Ratings: ‘Big Brother’ Thursday Season Premiere Boosts CBS – but Not Enough

One day, CBS will air five nights of “Big Brother” per week — or at least, it should.

The reality competition returned to Thursdays last night, boosting CBS’ primetime ratings. It didn’t do enough, however, as ABC edged CBS in both the key demo and among total viewers.

CBS finished second, tying with Univision in the demo ratings. Hey, better to tie with this Spanish-Language network than the one it did last week.

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ABC was first in ratings with a 0.6 rating/4 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and in total viewers with an average of 3 million, according to preliminary numbers. “Holey Moley” at 8 p.m. had a 0.6/4 and 3.3 million viewers. The “Don’t” Season 1 finale at 9 got a 0.5/3 and 2.5 million viewers. At 10, “To Tell the Truth” received a 0.6/4 and 3 million viewers.

CBS and Univision tied for second in ratings, both with a 0.5/3. CBS was second in total viewers with 2.8 million, Univision was fifth with 1.4 million.

For CBS, “Big Brother” at 8 earned a 1.0/7 and 4.1 million viewers. Reruns followed.

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Fox was fourth in ratings with a 0.4/3 and in viewers with 1.7 million, airing the Milwaukee Brewers vs. Chicago Cubs game throughout primetime.

NBC and Telemundo tied for fifth in ratings, both with a 0.3/2. NBC was third in total viewers with 2.1 million, Telemundo was sixth with 1 million.

For NBC, a “Coronavirus & the Classroom” special at 8 had a 0.4/3 and 2.6 million viewers. Repeats followed.

The CW was seventh in ratings with a 0.1/1 and in viewers with 497,000. The “Killer Camp” finale at 8 got a 0.1/1 and 480,000 viewers. A rerun followed.

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