Friday TV Ratings 9/20/24: Illinois/Nebraska College Football Game Dominates, NASCAR XFinity Race Solid by CW Standards, Secret Celebrity Renovation Special Respectable [+ Analysis]

Ratings Analysis: Fox's Illinois/Nebraska college football game (1.05) was the top-rated program on an otherwise quiet Friday night. On CBS, Secret Celebrity Renovation (0.23) was up from its last airing (0.16), while Lingo (0.17, 0.00) matched its week-ago installment for its finale. On ABC, 20/20 (0.17) got no help from a low-rated repeat of High Potential (0.15). NBC's Dateline (0.21) built on the rerun of AGT (0.19) that led into it. The NASCAR Xfinity: Food City 300 (0.12) brought some life back to the CW. Key: (R) = repeat. (P) = premiere. (F) = finale.  

Friday TV Ratings 9/29/23: Shark Tank Returns Up From Finale, WWE SmackDown Easily Leads (UPDATED)

Ratings Analysis: For its fall premiere, ABC's 'Shark Tank' (0.37) was up by two-hundredths when compared to its May season finale (0.35). '20/20' (0.29) dipped from there but still beat out the premiere of NBC's 'Dateline' (0.25) head-on. In fairness, 'Dateline' had less lead-in help than its newsmagazine rival since it aired after an 8 p.m. rerun of 'The Voice' (0.22) instead of an original broadcast. On CBS, 'Secret Celebrity Renovation' (0.16, -0.06) collapsed on finale night and led into more encores of 'Fire Country' (0.12) and 'Blue Bloods' (0.13). Fox's 'WWE Smackdown' (0.60, -0.03) shed a few ticks but maintained its dominance. The CW's broadcast of 'Miss USA 2023' (0.10) performed better than the network's usual fare.

Finals Update: ‘WWE SmackDown’ (+0.1), ‘Shark Tank’ (+0.1), ‘Secret Celebrity Renovation’ (+0.1), and ‘Dateline NBC’ (+0.1) adjusted up.

Friday TV Ratings 9/22/23: 20/20 Rises, Secret Celebrity Renovation Ticks Up, WWE SmackDown Slips (UPDATED)

Ratings Analysis: ABC's '20/20' (0.30) was up by five-hundredths when compared to last week and was the top program aside from Fox's 'WWE Smackdown' (0.63, -0.07). 'Smackdown' itself dropped by several ticks but remained in the lead. A rerun of 'Shark Tank' (0.28) aired before '20/20' and performed significantly better than last week's 'Soul of a Nation' special (0.16). 'Secret Celebrity Renovation' (0.22, +0.01) gained a hundredth on CBS and led into repeats of 'Fire Country' (0.15) and 'Blue Bloods' (0.16). NBC had encores of 'America's Got Talent' (0.20) and 'Dateline' (0.26). The CW re-ran 'Penn & Teller: Fool Us' (0.05) and 'Inside the NFL' (0.03).

Finals Update: 'Dateline NBC' (+0.1) adjusted up.

Friday TV Ratings 9/15/23: WWE SmackDown Jumps, Secret Celebrity Renovation Also Ticks Up, Soul of a Nation Special Flops (UPDATED)

Ratings Analysis: After dealing with some rough declines, 'WWE Smackdown' (0.70, +0.17) bounced back in a big way on Fox. The wrestling series was easily the night's top program as nothing else even managed a 0.3 rating in the Adults 18-49 demographic. CBS's 'Secret Celebrity Renovation' (0.21, +0.04) gained a few hundredths and led into reruns of 'Buddy Games' (0.15) and 'Blue Bloods' (0.11). ABC's "Latin Music Revolution" edition of 'Soul of a Nation' (0.16) performed only slightly better than the week-ago 'Will Trent' encore (0.15). At 9, '20/20' (0.25) was once more the second highest-rated offering of the evening. NBC had repeats of 'America's Got Talent' (0.17) and 'Dateline' (0.23). The CW's showing of 2000 film 'Bring It On' (0.09) was rather solid by the network's standards. 

Finals Update: 'WWE SmackDown' (+0.1) and 'The Latin Music Revolution: A Soul of a Nation Presentation' (+0.1) adjusted up.

Friday TV Ratings 9/1/23: Family Law Rises for Finale, WWE SmackDown Drops but Remains Easily in First, Secret Celebrity Renovation Ties Season Low (UPDATED)

Ratings Analysis: Legal drama 'Family Law' (0.03/0.04) improved on last week's 0.02 rating for its two-hour finale on the CW. Though this is not much of a recovery for 'Law', up is up. Fox's 'WWE Smackdown' (0.65, -0.13) lost a little more than a tenth, but the wrestling series was still 3x higher than its nearest competitor in the Adults 18-49 demographic. 'Secret Celebrity Renovation' (0.17, -0.01) shed a hundredth on CBS after taking a week off. The program tied the season low it set on premiere night and led into reruns of 'Fire Country' (0.11) and 'Blue Bloods' (0.15). NBC's 'America's Got Talent' encore (0.21) handily beat ABC's 'Will Trent' (0.14) repeat in the 8 p.m. hour. However, the spoils went to ABC in the 9 p.m. hour as '20/20' (0.21) pulled ahead of 'Dateline' (0.20).

Finals Update: All shows held their preliminary rounded rating.