Ratings Analysis: With the return of legitimate competition on the other networks, 'Survivor' (0.87, -0.12), 'Tough As Nails' (0.38, -0.11), and 'CSI: Vegas' (0.39, -0.10) all lost a full tenth on CBS. Despite the decline, 'Survivor' edged out its closest competitors and remained the top broadcast of the evening. On NBC, the annual 'Christmas in Rockefeller Plaza' special (0.85) was down close to 30% from the 2020 telecast (1.2) but still found itself near the top of the pack. At 10, a Kelly Clarkson Christmas special (0.65) easily won its hour and made NBC the network with the highest overall average for the night. There was no good news to be found on ABC as 'The Goldbergs' (0.49, -0.08) and 'The Wonder Years' (0.34, -0.06) both dropped to new series lows. 'The Conners' (0.52) was able to hold steady amidst the slippage but still found itself at the lower-end of its usual delivery. Sophomore sitcom 'Home Economics' (0.33, -0.03) and fourth-season drama 'A Million Little Things' (0.26, -0.04) fell by three-hundredths and four-hundredths respectively. After rising to its highest rating in a while for the previous episode, Fox's 'The Masked Singer' (0.85, -0.15) crashed to its lowest rating to date. At 9, 'Alter Ego' (0.37, -0.02) tied its low but avoided creating a new one. The CW went with holiday filler in the form of animated special 'Beebo Saves Christmas' (0.05) and a Christmas-themed 'World's Funniest Animals' (0.07). Even by CW levels, this block of programming clearly underwhelmed.
Finals Update: '89th Christmas in Rockefeller Plaza' (+0.1), 'Survivor' (+0.1), 'The Masked Singer' (+0.1), 'Kelly Clarkson: When Christmas Comes Around' (+0.1), and 'A Million Little Things' (+0.1) adjusted up.
