Friday 01/20/12 - Premieres of Shark Tank and Primetime Help Give ABC the Win

Anchoring the night for ABC, the network got off to a strong start with the third season premiere of Shark Tank (1.46 A18-49 Live Rating), which led into the fifth season opener of Primetime: What Would You Do? (1.51) at 9pm. Though the programs declined 13% and 3%, respectively, with A18-49 from their previous season debuts, the network's 10pm airing of 20/20 (1.66) improved 13% from a week ago and was the highest-rated telecast of the evening.

Dropping to second place this week, Univision's lineup of Familia Con Suerte (1.43), Que No Podia Amar (1.64) and Rosa De Guadalupe (1.11) beat NBC's Friday night slate of original programming, as Chuck (0.85), Grimm (1.37) and Dateline (1.27) all reported a larger A18-49 audience than last week's episodes.

Repeats filled CBS' schedule this past Friday, though the combination of A Gifted Man (0.94), CSI: NY (1.07) and Blue Bloods (1.22) still drew greater A18-49 viewership than FOX's original airings of Kitchen Nightmares (1.26) and Fringe (0.82), the latter of which increased 14% from a week ago.

Shifting to the cable landscape, a new episode of Gold Rush (1.38) and season 2 finale of Flying Wild Alaska (0.70) provided Discovery with the largest A18-49 cable audience, while ESPN's regular season NBA double-header (LA Lakers vs. Orlando Magic & Minnesota Timberwolves vs. LA Clippers) landed second with A18-49 cable viewers.

Similar to CBS, The CW also featured encores Friday night, though repeats of Remodeled (0.26) and Supernatural (0.36) didn't fare as well with A18-49, as the network significantly trailed its broadcast competition.

Source: Nielsen, based on Live data