‘Blue Bloods’ Scores Major Ratings Win With Friday Season Premiere

Audiences might have more choices than ever before on what to watch each night, but Blue Bloods viewers are still tuning in to watch the show live. The long-running police drama returned for its 12th season on Friday and continues to be the most-watched show on the night, despite airing at 10 p.m. ET. Blue Bloods, starring Tom Selleck, had almost triple the total audience that Fox’s Friday Night SmackDown had.

CBS’ Friday night line-up started with S.W.A.T., which replaced the canceled MacGyver as the Friday opener. S.W.A.T. drew 4.7 million viewers, its biggest audience since the May 2020 Season 3 finale and an 82% jump over its previous season premiere, reports TVLine. Magnum P.I. earned 5 million viewers to start its season. Blue Bloods had a hair under 6 million viewers, the biggest audience of the night. All three shows earned a 0.4 rating in the key 18-49 demographic.

Fox’s Friday Night SmackDown had just 2.1 million viewers, but its 0.6 rating in the key demographic was the best of the night. ABC aired The Most Magical Story on Earth, a Whoopi Goldberg-hosted special celebrating the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World, which had 3.8 million viewers and a 0.5 rating. Over on The CW, the Dynasty season finale barely registered, with just 290,000 viewers and a 0.0 rating. It’s worth noting that these numbers are Live+Same Day data from Nielsen, and many viewers today watch shows on DVR or streaming services. Even Blue Bloods likely has more viewers, since episodes are posted on Paramount+ the day after they air.

The Blue Bloods Season 12 premiere was titled “Hate is Hate.” The series stars Selleck as Commissioner Frank Reagan, Donnie Wahlberg as Det. Danny Reagan, Bridget Moynahan as A.D.A. Erin Regan, Will Estes as Sgt. Jamie Reagan, Vanessa Ray as Officer Eddie Janko, and Marisa Ramirez as Det. Maria Baez. The premiere also featured guest appearances from Dylan Walsh, who plays Mayor Peter Chase, and Callie Thorne, who plays medium Maggie Gibson.

New episodes air Fridays at 10 p.m. ET. The next new episode is “Times Like These,” in which Frank’s ongoing feud with Chase over policing intensifies after Frank makes a viral public arrest. Danny and Baez also investigate a case of gang violence while Jaimie begins to suspect Eddie is lying about her evening activities. Lastly, Anthony Abetamarco (Steven Schirripa) asks the Reagans to help him surprise Erin.