Friday Ratings: ‘Magnum P.I.’ Season Finale Tops The Night, With Three-Way Tie For Networks

The season finale of Magnum P.I. on CBS beat ABC’s Shark Tank for top honors in the Friday early ratings. Although both sported an 0.7, Magnum P.I. had a larger P2+ audience, topping out at 6685 to Shark Tank’s 4557.

Magnum P.I. aired back-to-back episodes for its season finale (it was recently renewed for a third season). Guest appearances from Hawaii Five-0’s Ian Anthony Dale and Kimee Bamilero, Corbin Bernsen, and the MMA’s Cowboy Cerrone helped goose interest in the 9 PM and 10 PM slots.

Earlier, the season finale for MacGyver came in with a solid 0.6. The show, which had its season truncated by the pandemic, which halted production, will be back for a fifth season.

In the overall network race, it was a three-way tie between NBC, CBS and ABC.

At NBC, The Blacklist came in at an 0.5, holding steady over last week’s numbers, with newsmag Dateline clocking in at an 0.6, tied for the top in its two-hour time slot. The show profiled the takedown of polygamist Warren Jeffs.

As mentioned, ABC saw Shark Tank tap an 0.7, while 20/20 was at 0.5 with its spotlight on the alleged murderer of  Chicago Bears star’s girlfriend, who is now serving a double life sentence.

Fox saw the WWE Friday Night SmackDown jump off with an 0.5.

Finally, The CW had a special Masters of Illusion: Impossible Escapes at an 0.1, while the Dynasty season three finale came in at an 0.1.