Thursday Overnights: Preseason Football Leads Fox to Victory

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2018

Household Rating/Share
Fox: 4.9 rating/9 share, CBS: 3.0/ 6, ABC: 2.8/ 5, NBC: 1.7/ 3, CW: 0.4/ 1

-Percent Change from the Year-Ago Evening:
Fox: +172, ABC: +87, CBS: – 3, NBC: -39, CW: -60

-Ratings Scorecard:
Fox topped the night care of the Philadelphia Eagles at the Cleveland Browns on Preseason football at an estimated 4.9 rating/9 share in households in primetime (from 8-10 p.m. ET). Second overall for the evening was CBS summer favorite “Big Brother” (3.8/ 7 from 9-10 p.m.), which was right on par with the year-ago evening and will feature one of the jury members next week battling back to get into the house.

In season (or series finale) news was NBC sitcom “Trial & Error,” which exited with a modest 1.4/ 2 in the household overnights (#4) for what will probably be its final two episodes (from 9-10 p.m.). There is no reason to expect NBC to renew “Trial & Error” for a third season.

Also original last night was ABC’s combination of “The Gong Show” (#4: 1.9/ 3 at 8 p.m.) and part two of two-night special “The Story of the Royals” (3.2/ 7 from 9-11 p.m.).

What follows are the household overnight ratings for Thursday, August 23 broken out by half-hour:

8:00 p.m.
ABC – “The Gong Show”: 2.0/ 4 (#4)
CBS – “The Big Bang Theory” (R): 3.9/ 9 (#2)
NBC – “Ellen’s Game of Games”: 2.3/ 4 (#3)
Fox – NFL Football (Philadelphia Eagles at Cleveland Browns): 4.2/ 8 (#1)
CW – “Supernatural” (R): 0.5/ 1 (#5)

8:30 p.m.
ABC – “The Gong Show”: 1.8/ 3 (#4)
CBS – “Young Sheldon” (R): 3.2/ 6 (#2)
NBC – “Ellen’s Game of Games”: 2.4/ 4 (#3)
Fox – NFL Football (Philadelphia Eagles at Cleveland Browns): 4.9/ 9 (#1)
CW – “Supernatural” (R): 0.5/ 1 (#5)

9:00 p.m.
ABC – “The Story of the Royals” (part two): 3.0/ 5 (#3)
CBS – “Big Brother”: 3.9/ 7 (#2)
NBC – “Trial & Error”1.4/ 2 (#4)
Fox – NFL Football (Philadelphia Eagles at Cleveland Browns): 5.5/10 (#1)
CW – “The Originals” (R): 0.4/ 1 (#5)

9:30 p.m.
ABC – “The Story of the Royals” (part two): 3.1/ 6 (#3)
CBS – “Big Brother”: 3.7/ 7 (#2)
NBC – “Trial & Error” (season or series finale): 1.4/ 2 (#4)
Fox – NFL Football (Philadelphia Eagles at Cleveland Browns): 5.2/ 9 (#1)
CW – “The Originals” (R): 0.4/ 1 (#5)

10:00 p.m.
ABC – “The Story of the Royals” (part two): 3.4/ 6 (#1)
CBS – “S.W.A.T. (R): 1.8/ 3 (#2)
NBC – “Law & Order: SVU” (R): 1.4/ 3 (#3)

10:30 p.m.
ABC – “The Story of the Royals” (part two): 3.4/ 7 (#1)
CBS – “S.W.A.T. (R): 1.9/ 4 (#2)
NBC – “Law & Order: SVU” (R): 1.7/ 3 (#3)

Source: Nielsen Media Research