Friday TV Ratings 6/23/23: The Great American Joke Off Rises for Finale, WWE SmackDown Drops But Leads, Dateline NBC Takes Second (UPDATED)

Ratings Analysis: 'The Great American Joke Off' (0.06, +0.01) picked up a hundredth on finale night but still lost two-hundredths from the repeat of 'Whose Line Is It Anyway?' (0.08) that led into it. The CW began the evening with a rerun of 'Penn & Teller: Fool Us' (0.06). On Fox, 'WWE Smackdown' (0.61, -0.06) dropped by six-hundredths but remained several tiers above any other program. NBC's 'Dateline' (0.25, -0.05) fell by half a tenth, while the 8 p.m. 'Hot Wheels' rerun (0.19) was at the same rating as two weeks prior. On ABC, the 'Will Trent' rerun (0.18) and '20/20' (0.17, -0.18) plummeted when compared to their week-ago broadcasts (0.28/0.35). CBS aired repeats of 'SWAT' (0.22), 'Fire Country' (0.17), and 'Blue Bloods' (0.19).

Finals Update: All shows held their preliminary ratings.

Friday TV Ratings 6/16/23: WWE SmackDown and US Open Golf Tick Up, 20/20 Solid in Third Place (UPDATED)

Ratings Analysis: The NBC broadcast of the 'US Open Golf Championship' (0.40, +0.03) improved a bit in night two but was once again denied first-place distinction, this time due to the dominance of 'WWE Smackdown' (0.67, +0.07). The Fox wrestling series grew by seven-hundredths and topped the evening as it often does. ABC had a surprisingly strong rerun of 'Will Trent' (0.28) and a solid edition of '20/20' (0.35). CBS had repeats of 'SWAT' (0.26), 'Fire Country' (0.18), and 'Blue Bloods' (0.18). 'The Great American Joke Off' (0.05, +0.02) climbed higher on The CW but lagged behind reruns of 'Penn & Teller: Fool Us' (0.06) and 'Whose Line Is It Anyway?' (0.07).

Finals Update: WWE SmackDown (+0.1), 2023 US Open Golf Championship (+0.1), and the repeat of SWAT (+0.1) adjusted up.

Friday TV Ratings 6/9/23: NBA Finals Slip Again, WWE SmackDown Also Drops (UPDATED)

Ratings Analysis: The '2023 NBA Finals' (3.23, -0.20) took another hit for game four, this time losing two-tenths in the key demo. And while 'NBA Countdown' (0.79) still gave ABC the win in the 8 p.m. timeslot, Fox's 'WWE Smackdown' (0.60, -0.13) was not too far behind it. Outside of the sporting world, only NBC's 'Dateline' (0.30) managed to post a passable result. As it did last week, the newsmagazine program built substantially from the rerun of 'Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge' (0.19) that led into it. CBS went with repeats of 'SWAT' (0.20), 'Fire Country' (0.16), and 'Blue Bloods' (0.14). On the CW, 'Whose Line Is It Anyway?' (0.05, -0.02) and 'The Great American Joke Off' (0.03, -0.04) completely crumbled. The 8 o'clock encore of 'Penn & Teller: Fool Us' (0.05) also fell below last week's showing (0.08).

Finals Update: '2023 NBA Finals Game 4' (+1.0) adjusted up. 'NBA Countdown' (-0.3) adjusted down.

Friday TV Ratings 6/2/23: The Greatest @Home Videos Special Weak, WWE SmackDown Jumps and Easily Leads (UPDATED)

Ratings Analysis: Fox staple 'WWE Smackdown' (0.73, +0.21) shot up to its strongest rating in a while, gaining more than two-tenths of a point overall. Though 'Smackdown' is often Friday's highest-rated offering, this surge furthers the gap to the point where it is 2.5x higher than its closest competitor. On ABC, the 8 o'clock 'Shark Tank' rerun (0.28) was a significant improvement over the week-ago 'Soul of a Nation' special (0.20). The '20/20' repeat (0.23) was at the same level as it was seven days prior. CBS brought back 'The Greatest @Home Videos' (0.21), but its performance was modest at best. From there, encores of 'Fire Country' (0.11) and 'Blue Bloods' (0.12) slipped into the 0.1 range. NBC had an underwhelming repeat of 'Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge' (0.17) and a strong edition of 'Dateline' (0.29). On the CW, 'Whose Line Is It Anyway?' (0.07, +0.01) and 'The Great American Joke Off' (0.07, +0.02) were both on the rise but still fell behind the 8 o'clock repeat of 'Penn & Teller: Fool Us' (0.08).

Finals Update: All shows held their preliminary ratings.

Friday TV Ratings 5/19/23: Shark Tank and SWAT Slip for Finales, Fire Country Ends Steady, Blue Bloods Higher on Finale Night (UPDATED)

Ratings Analysis: Though it remains one of Friday's top shows, ABC's 'Shark Tank' (0.35, -0.02) closed out its season on a rather soft note. The unscripted staple declined by two-hundredths from its previous episode and only stayed two ticks above its season low. Following 'Tank', '20/20' (0.19, -0.09) unexpectedly crumbled to a new season low. On CBS, 'SWAT' (0.35, -0.01) shed a hundredth while 'Fire Country' (0.35, 0.00) held steady for its finale. At 10, 'Blue Bloods' (0.34, +0.06) shot up to its highest rating since early April, thus finishing the season in strong fashion. NBC went with a rerun of 'That's My Jam' (0.21) and a 'Dateline' original (0.30, +0.03) that trampled '20/20' head-on. Fox's 'WWE Smackdown' (0.53, -0.03) inched down but easily remained the evening's top program. Over on the CW, 'Whose Line Is It Anyway?' (0.06, 0.00) held even but could only tie the repeat of 'Penn & Teller: Fool Us' (0.06) that led into it. 'The Great American Joke Off' (0.05, +0.01) picked up a precious hundredth at 9:30.

Finals Update: All shows held their preliminary ratings.