Friday TV Ratings 9/4/20: Dateline NBC Steady, Love Island Builds on MacGyver Repeat (UPDATE)

Preliminary Analysis: Fox's 'WWE Smackdown' (0.6) once more topped a very generic Friday evening. ABC came in second with 'Shark Tank' (0.4) and '20/20' (0.4) repeats. CBS had a down 'Love Island' (0.3) in-between 'MacGyver' (0.2) and 'Blue Bloods' (0.2) encores. NBC had slightly higher ratings with 'America's Got Talent' (0.3) and 'Dateline' (0.3) repeats. And the CW had a pair of 'Masters of Illusion' repeats (0.1/0.1) and 'Being Reuben' (0.0/0.0) originals. 'Reuben' was even with last week's 9:30pm original but fell short of the 9pm high (0.1) from a week ago.

Finals Update: The MacGyver repeat (+0.1) adjusted up.

Friday TV Ratings 8/28/20: Love Island and 20/20 Down, Being Reuben Rises (UPDATED)

Once again, Friday night was won by Fox with WWE Smackdown. The wrestling series again remained at 0.6, continuing its rebound after hitting some ugly numbers earlier in the summer.

Fox's closest competition came from NBC. A repeat of America's Got Talent, relocated from Sundays, rose from last week's 0.3. At 10, a Dateline NBC encore was steady at 0.4.

CBS had an original Love Island, down a tenth to 0.3 and tying its Tuesday rating. The show had some outright horrendous retention in total viewers, but it held onto 100% of its MacGyver repeat lead-in in the 18-49 demo, which I guess is impressive in a way. At 10, the Blue Bloods repeat deserves some massive kudos for airing after the worst lead-in imaginable for it and still managing to draw the night's biggest audience.

ABC had a Shark Tank repeat at 0.4, steady with last week. At 9, 20/20 had a bizarrely abysmal night with just a 0.2, pushing ABC to last place among the big four.

The CW's Masters of Illusion was steady at the typical CW 0.1. At 9, Being Reuben managed to grow slightly to 0.1, breaking a streak of 0.0s. Don't worry, though. It's still the worst-performing show in the history of broadcast television.

Finals Update: Being Reuben (-0.1) and repeats of America's Got Talent (-0.1) and Dateline NBC (-0.1) adjusted down.

Friday TV Ratings 8/21/20: WWE SmackDown Stays on Top, Blue Bloods Repeat Leads in Viewers (UPDATED)

It was another Friday led by WWE Smackdown, with Fox's solidly-performing Friday night program ticking up a tenth from last week's preliminary number to a 0.6. It adjusted up last week in the finals, so it is steady week-to-week. This result gives Fox another easy victory for Friday night.

The CW had Masters of Illusion repeats at 0.1. Being Reuben aired at 9, but nobody would know it considering its 0.0s for both episodes.

NBC was the closest behind Fox, with repeats of America's Got Talent and Dateline NBC at 0.4.

ABC had a Shark Tank repeat at 0.4, followed by a 0.3 for a 20/20 repeat, down a tenth from last week.

CBS had repeats of their regular Friday lineup at 0.3/0.3/0.3, the first time this lineup has aired together in over a month. Though MacGyver was a notch below last week's Greatest #AtHome Videos finale, Blue Bloods rose at 10 and easily won the night in viewers.

Finals Update: The repeat of America's Got Talent (-0.1) adjusted down.

Jess’s Take - 0.0, How Do You Do?

Hello peoples! Welcome to a new overdue installment of Jess's Take. This is an editorial piece that gives a commentary on what's going on in television and the world of pop culture. Believe me, a recent Friday ratings post has brought some light. 

If you haven't heard lately, I have been increasingly critical of the CW as of late that I have not brought up the entire network on the August TV update for the Pop Culture Cosmos and the PCC Multiverse. Part 1 is available on the PCC Multiverse, and part 2 is on the Monday episode of Pop Culture Cosmos. 

If you haven't seen the ratings for Being Reuben, you would know that a 0.0 has become commonplace. Being Reuben follows young Internet sensation Reuben de Maid who is chasing his dream to become a makeup superstar in the beauty community. But on the CW, it has not caught up. 

On the CW, it currently is averaging a 0.04 A18-49 and around 200,000 viewers. If you haven't heard, Taskmaster was canned after one episode after posting a heavily rounded 0.1 in the demo (a 0.05 to be exact) and 212,000 viewers. So my question is, why is the CW going through the trouble of running a show posting 0.0s regularly? The jury is still out on that.

Will the CW post 0.0 in the future for the fall season regularly? Too soon to tell. But this does not look good for CW Friday. 

What do you think about this installment? Let me know in the comments below! 

Friday TV Ratings 8/14/20: Greatest #AtHome Videos Ends Steady, WWE SmackDown Leads with Dateline Close Behind (UPDATED)

 Preliminary Analysis: A steady 'WWE Smackdown' (0.5) on Fox tied a repeat of 'Dateline' (0.5) for the top spot of the night. CBS's 'The Greatest #AtHome Videos' (0.4) ended even with its last episode and led into slightly lower repeats of 'Magnum PI' (0.3) and 'Blue Bloods' (0.3). ABC was slightly ahead of CBS with 'Shark Tank' (0.4) and '20/20' (0.4) repeats. NBC had encores of 'The Wall' (0.3) and the aforementioned 'Dateline' (0.5). The CW had steady repeats of 'Masters of Illusion' (0.1/0.1) and an even 'Being Reuben' (0.0/0.0). Of course, it's not much of a feat to stay even with your premiere when the series in question debuted at rock bottom.

Finals Update: WWE Smackdown (+0.1) adjusted up.