From 'Broke' to 'Listen to Your Heart' (Photos)
When it comes to broadcast TV, winter is typically no fall -- but a few of this year's new midseason shows could have made the cut for an earlier start, ratings-wise. TheWrap has ranked all of 2020's midseason series premieres -- so far -- by their "live" total-viewer tallies. Spinoffs of Fox's "9-1-1" and CBS' "FBI" had impressive starts, The CW's "Riverdale" offshoot and ABC's "The Bachelor Presents: Listen to Your Heart" did not. Scroll through our gallery for the Nielsen returns for the 18 midseason shows that have debuted this season and check back for updates as more premiere. Least-watched is first, most-watched is last. Readers can find our Fall TV version of these rankings here.
Rank: 17 Show: "Duncanville" Net: Fox Total Viewers: 1.5 million
Fox
Rank: 16 Show: "Flirty Dancing" Net: Fox Total Viewers: 1.8 million* (*Time period premiere. Special post-NFL doubleheader series debut, which aired live across all timezones, earned 3.2 million viewers)
Fox
Rank: 15 Show: "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist"* Net: NBC Total Viewers: 2 million* (*Time period premiere. Sneak-peek preview of first episode got 2.7 million viewers)
NBC
Rank: 14 Show: "Indebted" Net: NBC Total Viewers: 2.1 million
NBC
Rank: 13 Show: "The Baker and the Beauty" Net: ABC Total Viewers: 2.6 million viewers
ABC
Rank: 12 Show: "The Bachelor Presents: Listen to Your Heart" Net: ABC Total Viewers: 2.97 million
ABC
Rank: 11 Show: "For Life" Net: ABC Total Viewers: 3.178 million
ABC
Rank: 10 Show: "Outmatched" Net: Fox Total Viewers: 3.202 million
Fox
Rank: 9 Show: "Council of Dads" Net: NBC Total Viewers: 3.9 million
NBC
Rank: 8 Show: "Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector" Net: NBC Total Viewers: 4.4 million
NBC
Rank: 7 Show: "Deputy" Net: Fox Total Viewers: 4.6 million
Fox
Rank: 6 Show: "Tommy" Net: CBS Total Viewers: 4.787 million
CBS
Rank: 5 Show: "Lego Masters" Net: Fox Total Viewers: 4.837 million
Fox
Rank: 4 Show: "9-1-1: Lone Star" Net: Fox Total Viewers: 5.8 million* (*Time period premiere. Special post-NFC Championship series debut earned 11.5 million viewers)
Fox
Rank: 3 Show: "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" Net: ABC Total Viewers: 6.3 million viewers
ABC
Rank: 2 Show: "Broke" Net: CBS Total Viewers: 7.05 million
CBS
Rank: 1 Show: "FBI: Most Wanted" Net: CBS Total Viewers: 7.19 million
CBS
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Two spinoffs started off strong — two did not
When it comes to broadcast TV, winter is typically no fall -- but a few of this year's new midseason shows could have made the cut for an earlier start, ratings-wise. TheWrap has ranked all of 2020's midseason series premieres -- so far -- by their "live" total-viewer tallies. Spinoffs of Fox's "9-1-1" and CBS' "FBI" had impressive starts, The CW's "Riverdale" offshoot and ABC's "The Bachelor Presents: Listen to Your Heart" did not. Scroll through our gallery for the Nielsen returns for the 18 midseason shows that have debuted this season and check back for updates as more premiere. Least-watched is first, most-watched is last. Readers can find our Fall TV version of these rankings here.