The Breakdown: ABC Friday in 2017-18 (Once Upon a Time, Agents of SHIELD, 20/20 and more!)

It's time for a journey through the ABC Friday schedule in 2017-18...

Spotted Ratings, Friday 5/18/18

FINALS UPDATE: 20/20 (0.4), Blindspot (0.5), Harry and Meghan: A Love Story (0.2) and Life Sentence (0.1) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• On the last Friday of the season, ABC's Once Upon a Time (0.5) couldn't even manage a one-tenth uptick for its series finale. Agents of SHIELD was also steady at 0.5.

• The Hawaii Five-0 (0.7) season finale was back down to tie its low from two weeks ago, leading out of another 0.6 from Celebrity Undercover Boss. But NBC was on the upswing with Blindspot (0.6) and Dateline (0.8), as was Fox with the two-hour finale of MasterChef Junior (0.7/0.9).

• The CW (which looks like it may be pending a preemption) was the latest to offer a royal wedding special (0.3), while Life Sentence hopes to hold onto a preliminary 0.2.

Spotted Ratings, Friday 5/11/18

FINALS UPDATE: Blue Bloods (0.9) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• It was an uptick night for CBS dramas Hawaii Five-0 (0.8) and Blue Bloods (0.8), even though they got little help from the return of Undercover Boss in celebrity form (0.6). This was below everything the Boss did in its late-season Friday run last year (0.8/0.7/0.9/0.8).

• Everything on ABC (0.5/0.5/0.5) was also up a notch, but NBC's Blindspot (0.5) and Dateline (0.6/0.7) along with the CW dramas (0.1/0.1) were closer to even. Fox was close to its usual MasterChef Junior levels with a two-hour Meghan Markle special (0.6/0.7).

Spotted Ratings, Friday 5/4/18

FINALS UPDATE: MasterChef Junior (0.7) adjusted up while Dynasty (0.1) and Life Sentence (0.1) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• On season finale night for MacGyver (0.6), it was a terrible night for all three of the CBS dramas. Mac hit its first ever 0.6 just a week after its first ever 0.7; Hawaii Five-0 fell to 0.7 after never getting below 0.9 all season; and Blue Bloods (0.7) found a new series low as well.

• Fox's MasterChef Junior (0.6/0.7) was also on the downswing in its return from an NFL Draft preemption last week, and ABC's Once Upon a Time (0.4) gave back last week's uptick while NBC was even with Blindspot (0.5) and Dateline (0.7). The only network that appears to have upward momentum is the CW (0.2/0.2), but it looks like there's a preemption here as Life Sentence would be up by over 100% in total viewers.
  

Spotted Ratings, Friday 4/27/18

WHAT MATTERS:

• Night two of NFL Draft coverage on Fox (0.6/0.6/0.5) was actually a little worse than the usual MasterChef Junior rating. It was behind the CBS dramas (0.7/0.9/0.8) and about on par with NBC's Blindspot (0.5) / Dateline (0.6/0.7) in the nightly race.

• On ABC, Agents of SHIELD (0.4) mercifully did not get any lower on Avengers premiere weekend, and Once Upon a Time (0.5) actually edged up.

• The CW's Life Sentence made its move to Friday with a familiar 0.1, and its preliminary total viewership (495,000) was actually above the last couple Wednesday episodes. Dynasty eked out a 0.2 at 8/7c.

Spotted Ratings, Friday 4/20/18

FINALS UPDATE: Dynasty (0.1) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Table will be posted on Sunday.

Spotted Ratings, Friday 4/13/18

FINALS UPDATE: Agents of SHIELD (0.5) adjusted up while Taken (0.4) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• The big four bumped their 9:00 Eastern/8:00 Central programming forward by approximately 15 minutes due to a live presidential address, so the preliminary averages for everything in the last two hours will be a bit scrambled.

• This interruption came on the first night that Fox's MasterChef Junior (0.7/0.7) went to originals in both hours, and it was down a tenth from last week. ABC (0.4/0.4/0.4) also seemed to take a hit on this night, while CBS (0.8/0.9/0.8) and NBC (0.5/0.6/0.7) looked relatively steady.

Spotted Ratings, Friday 4/6/18

FINALS UPDATE: Agents of SHIELD (0.6) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• NBC's Taken (0.4) began a two-week stop in the 8/7c hour with Blindspot on hiatus. It did bounce back a touch from last week's first-ever 0.3, but was still below anything Blindspot has done there this season. This allowed Dateline (0.7) to expand back to two hours, which was a positive for the network's ratings.

• CBS' Hawaii Five-0 (0.9) and Blue Bloods (0.8) each shed a tenth, ABC's Once Upon a Time (0.5) and Agents of SHIELD (0.5) were even, and Jane the Virgin returned from a week off with a 0.2 on the CW.

Spotted Ratings, Friday 3/30/18

FINALS UPDATE: Blindspot (0.6) adjusted up while Dynasty (0.2) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• CBS Friday returned after March Madness with a strong night for Hawaii Five-0 (1.0), back into the ones for the first time in almost two months. Surrounding it, MacGyver (0.8) inched down and Blue Bloods (0.9) was even.

• On ABC, Once Upon a Time (0.5) picked up a notch but 20/20 (0.4) lost one at 10/9c. A tough week for NBC continued with Blindspot (0.5) and Taken (0.3) somehow getting even lower. Fox's MasterChef Junior (0.8) was steady.

• And the CW's Dynasty (0.3) will be looking to pull off the elusive +200% growth in rounded numbers. (I'm thinking there may be a preemption involved here, but we'll see!)

Spotted Ratings, Friday 3/23/18

FINALS UPDATE: NCAA Basketball (2.4) adjusted up while NCAA Basketball (1.4) and Dynasty (0.1) adjusted down.

Spotted Ratings, Friday 3/16/18

FINALS UPDATE: NCAA Basketball (1.1) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• CBS dominated Friday with March Madness (1.2/1.2/1.1), while NBC got a little stronger week-to-week with Taken (0.5) and the return of Dateline (0.6) at 10/9c. ABC (0.5/0.5/0.6) and MasterChef Junior (0.9) matched last week.

• On the CW, after nine weeks falling somewhere between 0.15 and 0.20, Dynasty finally fell to the network's first rounded 0.1 for an original series this season. Jane the Virgin stayed at 0.2.

Spotted Ratings, Friday 3/9/18

FINALS UPDATE: Agents of SHIELD (0.5), Blue Bloods (0.8), Taken (0.4) and Confronting Putin (0.4) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• In the Friday prelims, it was an up night for ABC's Once Upon a Time (0.5), Agents of SHIELD (0.6) and 20/20 (0.6), as well as MacGyver (0.9) and Blue Bloods (1.0) on CBS.

• NBC's Blindspot (0.6) was down a notch, while there was little interest for another Megyn Kelly interview with Vladimir Putin (0.5) at 10/9c. Fox's MasterChef Junior (0.9) matched last week's premiere. Numbers may be subject to adjustment due to college basketball preemptions (with the big North Carolina ones being on CBS and NBC).

• The CW's low-rated newbie Dynasty made the move to Friday and held onto its usual 0.2.

Spotted Ratings, Friday 3/2/18

WHAT MATTERS:

• On the first Friday after the Olympics, the only hour to crack a 1.0 was the first half of the two-hour MasterChef Junior premiere (1.0/0.9). This was down from last year's 1.3 premiere on a Thursday, but basically the same Plus as the show's last Friday season premiere (a 1.3 in fall 2015).

• It was a bitter return for ABC's Once Upon a Time (0.4), which got the axe since last we saw it. It responded by opening its final spring run on a new series low, and it also brought Agents of SHIELD (0.5) and 20/20 (0.5) down with it.

• NBC's Blindspot (0.7) and Taken (0.5) were actually both up from their last pre-Olympics episodes, while Dateline (0.6) was down a notch.

• And CBS had some slippage in the first two hours with MacGyver (0.8) and Hawaii Five-0 (0.9) but was steady at 10/9c with Blue Bloods (0.9). With an iZombie repeat (0.2) for a lead-in, Jane the Virgin fell to 0.2 on the CW.

Spotted Ratings, Friday 12/15/17

FINALS UPDATE: Hawaii Five-0 (0.9) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• After last week's surge, MacGyver (0.8) and a double-pump of Hawaii Five-0 (1.0/0.9) were back down in their fall finales.

• They stayed just barely ahead of NBC's steady Blindspot (0.7) and Dateline (0.9), and everything on ABC (0.5/0.5/0.5) and Fox (0.8/0.4) also matched last week. The CW went with a Hollywood Christmas Parade special (0.3).

Spotted Ratings, Friday 12/8/17

FINALS UPDATE: Blue Bloods (0.9) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• ABC's Once Upon a Time (0.5) and Agents of SHIELD (0.5) were finally together on the same night, with the latter dropping two tenths after last week's OK premiere.

• Everything else on broadcast was original as well, and it was a big bounce-back night for CBS with MacGyver (0.9), Hawaii Five-0 (1.1) and Blue Bloods (1.0) all on the rise. Fox was up as well, with Hell's Kitchen (0.8) and The Exorcist (0.4) inching off of last week's lows. And the CW's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (0.2) and Jane the Virgin (0.3) made a one-off return to the scene after taking the last couple Fridays off.

Spotted Ratings, Friday 11/17/17

WHAT MATTERS:

• Once Upon a Time aired two original hours, with its usual 0.5 at 8/7c and its first 0.4 at 9/8c, as the network prepares to launch Agents of SHIELD after Thanksgiving. However, 20/20 (0.7) did better than usual at 10/9c. NBC's Blindspot (0.6) was also down to a new low.
  

• CBS gave back a bit of its surge from a week ago, with Hawaii Five-0 (1.0) and Blue Bloods (0.9) each down a notch while MacGyver held onto the 0.9.

Spotted Ratings, Friday 11/10/17

WHAT MATTERS:

• The CBS Friday lineup flexed a little muscle, as MacGyver (0.9), Hawaii Five-0 (1.1) and Blue Bloods (1.0) were all on the upswing to high-end results.

• Blindspot remained the best of the rest in the scripted world, posting a 0.7 for the third straight week. Meanwhile, the finale of Inhumans remained at 0.5, leading out of another 0.5 from Once Upon a Time. The Exorcist (0.4) couldn't hold onto last week's uptick and was back to its usual rating. And Jane the Virgin continued to oscillate around the 0.250 mark, back up to a 0.3 in the rounded numbers this week.

Spotted Ratings, Friday 11/3/17

WHAT MATTERS:

• All the Friday originals were back in place, and without a whole lot of movement. NBC showed some promise as Blindspot (0.7) matched last week's premiere and Dateline (1.0) was up, tying its season high and topping the night outright.

• Dateline's 1.0 was on top because Hawaii Five-0 (0.9) inched down from its usual level. Back at 8/7c, MacGyver (0.8) was also down a notch, while Blue Bloods hung at 0.9.

• On Fox, The Exorcist was back up to 0.5 for the first time since premiere week, leading out of a steady Hell's Kitchen (0.8).

• And it was status quo on ABC, with 0.5's across the board for Once Upon a Time, Inhumans and 20/20. The CW's Jane the Virgin couldn't hang onto last week's 0.3 and re-joined Crazy Ex-Girlfriend at 0.2.

Renewology: November Sweeps Bubble Watch (Drama Edition)

Let's talk about some bubble shows! Comedies coming tomorrow.

Spotted Ratings, Friday 10/27/17

FINALS UPDATE: MacGyver (0.9), World Series (3.9) and Jane the Virgin (0.3) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• On the fifth Friday of the season, NBC's Blindspot (0.7) finally showed up in the 8:00 hour. It was a new series low for Blindspot, and tied Grimm's lowest rating in the hour last season. But since it was a big improvement on Law and Order True Crime repeats, it helped bump Dateline (0.8/0.9) back up.

• Fox dominated with Game 3 of the World Series (3.3/3.5/3.3), which fell squarely in the middle of the 3.0 and 3.9 prelims from the first two games.

• On CBS, Hawaii Five-0 had the night off as a Michael Jackson Halloween special (1.1) aired to nice ratings at 8/7c. MacGyver (0.8) was bumped to 9/8c and led into Blue Bloods (0.9), and both shows matched last week.

• And ABC's Inhumans (0.5) saw a one-tenth rebound after last week's brutal drop, but Once Upon a Time (0.5) did not.