In the battle of Friday night newsmagazines, Dateline NBC was able to hold off ABC’s 20/20 to complete Q2 2020 as the No. 1 Friday night newsmagazine. This, according to the most current data from Nielsen.
The original episodes of Dateline airing in Q2 averaged 5.37 million total viewers, which is +407,000 (+8%) more than 20/20. The episodes averaged 1.2 million adults 25-54, (+175,000 / +17%), more than 20/20, and 1.61 million viewers in the prime-time entertainment demo of adults 25-54 (+159,000 /+11%), more than 20/20.
This marks Dateline’s 4th consecutive 2nd quarter win over 20/20.
It’s worth noting that were only 5 Dateline originals in Q2, and 3 originals of 20/20. There were 8 Dateline specials/repeats in Q2, and 10 specials/repeats of 20/20. We will show the ratings for those broadcasts below.
Despite its second place finish, 20/20 came on strong at the end of the quarter, beating Dateline in the final 5 Friday telecasts of the quarter in Total Viewers and Adults 25-54 and 4 of the final 5 in Adults 18-49.
Both programs were up year-over-year.
Excluding repeats and specials, the averages for Q2 2020 (Most Current Nielsen Data):
- Total Viewers: NBC: 5,366,000 / ABC: 4,959,000
- A25-54 viewers: NBC: 1,607,000 / ABC: 1,448,000
- A18-49 viewers: NBC: 1,201,000 / ABC: 1,026,000
If one were to include repeats and specials, Dateline averages 4.44 million total viewers, +507,000 (+13%) more than 20/20, and 1.3 million adults 25-54, (+178,000 / +16%), to go with 970,000 viewers in the prime-time entertainment demo of adults 25-54 (+169,000 / +21%) in the second quarter.
Including repeats and specials, the averages for Q2 2020 (Most Current Nielsen Data):
- Total Viewers: NBC: 4,442,000 / ABC: 3,935,000
- A25-54 viewers: NBC: 1,300,000 / ABC: 1,122,000
- A18-49 viewers: NBC: 970,000 / ABC: 801,000
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49. Most Current – Q2 ’20: 3/30/2020-6/28/2020