Thursday Overnights: ‘Truth and Lies: Tonya Harding’ Special Gives ABC a Boost

Household Rating/Share
CBS: 6.3/11, ABC: 3.9/ 7, NBC: 2.8/ 5, Fox: 2.5/ 4, CW: 1.1/ 2

Percent Change from Opening Thursday in 2016 – 9/21/16:
CW: +71, CBS: +43, Fox: + 9, ABC: + 3, NBC: -22

Ratings Breakdown:
CBS stood well above the Thursday competition, but it was not a clean sweep thanks to the ABC News “Truth and Lies – Tonya Harding Special.” Overall, the retelling of the Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan incident on the two-hour news special averaged a 4.7 rating/8 share in the household overnights from 9-11 p.m. The 10 p.m. portion was a 4.9/ 9, which bested competing dramas “S.W.A.T.” on CBS (#2: 4.2/ 7) and “Chicago Fire” on NBC (#3: 3.5/ 6) by 17 percent and 40 percent, respectively.

Top-rated for the evening, as always, was “The Big Bang Theory” on CBS. It scored a 10.2/17 in the 8 p.m. half-hour into “Young Sheldon” (#1: 8.6/14), “Mom” (#1: 6.0/10) and “Life in Pieces” (#2: 4.5/ 7) from 8:30-10 p.m. NBC’s 8-10 p.m. comedy rotation – “Superstore” (#2: 2.5/ 7), “The Good Place” (#3t: 2.2/ 4), “Will & Grace” (#3: 3.2/ 5) and “Great News” (#3t: 2.2/ 4) – could not compare.

In week two news, Fox singing competition “The Four: Battle for Stardom” slipped by 11 percent from its already disappointing opening, with a 2.5/ 4 in the household overnights from 8-10 p.m. In the specials department was annual “The Critics Choice Awards” on The CW at a 1.1/ 2 from 8-10 p.m. And ABC featured an encore telecast of the first episode of game show “Child Support,” which averaged a modest 2.3/ 4 (#3t) in the 8 p.m. hour.

What follows is the breakdown by half-hour for Thursday, January 4:

8:00 p.m.
ABC – “Child Support” (R): 2.4/ 4 (#3)
CBS – “The Big Bang Theory”: 10.2/17 (#1)
NBC – “Superstore”: 2.5/ 4 (#2)
Fox – “The Four: Battle for Stardom”: 2.3/ 4 (#4)
CW – “The Critics Choice Awards”: 1.2/ 2 (#5)

8:30 p.m.
ABC – “Child Support” (R): 2.2/ 3 (#3t)
CBS – “Young Sheldon”: 8.6/14 (#1)
NBC – “The Good Place”: 2.2/ 4 (#3t)
Fox – “The Four: Battle for Stardom”: 2.4/ 4 (#2)
CW – “The Critics Choice Awards”: 1.1/ 2 (#5)

9:00 p.m.
ABC – ABC News – “Truth and Lies – Tonya Harding”: 4.3/ 7 (#2)
CBS – “Mom”: 6.0/10 (#1)
NBC – “Will & Grace”: 3.2/ 5 (#3)
Fox – “The Four: Battle for Stardom”: 2.5/ 4 (#4)
CW – “The Critics Choice Awards”: 1.0/ 2 (#5)

9:30 p.m.
ABC – ABC News – “Truth and Lies – Tonya Harding”: 4.7/ 8 (#1)
CBS – “Life in Pieces”: 4.5/ 7 (#2)
NBC – “Great News”: 1.7/ 3 (#4)
Fox – “The Four: Battle for Stardom”: 2.5/ 4 (#4)
CW – “The Critics Choice Awards”: 1.0/ 2 (#5)

10:00 p.m.
ABC – ABC News – “Truth and Lies – Tonya Harding”: 4.9/ 9 (#1)
CBS – “S.W.A.T.”: 4.2/ 7 (#2)
NBC – “Chicago Fire”: 3.5/ 6 (#3)

10:30 p.m.
ABC – ABC News – “Truth and Lies – Tonya Harding”: 4.9/ 9 (#1)
CBS – “S.W.A.T.”: 4.4/ 8 (#2)
NBC – “Chicago Fire”: 3.6/ 7 (#3)

Source: Nielsen Media Research