Sunday TV Ratings 9/6/20: NBA Dominates with Lakers and Rockets Game, Big Brother Down, NHL Game Modest (UPDATED)

Preliminary Analysis: After last week's monstrous 'Black Panther' showing, ABC continued its Sunday night dominance with a broadcast of the 'Lakers v. Rockets' NBA game (1.3). It was markedly above Tuesday's 'Jazz v. Nuggets' game (1.0) and pretty easily bested the competition. It led out of a surprisingly sturdy 'AFV' repeat (1.1) and an NBA countdown special (0.9). The 'AFV' repeat will likely adjust down after finals. 

CBS came the closest to competing with the alphabet network but still couldn't hold a candle to their numbers. A fading 'Big Brother' (0.8) shed a tenth from its last episode but built a good bit from its '60 Minutes' repeat lead-in (0.4). After 'Brother', 'Love Island' (0.4) managed to gain a tenth from its Friday original. A poorly-rated 'NCIS: New Orleans' repeat (0.2) closed things out. 

The 'NHL' game on NBC (0.4) found itself in very meager territory (though looked like a godsend when compared to Fox's numbers) and led out of a low-rated 'Cannonball' (0.3). Fox decided to swap out cartoon repeats for boxing and somehow managed to fall further than they already were. 'PBC Boxing' (0.1) completely bombed at 8pm, as did the 'NFL Sunday' preview (0.1) that came before it. The CW matched their efforts with a steady 'Fridge Wars' (0.1) and a 'Supernatural' repeat (0.1).

Finals Update: NBA: Rockets v. Lakers (+0.7), Fox NFL Sunday 2020 Preview (+0.1), PBC Boxing (+0.1) and NHL: Stars v. Golden Knights (+0.1) adjusted up.

America's Funniest Home Videos (-0.3) and NBA Countdown (-0.2) adjusted down.

Sunday TV Ratings 8/30/20: Black Panther and Chadwick Boseman Tribute Give ABC a Huge Win, Big Brother Down, NHL Steady with Last Sunday (UPDATED)

Circumstances surrounding the massive ratings were upsetting to say the least, but ABC was able to manage a big win Sunday night for their airing of 2018's blockbuster Marvel film Black Panther, scoring a 1.4 and easily being one of the top ratings of the summer. The film's star, Chadwick Boseman, died late last week after a battle with colon cancer, and ABC broadcast the film commercial-free as a tribute to him. The big ratings for the film, which was only added to the schedule earlier in the day, are a testament to how beloved Boseman was. A tribute about his life that started at 10:20 PM drew a 1.1, the highest 10 PM number in many months (final ratings will determine how this special actually did, as its 1.1/4.7 million views are only for the 10:30-11 PM portion). At 7, a repeat of America's Funniest Home Videos tied for first in its timeslot, though it was down from last week as it was inflated by a big lead-in then.

NBC was the best of the rest. A PGA overrun attracted a 0.6. That wasn't enough to boost Cannonball, joined in progress, past its 0.4 from last week. At 8, An NHL game featuring the Flyers and Islanders was at 0.5, steady with last week.

CBS had a down Big Brother at 0.9 (with a 0.8 in the second half). It was followed by a tragic Love Island, which was steady at 0.3 despited a lead-in three-times the size of its lead-in on Friday. It even somehow managed to hit 0.2 in the second half-hour. A 60 Minutes repeat at 7 was at 0.5. An NCIS: New Orleans repeat thathad the misfortune of airing behind Love Island drew a paltry 0.2, but managed to grow to 0.3 in the second half-hour and beat Love Island in viewers.

Fox had a Last Man Standing encore at 7 and cartoon repeats the rest of the night. They were stuck at 0.2 all night. Congrats on the big gains, Fox.

The CW showed the 2020 MTV VMA Awards, which featured performances by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande, The Weeknd and Miley Cyrus, among others. It rose from last week's CW lineup with a 0.2.

Finals Update: Chadwick Boseman: Tribute for a King (+0.1) and the repeat of America's Funniest Home Videos (+0.1) adjusted up.. Love Island (-0.1) PGA Championship (-0.1) and repeats of Last Man Standing (-0.1) and Duncanville (-0.1) adjusted down.

Thursday Cable Ratings 8/27/20: Republican National Convention Jumps for Trump Speech, Tacoma FD and Lost Resort Rise

Below are the top 25 programs on cable on Thursday, 8/28/20. Items of note include the final night of the Republican National Convention on Fox News, MSNBC and CNN, Tacoma FD on TruTV, and Cannonball on USA.
(Note: Click the names of the shows written in purple or blue to be taken to their pages in the TV Ratings Guide Cable Database.)

Sunday TV Ratings 8/23/20: Biden/Harris Interview Does Solidly, Big Brother Leads (UPDATED)

Preliminary Analysis: ABC swapped out its usual 'Celebrity Family Feud' repeat for an exclusive interview with presidential candidate Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris (0.7). It performed a good bit higher than what the DNC was pulling on ABC last week but also lost two-tenths from an NBA-inflated 'AFV' repeat (0.9). The interview's numbers were not earth-shattering but still very respectable. Later in the night came repeats of 'Press Your Luck' (0.4) and 'Match Game' (0.4), both dropping significantly from Biden.

Even with a stronger alphabet network, a steady 'Big Brother' (1.0) topped the networks once more on CBS. It led out of a decently-rated '60 Minutes' repeat (0.5) and led into dismal encores of 'NCIS: LA' (0.3) and 'NCIS: NO' (0.3). 

'Cannonball' (0.4) remained unchanged from last week on NBC but the 'NHL Playoffs' game (0.5) gained a tenth after it. Fox had 0.2s across the board for 7pm-9:30pm comedy repeats with 'Family Guy' (0.3) unsurprisingly rising above the rest at the end of the block. The CW's 'Fridge Wars' (0.1) held even while a repeat of 'Supernatural' (0.1) gained a tenth after last week's disastrous 0.0 rating.

Finals Update: Repeats of Last Man Standing (-0.1), Duncanville (-0.1), NCIS: Los Angeles (-0.1), and Family Guy (-0.1) adjusted down.

Thursday Cable Ratings 8/20/20: Democratic Convention Narrowly Hits 2020 High for Final Night, NBA Leads, Lost Resort Hits New Low

Below are the top 25 programs on cable on Thursday, 8/20/20. Items of note include the final night of the Democratic National Convention on MSNBC, CNN and Fox News, Tacoma FD on TruTV, and the NBA Playoffs on ESPN.
(Note: Click the names of the shows written in purple or blue to be taken to their pages in the TV Ratings Guide Cable Database.)