Primetime Ratings Wednesday: ABC, Fox, NBC Split Win on Inauguration Day

Biden Inauguration
(Image credit: ABC News)

ABC, Fox and NBC tied for the Wednesday win in ratings, ABC and NBC with inauguration coverage and Fox with regular programming. All three got a 0.6 in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and a 4 share. 

CBS was next at 0.4/2. 

ABC had inauguration coverage at 0.7 from 8 to 9 p.m. and Tom Hanks-hosted musical special Celebrating America, with Bruce Springsteen, Foo Fighters and other acts, at 0.6 from 9 to 10. Comedy repeats followed. 

Fox had The Masked Dancer and Name That Tune both down a tenth of a point at 0.6.

On NBC it was a 0.7 for inauguration coverage and a 0.8 for Celebrating America. A Chicago P.D. rerun followed. 

CBS had special One Nation: Indivisible at 0.5 and Celebrating America at 0.4. A Magnum P.I. repeat followed. 

Telemundo and Univision both got a 0.3/2. Both had news coverage of the historic day from 8 to 10 and then Telemundo aired Falsa Identidad and Univision had Dulce Ambicion, both posting a 0.3. Falsa was flat with last Wednesday and Dulce picked up a tenth. 

The CW scored a 0.1/1 with the season premieres of Riverdale at 0.2 and Nancy Drew at 0.1. 

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.