Primetime Ratings: CBS Wins With ‘Thursday Night Football’

Football drove CBS to the ratings title Thursday, as a tight Patriots-Buccaneers matchup led the network to a 3.0 in viewers 18-49, and an 11 share, same as CBS did last week. In second was ABC at 1.4/5.

NFL Thursday Night Kickoff scored a 2.2 on CBS, down a tenth of a point from last week, and the game a 3.2, flat with last Thursday’s game. Tom Brady's Patriots won 19-14.

On ABC, Grey’s Anatomy fell 13% to 2.0 and the premiere of Scandal scored a 1.4, 17% better than its season finale. How to Get Away With Murder slipped 18% to 0.9.  

NBC weighed in at 1.3/5. Superstore scored a flat 1.2 and The Good Place was down a tenth of a point at 1.2. Will & Grace lost 33% for a 2.0 and Great News slipped 23% to 1.0. Chicago Fire dropped 20% to 1.2.

Fox did a 0.9/3, with Gotham and The Orville both at 0.9. Gotham was up 13% and The Orville was down 18%.

Telemundo was at 0.7/3, with Sin Senos Sí Hay Paraíso at 0.7 and El Señor de los Cielos at 0.9.

Univision scored a 0.4/1, as Mi Marido Tiene Familia scored a 0.5.

The CW was at 0.2/1, with repeats of Supernatural and Arrow.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone is content director at B+C and Multichannel News. He joined B+C in 2005 and has covered network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television, including writing the "Local News Close-Up" market profiles. He also hosted the podcasts "Busted Pilot" and "Series Business." His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The L.A. Times, The Boston Globe and New York magazine.