Spotted Ratings, Thursday 10/30/14

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: Factoring out NFL pre-emptions took CBS' Thursday from neutral to decidedly negative. The winners in the prelims, Mom (2.5) and Two and a Half Men (2.4), moved into a much more "meh" territory, while The McCarthys (1.7) now looks extremely bad and Elementary (1.2) is an almost unbelievably abject disaster.
• On the plus side, Scandal (3.1) rose to put it on the week-to-week upside, while The Vampire Diaries (0.8) upticked to avoid its first 0.7 of the season.

• CBS' return to Thursday entertainment programming was very much a mixed bag. They'll definitely take the series high 2.7 start for Mom at 8:30, though it looks a little better than a 2.7 would seem on the surface because its lead-in The Big Bang Theory (4.1) took a hit in its return from Monday. It will probably decrease in finals but right now it's about two-thirds retention, which is wayyy better than The Millers. Two and a Half Men (2.7) was definitely a win, hitting its highest rating since last season's premiere and fully retaining Mom. But things got very troublesome starting at 9:30; The McCarthys (1.9) barely managed 70% retention on premiere night, and Elementary (1.4) could only get back to the series low at which it ended last season.

• ABC was only at two-thirds strength for TGIT #6, but Scandal (3.0) held up fabulously even with a Peanuts special (1.7) filling in well below Grey's Anatomy numbers at 8/7c. However, How to Get Away with Murder (2.7) took a bit of a hit at 10/9c.

• With a second reasonably-rated network back in the entertainment game, there were some major ratings stinkers on the other networks. Bones (1.3) went well below its recent deliveries at 8/7c, while NBC hit lows anew with The Biggest Loser (1.1), Bad Judge (0.9), the now on death watch A to Z (0.7) and Parenthood (1.1). The Vampire Diaries (0.7) also had a bad night for the CW.

2014-15 Best Case/Worst Case Show Index

Best Case/Worst Case is this site's critically-acclaimed season preview. Here's a list of every single show previewed over the course of the 2014-15 season.

First Two Weeks, The 2014-15 Lineups

Here are my yearly lineups of each new scripted show's premiere rating and its week two drop, plus a link to each First Two Weeks post. This is not to be confused with the new "First Two Weeks" game standings, which probably won't come out till around upfronts time when all renew/cancel decisions are official.

The Question, Thursday 10/30/14: Will Mom Be the Mother of All Big Bang Lead-outs?

Yes, CBS has a series premiere on the opening Thursday for its entertainment lineup, but I think the more intriguing piece of Question fodder is the show CBS is actually bothering to put directly after its biggest series. Sophomore comedy Mom had a respectable but mostly unassuming first season airing after modest lead-ins 2 Broke Girls and Mike and Molly. Tonight, it's back with a lead-in that should be at least 50% higher than anything it ever had last season. The pairing seemed to have some promise in summer repeats, but those passive viewing situations can exaggerate compatibility. Will Mom be the mother of all Big Bang lead-outs? That's The Question for Thursday, October 30, 2014.

Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 10/29/14

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: Game 7 of the World Series ended up at 6.6, up an incredible 89% from Game 6. This helped to somewhat salvage an otherwise horribly-rated Series, putting its viewership average just ahead of the previous low series average from 2012. (Although the 2012 Series was just four games...)
• The CW survived its Chicago pre-emption almost unscathed, with Arrow holding an impressive 1.0 and The 100 (0.5) down just a tenth to tie last week's premiere. The Goldbergs (2.2) and Modern Family (3.5) each adjusted up, making an even The Middle (1.8) look worse by comparison. And the 10/9c tie was decisively broken as Stalker (1.6) inched up and Nashville (1.4) down.

• TV's biggest event on Wednesday was Game 7 of the World Series, which combined a very compelling game with the usual Game 7 heat to take an enormous spike over the generally bad numbers for the rest of the series. Household overnights were up 59% from Game 6, and the demo spike looks likely to be even bigger. (The preliminary was a 5.7 vs. Tuesday's preliminary 3.0.) More after finals.

• The Game 7 probably helped to limit what would've normally been some Halloween episode heat, especially on ABC. The Middle (1.8) and The Goldbergs (2.1) were down slightly in the 8/7c hour, Modern Family (3.4) was even, and Black-ish (2.7) and Nashville (1.5) were up slightly. CBS also took a hit with Criminal Minds (2.3) and Stalker (1.5). Apparently there were pre-emptions for the CW's Arrow (1.0) and The 100 (0.6), so we'll see how those look after finals.

War of 18-49 Update, Wipeout (Summer 2014)

Let's take a look at the Summer 2014 season (the seventh overall) of Wipeout on ABC.

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 10/28/14

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: CBS got some more help for NCIS (2.6) and Person of Interest (1.7), each now up two tenths from last week. The Flash (1.4) cut its week-to-week drop to 0.1, but Agents of SHIELD (1.7) didn't get its usual finals uptick. On NBC, The Voice (2.9) was up but Marry Me (1.5) lost another precious tenth.
• The World Series got a 3.5, a series high but a simply miserable number for a Game 6 historically speaking. (Recent Game 6's, even one that didn't end the series like in 2011, took well over a point jump from Game 5. This was up 0.2...)

• ABC pre-empted its low-rated comedy hour in favor of special The Great Halloween Fright Fight (1.1), presumably a spin-off of its The Great Christmas Light Fight series. It was an improvement on the usual comedy ratings, especially at 8:30 vs. Manhattan Love Story. And that may have helped Agents of SHIELD (1.7), which bounced back by a tick and may even be up two after finals. Forever (1.1) was down a tenth.

• NBC had a brutal Tuesday as The Voice (2.8) took a half-point drop at 8/7c. That helped further derail Marry Me (1.6), About a Boy (1.2) and even Chicago Fire (1.7), all two tenths behind last week.

• On a second World Series Tuesday, the CW had a third straight two-tenth drop for The Flash (1.3) and a third straight one-tenth drop for Supernatural (0.8). CBS was steady as NCIS (2.5) increased for the first time all season and Person of Interest (1.6) also inched up.

• As for Fox, its 6th game of the World Series was a massive blowout and is thus only barely ahead of the Tuesday rating a week ago in prelims. But Fox at least got the winner they wanted; namely, the team down 3-2 survived, setting up a decisive Game 7 and a likely significant spike tonight.

War of 18-49 Update, Royal Pains (Summer 2014)

Let's take a look at the Summer 2014 season (the sixth overall) of Royal Pains on USA.

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 10/26/14

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: Once Upon a Time (2.4) and The Good Wife (1.5) each upticked, meaning both of TGW's best numbers this year came at a 10/9c start time. The Walking Dead (7.0) remained slightly ahead of last fall's pace.
• The World Series got a 3.3, down 20% from last year's 4.1 for Game 5 and a steeper 28% from the Sunday game (Game 4) last year. Another weak result for the Series, but it is worth noting that Fox had the late NFL game on this night last year. NBC's Sunday Night Football (7.1) had one of its lowest results of the season but was still 13% above the 6.3 on World Series Sunday last year.

• On a sports-filled Sunday, the one network without any sports took a big hit. ABC's Once Upon a Time (2.3), Resurrection (1.2) and Revenge (1.1) all took further double-digit drops. This three-hour period (and Once itself), once such a massive explosion for ABC, was only barely on the year-to-year upside on this night. But if you're looking for a reason for these shows to rebound, maybe the lead-in at 7/6c had something to do with it. A Star Wars Rebels special (0.6) was completely invisible, only doing about half of the usual America's Funniest Home Videos numbers.

• Elsewhere, this was the one game of the World Series that had to deal with primetime NFL competition, though a considerable portion of the country had regional NFL leading in on Fox. And NBC's NFL game appears to be down a fair amount week-to-week. More on all this after finals.

• The CBS lineup started after NFL overrun at right around 8/7c (pre-empting CSI). In the preliminaries, Madam Secretary (1.5) and The Good Wife (1.4) were at typical levels.

Spotted Ratings, Saturday 10/25/14

WHAT MATTERS:

• Game 4 of the World Series (2.6) was down almost half from last year's Game 4 (4.6), but that's of course largely because of the move from Sunday to Saturday. It's fairer to compare with last year's Game 3 on Saturday (3.3), and it was still down about 20% there.

• ABC's football game (1.4) picked up major steam after primetime with a close finish and the end of the World Series game. Despite a 1.4 average for the game, no primetime half-hour averaged higher than 1.3!

Spotted Ratings, Friday 10/24/14

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: The World Series averaged a 3.1, two tenths behind Game 3 on a Saturday last year. Grimm (1.4) adjusted down a tenth.

• By NBC's usual late October premiere Friday standards, it was a pretty modest night. Grimm (1.5) returned down three tenths year-to-year and Constantine (1.4) dropped another tenth from there (putting it four tenths behind last year's Dracula premiere). Without knowing what the exact standard will be for Constantine, I would say this was not that horrible. But it's clear that it must hold up a lot better in the post-premiere weeks than Dracula did. That might be possible, since the World Series was in play on this evening, but week two will have to deal with low-viewed Halloween night.

• The double-whammy of NBC's premieres plus the World Series produced some ugly results on the other networks. ABC's comedy duo of Last Man Standing (1.1) and Cristela (1.0) each sunk two tenths, while The Amazing Race (1.0) gave back all of last week's surge and then some more. Hawaii Five-0 (1.1) joined them at a new low.

• The strongest results actually came against the Constantine premiere and the later portion of the game at 10/9c; Blue Bloods (1.3) was up a tenth despite the struggles earlier in the CBS evening, while 20/20 (1.5) had a major surge in its first week without competition from Dateline.

SpotVault - Constantine (NBC) - 2014-15 Ratings

Constantine

Fridays, 10/9c, NBC

SpotVault - Grimm (NBC) - 2014-15 Ratings

Grimm

Fridays, 9/8c, NBC

SpotVault - 2 Broke Girls (CBS) - 2014-15 Ratings

2 Broke Girls

Mondays, 8/7c, CBS

SpotVault - The 100 (CW) - 2014-15 Ratings

The 100

Wednesdays, 9/8c, CW

SpotVault - American Dad! (TBS) - 2014-15 Ratings

American Dad!

Mondays, 9/8c, TBS

SpotVault - Bob's Burgers (Fox) - 2014-15 Ratings

Bob's Burgers

Sundays, 7:30/6:30c and Sunday, 9:30/8:30c, Fox

SpotVault - America's Funniest Home Videos (ABC) - 2014-15 Ratings

America's Funniest Home Videos

Sundays, 7/6c, ABC

SpotVault - The World Series (Fox) - 2014 Ratings

The World Series on Fox

SpotVault - The World Series (Fox) - 2013 Ratings

The World Series on Fox

First Two Weeks, Marry Me

WEEK ONE 
Rating: 2.3
Lead-in: The Voice (3.4 overall, 3.7 at 8:30)
Competition: Agents of SHIELD (1.7 overall, 1.7 at 9:00), NCIS: New Orleans (2.2 overall, 2.3 at 9:00), New Girl (1.2), Supernatural (1.0 overall, 1.0 at 9:00).

Spotted Ratings, Monday 10/27/14

WHAT MATTERS:

• CABLE/FINALS UPDATE: Monday Night Football (6.9) had a season high by a wide margin, and it also edged the ratings high from 2012 (6.8) and 2013 (6.6). The last game to go higher was on 9/26/11 (7.2).
• In broadcast land, ABC took a big hit after the Dallas pre-emption came out, putting Castle (1.6) at up by just a tenth week-to-week. CBS saw The Millers (1.7) drop to a more as-expected level, while Scorpion (2.3) went up to look like a bigger win (down just a tenth from last week). The Voice (3.7) adjusted up 0.1 and The Blacklist (2.5) down 0.1.

• CBS' first The Big Bang Theory-less Monday was naturally lower, but overall they will probably be pretty happy with it. 2 Broke Girls (2.4) was just 14% below last year's premiere and beat all of its results from last spring after it lost the How I Met Your Mother lead-in. We'll see in future weeks if it was inflated by the Kim Kardashian guest spot, but it didn't drop too badly after Lindsay Lohan's appearance last spring. And The Millers (1.8), while still a clear weak link, certainly could've done worse than a three-tenth drop considering it had nearly double the lead-in last week. Scorpion (2.2) also fell but remained very much on the map on its first night without the benefit of Big Bang viewers.

• The shows that had off nights last week - The Voice (3.6), The Blacklist (2.6) and Castle (1.9) - all bounced back by multiple tenths in the prelims. ABC is likely to drop in finals due to a Monday Night Football pre-emption, but it would take a massive drop for Castle not to be ahead of last week's ugly 1.5.

• Fox inched down again with Gotham (2.2) and Sleepy Hollow (1.6), and the CW's Jane the Virgin (0.4) lost another tenth in week three.

• All of this came against a massive rating for the Cowboys game on Monday Night Football. The household overnights were the highest for MNF since 2010. More after finals.

War of 18-49 Update, MasterChef (Summer 2014)

Let's take a look at the summer 2014 season (the fifth overall) of MasterChef on Fox.

First Two Weeks, Jane the Virgin

WEEK ONE 
Rating: 0.58
Lead-in: The Originals (0.66)
Competition: Dancing with the Stars (2.0 overall, 2.0/2.1 in 9:00 hour), Scorpion (2.4), The Voice (4.0 overall, 4.1/4.4 in 9:00 hour), Sleepy Hollow (1.7).

Late Fall 2014 Best Case/Worst Case: 2 Broke Girls, The McCarthys, State of Affairs and more!

We're back for another round of Best Case/Worst Case, hitting the currently scheduled "late fall" premieres! This should probably go down as the "in pencil" edition, since CBS' late-season comedy scheduling is such an unknown. But for these purposes, we're only rolling with the scheduling that CBS has currently released (which includes The Millers and Mom flipping back in January).

---

		2 Broke Girls
		Premieres October 27
		y2y	Label	True	Sitch	2013-14 Slot
2.53		-25%	hit	2.38	+6%	M 9:00, M 8:30, M 8:00
Timeslot Occupants		How I Met Your Mother		2 Broke Girls
Avg	Orig Avg
2.65	3.10	3.39	3.38	2.18	2.53

Best Case: 2 Broke Girls didn't collapse nearly as hard as it could have when it lost its How I Met Your Mother lead-in late last spring. If it could do low-2's in that spot, it can surely clear that bar (maybe and then some) in more favorable parts of the year. It's about even in Plus at 2.28.

Worst Case: It dropped 25% last year with a better lead-in from HIMYM! This show is just plain hemorrhaging. It's headed for the same kind of meltdown that Two and a Half Men had away from Big Bang last year. Down a full point (or 39%) to 1.53.

Likeliest: I will admit that I was a bit pleasantly surprised by 2BG's late-season deliveries. Unfortunately, with the way this show has been trending, all that probably really means is that 2BG can get back to those low-2's when the circumstances are most favorable. Those will mix in with a pretty steady diet of high-1's for a 1.89 average, down another 25%.

---

		The Millers
		Premiered October 20
		y2y	Label	True	Sitch	2013-14 Slot
2.63			hit	2.20	+19%	Thursday 8:30
Timeslot Occupants		We Are Men		2 Broke Girls		Friends with Better Lives
Avg	Orig Avg
2.23	2.51	1.90	1.84	2.62	2.31	1.70	1.81

Best Case: The only real spin you can put on this show is that we still don't actually have much hard data about what will happen without a Big Bang lead-in. It's possible it will hold up nearly as well as 2 Broke Girls did without HIMYM late last season, and that its BBT retention looks far worse than it really is due to the massive same-day DVRing of Big Bang. That episode it aired after a Big Bang repeat last fall really didn't do that badly considering it was also Halloween. And it might get some momentum from returning to Thursday in January, when the CBS sitcoms usually peak. It's close to even in Plus at 2.35.

Worst Case: This is a fraud of the Go On variety, if not even moreso. It's already well below 50% retention of Big Bang originals, which suggests it will be remarkably weak by CBS sitcom standards when it doesn't get those Big Bang originals. 1.55.

Likeliest: All of these numbers, including the official Likeliest (1.93) were published before The Millers premiered last week and assumed CBS would go with its rather silly current plan of moving The Millers back to Thursday in January. I figured half the season after Big Bang originals, a fourth after Big Bang repeats and a fourth after 2 Broke Girls. I might re-do it (or just not count it) if that plan changes substantially.

But anyway, I thought the show would average about a 2.1-2.2 after Big Bang originals and a 1.7 for the other eps. I haven't given up completely, but that seems pretty optimistic now, as I was expecting about a 2.4 for its return last Monday and it got a 2.1. So I'd probably adjust it down 10%ish if I could.

---

		Mom
		Premieres October 30
		y2y	Label	True	Sitch	2013-14 Slot
2.09			solid	1.99	+5%	Monday 9:30
Timeslot Occupants		The Millers
Avg	Orig Avg
2.50	2.78	2.63	2.20

Note: Out of laziness/inertia, and because I expect I will have to redo/not count these numbers anyway, I will stick with my preseason pick for Mom. It's probably a bit optimistic now since it's premiering later on the calendar, but it might get one or two more eps than I was expecting after BBT even if CBS sticks to the current plan. So I don't think the situation is that different and, again, it's so subject to change that it's not really worth overthinking.

---

		Two and a Half Men
		Premieres October 30
		y2y	Label	True	Sitch	2013-14 Slot
2.27		-40%	solid	2.24	+2%	Thu 9:30, Thu 9:00
Timeslot Occupants		The Crazy Ones		Two and a Half Men
Avg	Orig Avg
2.07	2.29	2.24	1.97	2.39	2.46

Best Case: Based on what Men did after its return to 9/8c in the spring, there's really no denying that the show was a serious victim of scheduling for the first two thirds of the season. It's back in the 9/8c saddle now, and there's a real chance Mom is a better lead-in than what Men had last year. And finally, it could benefit from the final season announcement. Dare I dream Charlie Sheen re-appears down the stretch run? Up double digits to a 2.65.

Worst Case: Barring something major like the return of Sheen, people won't really care how this kind of show comes to an end. CBS follows through on returning The Millers to Thursday, where it's a lot weaker than last season, and Men isn't strong enough to stem the general collapse of the night. Down over 20% to a 1.80.

Likeliest: As with all of the CBS comedies, there's some scheduling uncertainty here. We don't really know what will be at 8:30 over the long term. But it's hard to imagine almost any scenario in which a final season of Two and a Half Men gets even more of a shaft than the 9:30 after The Crazy Ones treatment last year. If it could break 2.5 deep into April last year, I think low-2's should be a reasonable expectation for most of the season, and it might go higher at the end. 2.27, dead even.

---

		The McCarthys (NEW!)
		Premieres October 30
Timeslot Occupants		Two and a Half Men		The Crazy Ones
Avg	Orig Avg
1.78	1.92	2.21	2.11	1.67	1.63

Best Case: Laurie Metcalf is pretty much a perfect fit on a CBS sitcom, and the network should have gotten this kind of role for her years ago. It's certainly not a flashy concept, but it's a much more logical fit into the lineup than The Crazy Ones ever was. Metcalf almost single-handedly makes this show a very solid retainer of the Two and a Half Men audience. 2.10.

Worst Case: Two years ago, CBS picked up a ton of dramas and ultimately only one comedy, and the one comedy (Partners) was a huge dud. Last year, it was a ton of comedies and very few dramas, and the dramas (Hostages/Intelligence/Reckless) bombed big. This year, there's yet another imbalance in favor of drama, which doesn't make me feel good about The McCarthys. And it kinda feels like another The Millers, except with a lesser-known cast. It's a big step down from even what CBS was getting from The Crazy Ones late last season. 1.40.

Likeliest: Beyond the comedy/drama imbalance, this show didn't even seem that high on CBS' comedy list until How I Met Your Dad blew up and The Odd Couple underwhelmed. And CBS won't even let it get a sniff at the post-Big Bang slot. It just feels like a "last resort" kind of show, so I don't really see it working. I expect it to settle at the same kind of sub-70% retention seen from shows like Partners, We Are Men and Bad Teacher. 1.61, and it will be the casualty whenever CBS makes its seemingly inevitable comedy scheduling audible.

---

		Elementary
		Premieres October 30
		y2y	Label	True	Sitch	2013-14 Slot
1.73		-23%	marginal	1.93	-10%	Thursday 10:00
Timeslot Occupants		Elementary
Avg	Orig Avg
1.59	1.74	1.73	1.93

Best Case: How to Get Away with Murder looks like fierce competition, but thanks to the late premiere, Elementary will only have to deal with it for half of the season at most. After Murder ends, this slot could really open up. Down 5% to 1.65, including even to up in the second half of the season.

Worst Case: Early in the year, it's facing a series that is somehow even stronger than Scandal was last year, plus the NFL. It also has a lead-in from The McCarthys that is actually a major step down from Two and a Half Men last year. Both of those aspects of the timeslot will probably improve when Murder ends and CBS shakes up its comedies, but they'll dig Elementary into a hole that it can't get out of. Down 30% to a paltry 1.20, and it's a painful rest of the road to syndication.

Likeliest: Despite the 23% drop last year, I thought the show did OK given the tough competition and bad lead-in. Sadly, those things are not getting any better for Elementary in season three, at least early on, and they may get worse. I could see the drops lessening in the second half of the season, but CBS is struggling at 10/9c and this will probably again be on the low end of CBS' 10/9c offerings. Down 19% to a 1.40.

---

		MasterChef Junior
		Premieres November 4
		y2y	Label	True	Sitch	2013-14 Slot
1.40			marginal	1.62	-14%	Friday 8:00
Timeslot Occupants		Utopia Tue
Avg	Orig Avg
0.81	0.83	0.88	0.96

Best Case: MasterChef is the stronger property compared to Hell's Kitchen right now. And this series' 1.40 average last season came on a Friday night and was one of the strongest Fox Friday series in recent history. It could do a little better on a higher-viewed evening. 1.55.

Worst Case: Fox is in meltdown mode. 'Nuff said. Hell's Kitchen is scraping out low-1's right now and another Ramsay series is just too much. 0.95.

Likeliest: One thing I didn't realize about this show last year is that it is labeled just "MasterChef" on program guides, meaning viewers with a DVR season pass for the mothership pick this one up. I'm just throwing that out there as some consolation for my huge underestimation of this series last year. Still, it's facing The Voice for a large portion of the season, so I don't think the upgrade in overall viewing will help much. I see it taking the same kind of upper teens drop that the Ramsay summer shows did, resulting in a 1.17 (still a big improvement on Utopia).

---

		State of Affairs (NEW!)
		Premieres November 17
Timeslot Occupants		The Blacklist
Avg	Orig Avg
2.88	2.88	2.82	2.55

Best Case: This is a solid piece of timeslot continuity by NBC: a show that should be right in The Blacklist viewers' wheelhouse. It may not have James Spader, but the surrounding show is actually better, and it basically picks up with at least the same ratings Blacklist would've gotten in the slot. 2.55.

Worst Case: It's kind of like The Blacklist, except that James Spader is pretty much the only reason why anyone likes that show. It will struggle to premiere at the level of a typical Blacklist episode and get completely derailed when NBC foolishly tries airing it after whatever middling reality show is at 9/8c in January. NBC comes up with something else to air after The Voice when it returns in February. 1.35.

Likeliest: This is yet another situation where the current scheduling plan doesn't make a lot of sense. Will NBC air this series in January? Will they put it on a significant hiatus after just a month following The Voice? No option seems that good. Anyway, I don't see this being another Blacklist, but I actually think it could be a season one Revolution-sized player with Revolution-style scheduling. Sadly, this is well worse than that. For these purposes, I'll say it airs in January. It premieres at roughly typical Blacklist numbers, drops some over the next month, hits mid-1's at best in January, and it can't get more than a high-1's audience back when The Voice returns. 1.85. Smash and Revolution got renewed, so this should too, but it may get the lower-priority treatment. If it is kept off the air completely during the Voice hiatus, I'd go a tenth higher, but that situation is also less than ideal.

The Question, Friday 10/24/14: Will Constantine Fire Up Friday Ratings?

For the last three years, NBC has launched its regular Friday lineup late in October. It's been a scheduling success story, tapping into the Halloween vibe at this time of the year. The biggest surprise of all was the first one, Grimm's launch to a 2.1 in 2011 (also against Game 7 of the World Series). But the network also got solid samplings for the one-off Mockingbird Lane busted pilot and for last year's co-production Dracula. In year four, all eyes will be on the new series Constantine, the latest cog in DC Comics' TV takeover. Since the production costs are heftier, this feels like a higher-stakes situation than either Mockingbird Lane or Dracula. Will Constantine fire up Friday ratings? That's The Question for Friday, October 24, 2014.

Spotted Ratings, Thursday 10/23/14

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: Thursday Night Football closed out its CBS run with its second-biggest number of the season (behind only the premiere). Nothing adjusted entertainment-wise, which Reign (0.5) is probably happy about.

• TGIT has settled in, more than doubling the next biggest entertainment option in each hour; Grey's Anatomy (2.5), Scandal (3.0) and How to Get Away with Murder (3.0) were all slightly up from last week.

• In the NBC/Fox battle for the leftovers, Bad Judge (1.0) finally took a significant drop from its premiere rating in week four, while Gracepoint (0.8) was even despite Bones (0.9) going into repeats. Reign is hoping for its first 0.5 of the season, but it also had a prelim 0.5 last week and later adjusted down.

• And CBS appears to have gotten a big Peyton Manning bump in its final Thursday Night Football. More after finals.

War of 18-49 Update, True Blood (Summer 2014)

Let's take a look at the summer 2014 season (the seventh and final overall) of True Blood on HBO.

First Two Weeks, Cristela

WEEK ONE 
Rating: 1.3
Lead-in: Last Man Standing (1.2)
Competition: The Amazing Race (1.1 overall, 1.1 at 8:30), A to Z (R) (0.5), Utopia (0.7 overall, 0.6 at 8:30), Whose Line Is It Anyway? (R) (0.5).

Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 10/22/14

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: The first three ABC comedies and Criminal Minds gained a tenth while Black-ish lost one. As in the prelims, nothing on broadcast moved by more than a tenth week-to-week. The World Series exactly matched Game 1's 3.4 and was just two tenths behind Game 2 a year ago.

• Sophomore CW drama The 100 (0.5) pretty much pulled a Reign in its return, coming back at a tie for its season one low. This one is arguably even more disappointing than Reign since it finished season one on such a good note (posting a couple 0.6's after the end of the regular season with a repeat Arrow lead-in). Maybe the World Series is to blame, but it didn't seem to have any effect on Arrow (which actually ticked up to 0.9).

• Meanwhile, everything on the big four was extremely close to even week-to-week, despite added competition from The World Series (which itself appears to be nearly even with the Game 1 number). That included The Middle (2.0) and The Goldbergs (2.2), back from a week off for holiday pre-emptions. Stalker (1.7) again refused to budge from the number it's gotten since week two.

War of 18-49 Update, Rookie Blue (Summer 2014)

Let's take a look at the summer 2014 season (the fifth overall) of Rookie Blue on ABC.

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 10/21/14

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: The World Series had its lowest Game 1 ever in adults 18-49 (3.4) and was down 19% from last year's opener (and two tenths behind the previous low from 2012). The superhero shows got some finals help, as Agents of SHIELD (1.6) avoided a new low and The Flash (1.5) ended up down just two tenths. The finals were not so kind to Marry Me (1.8), now 22% behind the premiere. And its The Voice lead-in (3.3) got a two-tenth boost, making Marry Me look even worse by comparison.

• NBC's comedies Marry Me (1.9) and About a Boy (1.4) were each down nearly 20% in week two. Marry Me probably shouldn't be counted out, as this is still just a touch behind the pace AaB set last spring. But it's not a good development for AaB, which dropped to the low end of what NBC got from Growing Up Fisher. Again, Chicago Fire (1.9) looked like a big winner in all this, even week-to-week despite the drops in the 9/8c hour.

•  The CW's The Flash (1.4) took a bigger drop in week three than it did in week two, but apparently it was even in 18-34. So maybe Fox's older-skewing World Series had the same kind of bizarrely large effect that it's always had with Arrow.

• On ABC, the bookend shows that dropped big last week each bounced back by a tenth: Selfie (1.1) and Forever (1.2). However, Agents of SHIELD (1.5) could be headed for another new low at 9/8c. This may be another World Series thing, but it can also at least partly thank a truly horrendous showing from Manhattan Love Story (0.7). The comedies are pre-empted next week anyway, but it's pretty hard to see Manhattan coming back on the other side of that.

• CBS saw the NCIS mothership (2.4) continue its kinda worrying downward trickle but got a promising hold from NCIS: New Orleans (2.4).

• And Fox had Game 1 of the World Series, moving Game 1 to Tuesday after it opened on Wednesday for the last seven years. (Presumably this is a move to help it avoid the NFL as much as possible.) The overnights indicate it was down double digits from last year's opener, not a stunner given the smaller-market matchup. More after finals!

War of 18-49 Update, So You Think You Can Dance (Summer 2014)

Let's take a look at the summer 2014 season (the eleventh overall) of So You Think You Can Dance on Fox.

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 10/19/14

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS/CABLE UPDATE: Madam Secretary (1.5) and The Simpsons (3.6) each gained a tenth, while Mulaney (1.0) dropped back to the premiere number. For Madam, this actually put it a tenth higher than the other two episodes without an NFL overrun. Sunday Night Football (8.2) had a strong rating for this time of year but, again, was probably limited by the blowout. (It peaked at 9.1 at 9:30, then dropped to 8.4 and 8.1 from there.) The Walking Dead (7.7) was down 12% in week two, roughly on par with its week two drops historically.

• In week four, the bleeding mostly stopped for ABC Sunday. Once Upon a Time (2.7) was steady and Revenge (1.3) was up a tenth. Resurrection (1.4) did lose another tenth in its second try against The Walking Dead, though it might adjust up (as it did last week).

• On Fox, The Simpsons (3.5) Treehouse of Horror episode was up week-to-week even as its football lead-in appears to have declined. Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2.5) seemed pretty indistinguishable from what a second-tier animated series would do with that lead-in, which is a good thing. Family Guy (2.5) also benefited from the lead-in heat. Mulaney (1.1) did not, dropping well over half of its lead-in. Considering how well the animated series repeat, this is a clear situation where Fox could easily do much better, so it may not be back here after the lineup takes a week off for the World Series.

• CBS was basically even week-to-week as every drama hit 1.4. NBC's football grew week-to-week on Peyton Manning's record-setting night, but another blowout probably limited the rating somewhat. More after finals!

Spotted Ratings, Saturday 10/18/14

WHAT MATTERS:

• A Florida State/Notre Dame classic (4.2) was an absolute blockbuster for ABC, putting up one of the top five Saturday Night Football ratings since ABC started regularly airing it in the mid-aughts. It was the highest number since USC/Notre Dame's 5.1 on 11/24/12 and over a point ahead of the 2013 high. It was at 4.8 in the 10:30 half-hour and likely even higher just after primetime.

Spotted Ratings, Friday 10/17/14

WHAT MATTERS:

• It was another good week for ABC's new sitcom Cristela (1.2), which dropped just a tenth from its premiere. This 1.2 was better than anything The Neighbors did in the post-premiere weeks last season. The hour was even week-to-week for ABC as Last Man Standing (1.3) was up a tenth. 20/20 (1.1) had another bad result at 10/9c, but at least Dateline will be out of the way after this week.

• On CBS, The Amazing Race (1.4) finally flexed a little Friday muscle, rising well above its first three deliveries to win the 8/7c hour. This is more like what CBS was probably hoping for out of this move, but let's see if it can be repeated. The Race rise was of no real help to Hawaii Five-0 (1.2) and Blue Bloods (1.2). The World Series and NBC's drama premieres loom next week.

SpotVault - The Millers (CBS) - 2014-15 Ratings

The Millers

Mondays, 8:30/7:30c, CBS

SpotVault - About a Boy (NBC) - 2014-15 Ratings

About a Boy

Tuesdays, 9:30/8:30c, NBC

SpotVault - Marry Me (NBC) - 2014-15 Ratings

Marry Me

Tuesdays, 9/8c, NBC

Spotted Ratings, Monday 10/20/14

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: Finals made things even worse for The Millers (2.1), down to its second-worst retention ever out of Big Bang (4.6). Good luck next week. Castle (1.5) also got uglier, now down a fairly bizarre 0.4 week-to-week. And the CW took a hit as well, with Jane the Virgin (0.5) down two tenths from the prelims to finish a tenth behind last week's premiere. But, like last week, it remained within a tenth of The Originals (0.6). The only particularly notable uptick belonged to Gotham (2.3); it was still down week-to-week, but by just a tenth now.

• On CBS' final The Big Bang Theory-fueled Monday, The Millers (2.2) proved why CBS was in no hurry to bring it back. It returned at just 50% retention of Big Bang (4.4), and it's likely to be less after finals. The good news is that (at least for this week) it didn't seem to hurt the rest of the lineup. Scorpion (2.4) was even despite an 0.6 decline in lead-in and NCIS: Los Angeles (1.7) inched up. But Big Bang will be out of the picture completely next Monday.

• In the second week after the blind auditions, viewers left The Voice (3.3) in droves, and The Blacklist (2.4) also suffered. We'll see if the absence of Big Bang helps in future weeks. Fox saw Gotham (2.2) decline for a fourth straight week, but Sleepy Hollow (1.8) recovered a bit.

• ABC and the CW both had Monday Night Football pre-emptions. The preliminary looks potentially promising for week two of Jane the Virgin (0.7), and not so much for Castle (1.6), which took a big dip even before adjustments. More after finals.

War of 18-49 Update, America's Got Talent (Summer 2014)

Let's take a look at the summer 2014 season (the ninth overall) of America's Got Talent on NBC.

First Two Weeks, The Flash

WEEK ONE 
Rating: 1.9
Lead-in: local programming
Competition: Selfie/Manhattan Love Story (1.2/0.9), NCIS (2.6), The Voice recap (2.5 overall, 2.4 in 8:00 hour), Family Guy (R) (0.9).

War of 18-49 Update, Big Brother (Summer 2014)

Let's take a look at the summer 2014 season (the sixteenth overall) of Big Brother on CBS.

First Two Weeks, Mulaney

WEEK ONE
Rating: 1.0
Lead-in: Family Guy (1.9)
Competition: Resurrection (2.0 before Nielsen revision, 1.9 at 9:30), The Good Wife (1.4 overall, 1.5 at 9:30) Sunday Night Football (7.4 overall, 8.2 at 9:30).

Spotted Ratings, Thursday 10/16/14

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: A finals uptick reduced the drop for How to Get Away with Murder (2.8), though it still remained narrowly behind Scandal. Bones (1.7) actually went up to a new season high, while Reign (0.4) returned to its usual low level. Thursday Night Football (5.4) was exactly even week-to-week.

• After a surprise turn as the top drama on ABC Thursday, How to Get Away with Murder (2.7) fell back behind Scandal (2.9) in week four. Grey's Anatomy (2.4) steadied at 8/7c.

• NBC's Bad Judge (1.2) was down a tenth in week three, but the show remains quite close to its 1.3 premiere number, while Fox's Gracepoint (0.8) got even uglier. The CW got some relief after a couple bad Thursdays to open its season; The Vampire Diaries (0.9) rebounded to the premiere number, while Reign was up to its first 0.5 of the season.

• All of this came against what should've been one of CBS' better Thursday Night Football games, combining a tight game with a higher-end matchup. But surprisingly, the preliminary numbers are very close to even week-to-week. We'll see how the finals look.

The Question Results Through 10/14/14

Here are the standings through October 14 for the ratings prediction game The Question:

The 2014-15 Climate Center: Days/Times

The Climate Center is the latest way to keep up with some of this site's bigger-picture numbers on a week-to-week basis. It'll provide a running track of trends across the broadcasters, including individual networks, genres, and days of week/time of day. These will include the numbers that have gone into the A18-49+ theme posts, plus some new ones.

The "Days/Times" post breaks apart big four programming based on the clock and the calendar, examining which nights of the week and which half-hours of primetime are most crowded. At the moment, I'm just putting up tables that look at the big four non-sports originals in each slot, but this section will probably be expanded shortly with tables that widen the lens to overall viewing/overall broadcast viewing tendencies.

These numbers are up to date through the end of the regular season: Wednesday, May 20.

More Climate Center: Basics | Networks | Genres | Days/Times

The 2014-15 Climate Center: Genres

The Climate Center is the latest way to keep up with some of this site's bigger-picture numbers on a week-to-week basis. It'll provide a running track of trends across the broadcasters, including individual networks, genres, and days of week/time of day. These will include the numbers that have gone into the A18-49+ theme posts, plus some new ones.

The "Genres" post breaks apart all primetime programming to look at trends by category, then breaks apart only the original non-sports series realm to look at trends for dramas, sitcoms and reality.

These numbers are up to date through the end of the regular season: Wednesday, May 20.

More Climate Center: Basics | Networks | Genres | Days/Times

The 2014-15 Climate Center: Networks

The Climate Center is the latest way to keep up with some of this site's bigger-picture numbers on a week-to-week basis. It provides a running track of trends across the broadcasters, including individual networks, genres, and days of week/time of day. These will include the numbers that have gone into the A18-49+ theme posts, plus some new ones.

The "Networks" post looks at some of the metrics that best get at the networks' actual strength, most importantly breaking the networks' overall averages apart by category and mostly focusing on only the original non-sports series.

These numbers are up to date through the end of the regular season: Wednesday, May 20.

More Climate Center: Basics | Networks | Genres | Days/Times

Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 10/15/14

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: Combining a week three dip in revised finals (3.5) with a week four finals uptick, Modern Family (3.4) ended up down just a tenth week-to-week leading out of the holiday specials. The Mysteries of Laura (1.4) and Red Band Society (1.0) each ended up on the week-to-week upside.

• ABC got pretty good numbers out of holiday specials Toy Story of TERROR! (1.8) and It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (2.1). The latter was close to even with last year's telecast on Halloween night last year (2.2). Still, these shows did about 10% worse than the usual comedy results from The Middle and The Goldbergs, and they were of no help to the rest of ABC's lineup. Modern Family (3.3), Black-ish (2.5) and Nashville (1.3) were all down by multiple ticks.

• There were several season lows in the 8/7c hour; Survivor (2.3), Hell's Kitchen (1.2) and Arrow (0.8) were all down multiple tenths, at least in the prelims. But almost everything not yet mentioned was close to even. CBS' Stalker (1.7) stabilized in week three and remained narrowly ahead of Chicago PD (1.6).

The 2014-15 Climate Center: Basics

The Climate Center is the latest way to keep up with some of this site's bigger-picture numbers on a week-to-week basis. It'll provide a running track of trends across the broadcasters, including individual networks, genres, and days of week/time of day. These will include the numbers that have gone into the A18-49+ theme posts, plus some new ones.

The "Basics" post covers year-to-year tendencies in extremely broad categories like overall viewing, broadcast viewing, and broadcast non-sports original series viewing (or the "league average").

These numbers are up to date through the end of the 2014-15 regular season: Wednesday, May 20. In this post only, the "TPUT" and "bc" go through the end of the calendar week, Sunday, May 24.

More Climate Center: Basics | Networks | Genres | Days/Times

First Two Weeks, A to Z

Reminder: Games for Gracepoint and Bad Judge are still open till Friday!

WEEK ONE
Rating: 1.2
Lead-in: Bad Judge (1.3)
Competition: Scandal (3.4 before Nielsen revision, 3.4 at 9:30), Thursday Night Football (5.9 overall, 6.7 at 9:30), Gracepoint (1.2 overall, 1.2 at 9:30), Reign (0.4 overall, 0.3 at 9:30).

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 10/14/14

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: NBC avoided a drop for Marry Me, but About a Boy (1.7) and Chicago Fire (1.9) looked a little worse. The superhero shows remained tied as The Flash (1.7) and Agents of SHIELD (1.7) each added a tenth. That means Flash had an above-average week two hold of an incredible premiere number.

• NBC had a pretty "meh" start to its latest post-The Voice (3.3) comedy effort. Marry Me (2.3) began a couple tenths below About a Boy's first original in the hour in March, and it may adjust down. And the season two premiere of About a Boy (1.8) was just kind of there at 9:30, down a half point from Marry Me but bouncing back a bit from its late-spring episodes after The Voice. It wasn't an awful hour for NBC, especially since The Voice was kinda soft, but it's not a great base to start from since The Voice tends to drop later in the season. The show that looked best in all this was the 10/9c occupant Chicago Fire (2.0), which grew from About a Boy as it did from Growing Up Fisher in the spring.

• Tuesday's big winner was again The Flash (1.6) on the CW, down a perfectly typical 16% in week two. When you're starting from a premiere as huge as last week's, a typical week two drop is a very good thing. And it could adjust up again.

• Nobody in the 9/8c hour seemed to benefit from NBC no longer airing two-hour The Voice episodes. NCIS: New Orleans (2.2) was down a tenth (just like the other two CBS shows), while New Girl (1.2) may have been more affected by having to compete with a comedy. ABC's Tuesday problems intensified as Selfie (1.0) and Forever (1.1) each shed a couple more tenths.

First Two Weeks, Bad Judge

Reminder: Game for Stalker is open till Thursday! Gracepoint open till Friday!

WEEK ONE
Rating: 1.3
Lead-in: The Biggest Loser (1.3 overall, 1.4 at 8:30)
Competition: Scandal (3.4 before Nielsen revision, 3.4 at 9:00), Thursday Night Football (5.9 overall, 6.6 in 9:00 half-hour), Gracepoint (1.2 overall, 1.2 at 9:00), Reign (0.4 overall, 0.4 at 9:00).

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 10/12/14

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: Nielsen's ABC inflation is over, but Once Upon a Time (2.7) and Resurrection (1.5) still got some help from finals. Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2.2) also picked up a tenth, while Madam Secretary (1.4) declined to the same number it got without the NFL two weeks ago.

• CABLE UPDATE: The Walking Dead had at least one more series high in it, posting a stratospheric 17.3 million viewers and 8.7 A18-49 rating. It wasn't exactly another of those massive TWD explosions; the A18-49 rating was only 6% above the 8.2 that kicked off last season. But when we're talking about comparisons with a series that had already pulled off some of the most impressive ratings in TV history, every step farther up the ladder should not be taken for granted. Amazing.

• Once Upon a Time (2.6) dropped another 16% from last week's 3.1 preliminary (seemingly the more reliable number for comparison given the Nielsen issues). The Frozen thing remains a big win, as this was still on the year-to-year upside, but the margin is shrinking. ABC then saw Resurrection (1.4) take another large drop at 9/8c, likely at least in part due to the premiere of The Walking Dead in the hour. This was 22% behind even last week's prelim and also trailed the year-ago episode of Revenge in the hour. And Revenge (1.2) inched down again to a preliminary new low (but remains a huge improvement vs. last year's Betrayal).

• Fox got a big boost from an even more massive late-afternoon NFL lead-in than usual. The Simpsons (3.3) zoomed back up by over 60% week-to-week, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2.1) continued to do pretty close to what could be expected of a second-tier animated series. Even lowly Mulaney (1.1) picked up a tenth week-to-week, though its Family Guy lead-in (1.7) was in repeat mode.

• On CBS, Madam Secretary (1.5) and CSI (1.4) each improved by a tenth on when CBS last lacked the national NFL lead-in two weeks ago.

• Football and The Walking Dead updates to come!

Spotted Ratings, Saturday 10/11/14

WHAT MATTERS:

• Fox is putting most of baseball's National League Championship Series on its cable channel Fox Sports 1, presumably to minimize pre-emptions for its primetime lineup. But on a slow Saturday, the main network got the game. I'm not 100% sure on this, but it was listed as "NLCS on Fox/FS1," so I think this number is a combined figure between Fox and an analytics-driven simulcast on FS1.

• ABC's annual primetime October NASCAR race (1.3) was even year-to-year.

Spotted Ratings, Friday 10/10/14

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: Adjustments to the CBS procedurals put Hawaii Five-0 (1.2) back at the season premiere number and Blue Bloods (1.3) at a new season high. Shark Tank (2.0) also got a tenth for its first 2 of the season.

• ABC put the last piece of its fall schedule into place and got a nice start out of 8:30 sitcom Cristela (1.3). The show was never going to bring the kind of heat to the night that Reba McEntire did with Malibu Country a couple years ago, but there appears to be real potential for improvement on last year's mismatched Last Man lead-out The Neighbors (which started at 1.2 in pre-premiere week last year). Cristela was also a tenth ahead of its slightly underwhelming Last Man Standing lead-in (1.2).

• Elsewhere, it was another Friday night of Shark Tank (1.9) and then a huge drop to everything else. The Amazing Race (1.1) dropped back to its premiere number while Whose Line Is It Anyway? (0.6) had a good rebound after starting slowly last week.

SpotVault - Jane the Virgin (CW) - 2014-15 Ratings

Jane the Virgin

Mondays, 9/8c, CW

SpotVault - The Walking Dead (AMC) - 2014-15 Ratings

The Walking Dead

Sundays, 9/8c, AMC

SpotVault - Cristela (ABC) - 2014-15 Ratings

Cristela

Fridays, 8:30/7:30c, ABC

The Question, Tuesday 10/14/14: Will Audiences Say "I Do" to Marry Me?

The 20th and final leg of our 30-day The Question marathon is NBC's biggest comedy hope of the fall, Marry Me. It doesn't have an obvious built-in advantage like Matthew Perry in Go On, or even a connection to a well-known movie like About a Boy. So if Marry Me is going to thrive where those have turned out mediocre, it will be because of quality. But coming from the creator of well-regarded Happy Endings, it might actually have a shot to do that. Will audiences say "I do" to Marry Me? That's The Question for Tuesday, October 14, 2014.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 10/13/14

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: The CW lineup held up despite a local pre-emption in St. Louis. The Big Bang Theory (4.5) shed a tenth due to a local pre-emption in San Francisco, putting it exactly even week-to-week. NBC's night got better as The Voice (4.0) added a tenth and The Blacklist didn't drop. Castle (1.9) lost a tenth.
  

• The CW's newbie Jane the Virgin (0.6 and 1.7 million viewers) got off to a very reasonable start. It wasn't a great match skew-wise with its The Originals lead-in (0.7 and 1.3 million viewers), but it brought a surprising amount of its own audience to the tough Monday 9/8c hour. And it didn't hurt that The Originals held up week-to-week. For now, this night is basically doubling what the CW did on Monday last season, which would be enormous. Jane still isn't that far from the bottom of the CW totem pole, but it will be in contention if the viewers received it as well as the critics did.

• Almost everything on the big four was pretty close to even week-to-week. That's most significant for newbies Gotham (2.4) and Scorpion (2.4), each down a tenth apiece in week four. NBC's The Voice (3.9) and The Blacklist (2.8) bounced back a touch.

First Two Weeks, Gracepoint

Reminder: Games for Selfie and Manhattan Love Story are still open till Wednesday! Stalker open till Thursday!

WEEK ONE
Rating: 1.2
Lead-in: Bones (1.5 overall, 1.6 at 8:30)
Competition: Scandal (3.4 before Nielsen revision), Thursday Night Football (5.9 overall, 6.6/6.7 in 9:00 hour), Bad Judge/A to Z (1.3/1.2), Reign (0.4).

The Question, Monday 10/13/14: Will Jane the Virgin's Ratings Be Plain?

The CW's second and final new fall drama rolls out tonight as Jane the Virgin hits the airwaves after The Originals. Though it has garnered quite a few positive reviews, the pros pretty much stop there. Despite the reviews, the premise is pretty ridiculous. It feels like a holdover from the network's long-gone days of laser focusing on the W18-34 audience. It will have a passable-sized but seemingly incompatible lead-in from The Originals. And The Voice, Scorpion, Sleepy Hollow and Dancing with the Stars are a pretty tough group of competitors for live viewing. This feels like an uphill battle. Will Jane the Virgin's ratings be plain? That's The Question for Monday, October 13, 2014.

First Two Weeks, Stalker

Reminder: Games for Selfie and Manhattan Love Story are still open till Wednesday!

WEEK ONE
Rating: 2.0
Lead-in: Criminal Minds (2.7 overall, 2.6 at 9:30)
Competition: Nashville (1.6 before Nielsen revision), Chicago PD (1.5).

The Question, Sunday 10/12/14: Will Another Record Audience Consume The Walking Dead?

The great TV ratings anomaly of this decade is back on the air tonight as The Walking Dead opens its fifth season. The show has left all of today's entertainment series in the dust, and season four had same-day averages that would've been really big even ten years ago. Maybe this is the year the growth slows or stops, or maybe even more mind-blowing viewership levels are on the way. You just never know with this one. Will another record audience consume The Walking Dead? That's The Question for Sunday, October 12, 2014.

SpotVault - The Flash (CW) - 2014-15 Ratings

The Flash

Tuesdays, 8/7c, CW

SpotVault - Supernatural (CW) - 2014-15 Ratings

Supernatural

Tuesdays, 9/8c, CW

SpotVault - Arrow (CW) - 2014-15 Ratings

Arrow

Wednesdays, 8/7c, CW

SpotVault - Whose Line Is It Anyway? (CW) - 2014-15 Ratings

Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Mondays, 9/8c, CW

SpotVault - Criminal Minds (CBS) - 2014-15 Ratings

Criminal Minds

Wednesdays, 9/8c, CBS