These numbers are current through Thursday, February 25.
WHAT MATTERS:
- The Walking Dead held nearly all of its premiere audience in week two, dropping just 3% to a 6.58. The year-to-year trend improved a lot since it dropped big against the Oscars in week two of last season, but that effect will be cancelled out next week when last night's rating against Oscar is added.
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: The Academy Awards ended up with a 10.5 demo, down 5% from last year. The red carpet segments (2.6/4.0/5.9) were in the same general vicinity year-to-year-wise.
- AMC's The Walking Dead dropped to a 6.08 against the Oscars.
- Sunday was all about the Academy Awards, and the show appears to have slowed its rate of decline from last season but not erased it entirely. In the prelims, the show averaged an 11.0 at 8:30, a 9.6 in the 9:00 hour and a 9.1 in the 10:00 hour. That adds up to roughly a 9.7, down 6% from last year's 10.3 prelim. It will adjust up after accounting for West Coast viewing. (Last year went from a 10.3 prelim to an 11.0 final.)
- The other three networks were in newsmagazine/repeat/movie mode. All three networks averaged about a 0.7 for the night; CBS aired 60 Minutes (0.8/0.8) and movie Last Vegas (0.5/0.6), NBC had Dateline (0.9/1.0) and movie Ted (0.6) and Fox had comedy repeats (0.7/0.7/0.9/0.5/0.7/0.5).
Best Case/Worst Case lays out possible scenarios for broadcast primetime TV
seasons yet to premiere. Here's what's premiering tonight!
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: The Originals (0.5) adjusted up, tying its Thursday season high on a Friday!
- ABC's problems extended to one of its most reliable nights, as Last Man Standing dipped to 1.1 for the first time since the season premiere, while Shark Tank (1.2) crashed to its lowest Friday original of the season. Dr. Ken (1.0) and 20/20 (0.7) also tied their season lows, with 20/20 down almost half from last week!
- That meant CBS eked out a win on this Friday, even with a third straight drop from Blue Bloods (1.2). The Amazing Race (1.1) and Hawaii Five-0 (1.1) were flat.
- ABC's weakness may have come in part because NBC had an above-average Dateline (1.2), expanded to two hours (1.1/1.3) and preempting Grimm. However, Caught on Camera (0.7) inched down in the lead-off spot.
- On Fox, Sleepy Hollow (0.8) rebounded from last week's drop, but Second Chance (0.5) gave back last week's uptick.
- And the CW's genre dramas The Vampire Diaries (0.5) and The Originals (0.4) were (preliminarily) back at their respective Friday high points.
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: Indeed, The Big Bang Theory adjusted up to its sixth straight 3.8. Life in Pieces went down to 2.1.
- Well, TGIT didn't take another big hit in its third week of the spring, but Grey's Anatomy (2.1) and Scandal (1.7) each lost another tenth from last week's finals. How to Get Away with Murder steadied at 1.5.
- On CBS, there was no real heat for the 200th episode of The Big Bang Theory (3.7), but it always has a chance to adjust up (which would make its sixth consecutive 3.8). The rest of the CBS night was steady to slightly up with Life in Pieces (2.2), Mom (1.8), 2 Broke Girls (1.7) and Elementary (1.1). It was a nice recovery for 2 Broke after last week's slow return to the night.
- NBC's You, Me and the Apocalypse survived into a fifth week and produced another paltry 0.6, while The Blacklist (1.3) stayed flat at last week's low and Shades of Blue (1.0) inched down to a new one.
- The CW was on the uptick with Legends of Tomorrow (0.9) and a preliminary 0.6 for The 100. This is a relatively strong bounce for The 100 since last week's 0.5 was actually much closer to 0.4 than 0.6.
- And American Idol (2.0/2.1), now down to only Thursday airings, won another broadcast Thursday.
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: Survivor (1.9) adjusted down.
- ABC saw some one-tenth growth late in the evening with Modern Family (2.5) and American Crime (0.9) sandwiching a controversial episode of Black-ish (1.9). However, the 8:00 hour sees The Goldbergs (1.9) hoping for an adjustment to avoid a new season low. The Middle (1.9) was flat in the lead-off spot.
- The return of Criminal Minds (1.8) was generally a good thing for CBS, as Survivor (2.0) inched up from the premiere and Code Black (1.2) got back to normal for its season or series finale. It was not an awful run for Code, but it never really seemed to follow through on its end-of-2015 momentum.
- Minds also seemingly nicked NBC's Law and Order: SVU (1.5), which had its worst rating since the new year. The Mysteries of Laura (1.0) and Chicago PD (1.6) were even.
- On Fox, American Idol (2.1) ticked up, refusing to drop out of the twos, as did Hell's Kitchen (1.3).
- And Arrow (1.0) finally got a tenth back after a string of 0.9's, while Supernatural (0.7) lost one.
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: No adjustments, even on the CW! (EDIT: the two-hour Agent Carter average actually did adjust up, from 0.7 to 0.8.)
- CBS dominated the season's final sans-The Voice Tuesday, with NCIS (2.4) up a tenth at 8/7c. However, NCIS: New Orleans (1.8) gave last week's spike, and Limitless (1.1) just keeps getting shakier and shakier at 10/9c.
- NBC had some rebounds, with Hollywood Game Night (1.1) ending its Tuesday run on a pretty average note and Chicago Med (1.5) inching up from last week's low. Chicago Fire (1.6) stayed on the low end.
- ABC's Fresh Off the Boat (1.2) inched back down, then the network continued to burn through struggling The Muppets (0.8) and two more Agent Carter hours (0.8/0.7).
- Fox stayed frozen at last week's lows with New Girl (1.2), Grandfathered (0.8), Brooklyn Nine-Nine (0.9) and The Grinder (0.6).
- And the CW's The Flash (1.4) and iZombie (0.6) look like they could be close to adjusting to last week's respective 1.5/0.5 after finals.
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: The Bachelor (2.5) adjusted up. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend went back down to 0.3 after a couple weeks with 0.4 finals.
- For the shows that faced the Grammys last week, it was a big rebound Monday, and most of those shows were pretty much back to their levels from two weeks ago. That included The X-Files (2.4), whose season finale tied for the lead at 8/7c and seems to have stayed solidly within "back the truck up to get it back" territory.
- A notable exception to the bounce-back rule was X-Files lead-out Lucifer. After holding up well against the Grammys, it actually dipped again this week to a new low 1.5, and a tougher lead-in situation looms with the return of Gotham next week.
- Among the shows that bounced all the way back post-Grammy were NBC's finales of Superstore (1.4), Telenovela (0.9) and The Biggest Loser (1.1/1.2), with Superstore making one last case for a renewal that curiously still hasn't come yet.
- Coming off of last week's preemption, CBS actually took the biggest hit by far. Supergirl (1.5) was on the low end, and Scorpion (1.7) and NCIS: Los Angeles (1.3) each had easily their worst showings since the new year.
- Also getting back to normal were ABC's The Bachelor (2.4/2.5) and Castle (1.1). CW's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (0.4) and Jane the Virgin (0.3) stayed flat after sitting out against the awards last week.
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: Apparently Shark Tank was actually an original, which makes it look a lot worse... and it adjusted down to a new season low 1.1 in finals. The Walking Dead (6.58) was just barely down in week two, beating the year-ago week two that got slammed by SNL40.
- In a duel of two-hour specials, neither was anywhere close to an SNL40-esque breakout but both were acceptable enough filler. ABC's celebration of the Disneyland 60th Anniversary (1.8) beat out NBC's tribute to legendary Must See TV director James Burrows (1.3).
- The Disneyland special was surrounded by a season high America's Funniest Home Videos (1.3) and a solid repeat of Shark Tank (1.2), while NBC's All-Star Tribute had two hours of Dateline (1.0/1.3) leading in.
- Fox saw some minor rallies from last week's disheartening comedy results, as most of Bob's Burgers (1.1), The Simpsons (1.4), Cooper Barrett's Guide (0.8), Family Guy (1.3) and Bordertown (0.7) were by up a tenth from last week.
- And the CBS dramas Madam Secretary (1.2), The Good Wife (1.0) and CSI: Cyber (0.9) were even across the board.
These numbers are current through Thursday, February 18.
WHAT MATTERS:
- The Walking Dead opened the back half of season six with a 6.75 demo rating, which is still unthinkably high in today's landscape... and yet down by 15% from the last spring premiere, and nearly 10% from the fall 2015 premiere. It's the lowest TWD half-season premiere in three years. (For perspective, only one non-Walking Dead regularly-scheduled scripted episode has done a higher number in that three-year span: the Empire season one finale.)
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: Shark Tank (1.6) and 20/20 (1.3) adjusted up. Sleepy Hollow (0.7) adjusted down.
- CBS couldn't quite sustain the promise of last week's The Amazing Race premiere, as it dropped two tenths to 1.1 in week two. (It still matched the second episode of the last spring season.) Procedurals Hawaii Five-0 (1.1) and Blue Bloods (1.3) were also on the downswing.
- ABC's Last Man Standing (1.2) and Dr. Ken (1.1) were back from a week off, while Shark Tank (1.5) and 20/20 (1.2) reverted to fairly average ratings after their highs a week ago.
- The 9:00 genre dramas inched up on Fox (Sleepy Hollow (0.8) and Second Chance (0.6)) and the CW (The Vampire Diaries (0.4) and The Originals (0.4)).
- And NBC had another fairly steady week with Caught on Camera (0.8), Grimm (0.9) and Dateline (0.8).
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: ABC got some minor solace from finals as Scandal (1.8) and How to Get Away with Murder (1.5) each ticked up. The Big Bang Theory was also up a tick, posting its fifth consecutive 3.8 (and seventh in eight episodes)!
- The alarm bells are officially sounding for TGIT, which got slammed again in the week after its disappointing return. Grey's Anatomy (2.2) managed to merely tie its season low, but Scandal (1.7) and How to Get Away with Murder (1.4) were nowhere close to their previous season low points. Scandal and Murder were down about half from the year-ago evening.
- On NBC, You, Me and the Apocalypse (0.6) is now into major problem territory. (Shout-out to all the media who lauded its 1.2 premiere three weeks ago!) Beyond its own low rating, it also dragged The Blacklist (1.3) to its lowest rating of the season. Shades of Blue stayed consistent at 1.1.
- Amid a week of slippage, CBS Thursday was very consistent with The Big Bang Theory (3.7), Life in Pieces (2.1), Mom (1.8) and Elementary (1.0). However, 2 Broke Girls (1.5) had a soft return to Thursday, continuing to do no better here than in the seemingly tougher Wednesday lead-off role.
- The CW's Legends of Tomorrow inched down to 0.8, and The 100 (0.5) will hope to avoid its own decline after finals (it has a 0.5 -> 0.4 breakdown).
- And American Idol eked out another nightly win with a two-hour 2.0 average.
Caught on Camera
Fridays, 8/7c, NBC
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: Survivor (1.9), Big Bang (1.0) and Code Black (1.0) all got whacked by preemptions. The Goldbergs (2.0) and Law and Order: SVU (1.7) adjusted up, and Hell's Kitchen (1.2) adjusted down.
- Survivor had a pretty soft return by its usual high standard, opening with a 2.0 rating in the 8:00 hour and dropping to 1.9 for the last 30 minutes. This marks an above-average decline from last spring's 2.4 premiere, and it's also a lot lower than the 2.5 fall premiere.
- CBS rounded out the 9:00 hour with a fairly low-rated repeat of The Big Bang Theory (1.2) at 9:30, leading into a slightly down Code Black (1.2) at 10/9c.
- Elsewhere, broadcast TV's slump week largely continued into Wednesday. ABC had a minor rebound from The Middle (1.9) at 8/7c but a new season low from The Goldbergs (1.9) and a tie-for-low from Modern Family (2.4). Black-ish (1.8) held up pretty well at 9:30, but a much-talked-about American Crime (0.8) gave back last week's uptick.
- NBC was also on the downswing vs. last week's crossover-boosted results with The Mysteries of Laura (1.0), Law and Order: SVU (1.6) and Chicago PD (1.6).
- American Idol (2.0) dropped again against the return of Survivor, but Hell's Kitchen (1.3) held at 9/8c.
- And the CW had the steadiest night with Arrow posting another 0.9 and Supernatural (0.8) staying above average.
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: iZombie (0.5) adjusted down.
- Two weeks before the return of The Voice, NBC's Tuesday lineup had a relatively low night as Hollywood Game Night (1.0) and Chicago Med (1.4) each fell to new season lows, while Chicago Fire (1.6) was down two tenths to tie its season low.
- NBC's weakness was CBS' gain in the 9:00 hour as NCIS: New Orleans (2.0) hit its highest non-crossover rating of the season, even as NCIS (2.3) was down a notch. But Limitless (1.2) continued its weak start to 2016, dropping to tie its season low.
- ABC saw a minor rebound from its one OK-rated series, Fresh Off the Boat (1.3), but The Muppets (0.8) stayed at last week's low and Agent Carter (0.7) hit a new one in both its 9:00 and 10:00 episodes. (It's airing twice again next week.)
- Fox had its own swath of season lows with New Girl (tie at 1.2), Grandfathered (0.8), Brooklyn Nine-Nine (0.9) and The Grinder (tie at 0.6).
- The CW's The Flash (1.5) ticked down from last week's huge high, but iZombie (0.6) was up a tick (at least preliminarily).
Best Case/Worst Case lays out possible scenarios for broadcast primetime TV
seasons yet to premiere. Here's what's premiering tonight!
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: The Grammys averaged a 7.7, down just 7% from last year. The Biggest Loser adjusted down to 0.8.
- And on AMC, the return of Better Call Saul (1.06) re-established itself as one of the top cable dramas, but it went a bit behind the series low from season one.
- Event season made a rare stop on Monday as the Grammy Awards moved to the night and averaged a preliminary 7.4 rating from 8:00 to 11:00. In last year's Sunday telecast the show went from an 8.8 prelim to an 8.5 time zone-adjusted prelim to an 8.3 final.
- Everybody dropped at least a little bit with the added Grammy competition, and almost everybody by multiple tenths. Among the hardest hit was Fox's The X-Files (2.1), down by four tenths, but its lead-out Lucifer (1.6) did pretty well by comparison to only drop a single tenth.
- Despite its heavy female skew, The Bachelor (2.2) didn't take a particularly abnormal hit, and it was the biggest of the Grammy opponents, reverting to its early season ratings. Castle (0.9) edged its Sunday episode but hit a new Monday low.
- And NBC also lost multiple tenths across the board, with Superstore (1.2) staying well ahead of Telenovela (0.7) and The Biggest Loser (0.8/0.9).
- The only network to duck the Grammys was the CW, where a special on the video game Mortal Kombat X (0.3) and a repeat of Legends of Tomorrow (0.2) filled in for the usual female-skewing dramedies.
These numbers are current through Thursday, February 11.
WHAT MATTERS:
- Week two of The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story was down 23% to a 1.51. That's a bit steeper than average for a scripted show in week two, but still a good number overall (nearly double the next highest entry on this week's chart, after all).
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: The Bachelor (1.1), Cooper Barrett's Guide (0.8) and the 7:00 The Simpsons (0.8) adjusted up.
- The Walking Dead returned with a 6.75, down 15% from the last spring premiere.
- After a nearly a month off, Fox's comedies made rough if not disastrous returns to the schedule, as The Simpsons (1.3), Cooper Barrett's Guide (0.7), Family Guy (1.2) and Bordertown (0.7) were all down about a half point from their last eps in mid-January. This marked a new season low for The Simpsons and a tie for Family Guy, while Cooper and Bordertown basically fell off the competitive map. (By comparison, Bob's Burgers (1.0) held up swimmingly at 7:30, matching its January 17 ep.)
- ABC had America's Funniest Home Videos (1.2), a two-hour The Bachelor 20th season special (1.0), and a new series low for Castle (0.8) in a special Sunday original.
- NBC won the evening with Dateline (0.9) and Valentine's Day specials from Saturday Night Live (0.9) and The Tonight Show (1.3/1.6).
- On CBS, 60 Minutes (1.2) and Madam Secretary (1.2) were up a tenth, but The Good Wife (1.0) was steady and CSI: Cyber (0.9) was down a tenth.
- In addition to Valentine's Day, which usually depresses viewing a bit, the broadcast offerings were further overshadowed by the return of The Walking Dead on AMC, plus the NBA All-Star Game on TNT. More after finals!
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: The Amazing Race (1.3) and Sleepy Hollow (0.8) adjusted up.
- CBS had a decent return from the The Amazing Race (1.2), matching the fall premiere. Despite the new lead-in, Hawaii Five-0 (1.3) and Blue Bloods (1.4) stayed well above their season-to-date averages (though they were each down a tenth from their highs three weeks ago).
- Though Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown (1.0) went slightly below the usual comedy ratings in the 8:00 hour, ABC still won the night on the strength of a high-end Shark Tank (1.7) and a very strong 20/20 (1.7), which featured the mother of one of the Columbine shooters.
- Sleepy Hollow couldn't sustain its respectable Friday start in week two, slipping to a new low 0.7. Second Chance (0.5) was also down again.
- NBC's Caught on Camera (0.8) slipped by a tenth at 8/7c, and Grimm matched last week's 0.9. Dateline (0.9) was below average at 10/9c, perhaps getting nicked by the stout 20/20.
- And a little more air came out of the CW's vampire empire, as The Originals dipped to its first-ever 0.3. The Vampire Diaries held last week's 0.4.
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: Mom (1.8) adjusted up.
- ABC finally ended its Thursday hibernation with the return of the three-drama TGIT lineup, but it was a pretty underwhelming premiere night by TGIT standards. As was the case through the second half of the fall, Grey's Anatomy (2.4) looked the best by far, basically matching its fall average and coming close to the 2.5 fall finale.
- But the rest of the night was surprisingly middling, as Scandal (2.1) opened on an outright season low and How to Get Away with Murder (1.8) tied its low point from the fall. Both these shows were down double digits from their fall finales, and in the vicinity of forty percent from their 3.6/3.1 spring returns a year ago. This isn't good news for a lineup that usually premieres abnormally well; they'll have to hope these results aren't as inflated as usual.
- TGIT's return also didn't take a huge bite out of the competition; everything on the other four networks was either even or down a tenth from last week. NBC's You, Me and the Apocalypse (0.8) and The Blacklist (1.4) each shed a tenth, and Shades of Blue (1.1) was able to hold onto last week's depressed number.
- CBS' The Big Bang Theory (3.8), Life in Pieces (2.1), Mom (1.7) and Elementary (1.1) were all very close to last week, and Bang may even be up after finals. The network saw no improvement at 9:30 as a repeat of Big Bang (1.4) temporarily replaced Angel from Hell, but they'll hope for more from the return of 2 Broke Girls next week.
- The CW's Legends of Tomorrow held at 0.9, while The 100 inched down to its first 0.5 of the season (after hitting that number nearly every week last year).
- And American Idol (2.1) was down a tenth from last week on Fox, tying ABC for the nightly lead even on TGIT's return night.
Best Case/Worst Case lays out possible scenarios for broadcast primetime TV
seasons yet to premiere. Here's what's premiering tonight!
WEEK ONE
Rating: 1.2
Lead-in: local programming
Competition: Beyond the Tank (1.1),
The Big Bang Theory (R) /
Mom (R) (2.0/1.6),
American Idol (2.3),
Legends of Tomorrow (1.1)
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: American Idol (2.2) adjusted up and Black-ish (1.8) adjusted down.
- NBC struck yet more gold with Dick Wolf universe synergy, as Law and Order: SVU (1.9) and Chicago PD (2.0) crossed over for one night, lifting both to at or near their season highs. The Mysteries of Laura (1.2) was also on the high end to round out a very competitive night for the peacock.
- ABC's The Middle (1.8) and The Goldbergs (2.0) stayed at their season lows, and will hope to benefit beyond this week from no more CBS comedy competition. Modern Family (2.6) was down a bit for its first original in a month, and Black-ish (1.9) matched its last ep with an original lead-in. Finally, American Crime (0.9) ended its string of post-premiere declines.
- On CBS, 2 Broke Girls (1.6) and Mike and Molly (1.6) closed their Wednesday runs (though 2BG will be right back to Thursday next week to replace cancelled Angel from Hell). Criminal Minds (1.8) dropped a bit against a stronger NBC, but Code Black (1.3) ticked up with an original lead-in.
- Fox's American Idol (2.1) and Hell's Kitchen (1.3) each dropped two tenths.
- And on the CW, Arrow stayed at 0.9, but Supernatural (0.8) had an above-average outing.
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: The Muppets (0.8), NCIS: New Orleans (1.8), The Grinder (0.7) and iZombie (0.5) all adjusted down.
- Week two of The People v. O.J. Simpsons: American Crime Story dropped to a still-very-good 1.51, 23% below the premiere.
- After two weeks off, the CBS Tuesday dramas were back in originals with NCIS (2.4) flat and NCIS: New Orleans (1.9) and Limitless (1.3) each up a tenth. For NCIS: NO, that put it on the high end of its non-crossover results this season. For Limitless, it was just a minor rebound from its series low three weeks ago, and another fairly soft result overall.
- NBC's lineup stayed the course despite the return of CBS competition, with Hollywood Game Night (1.1) and Chicago Med (1.6) flat and Chicago Fire posting its fifth consecutive 1.8.
- ABC's already rough Tuesday lineup got worse on the bookends as Fresh Off the Boat (1.2) tied its season low and What Would You Do? (0.6) dropped at 10/9c. At least The Muppets (0.9) and Agent Carter (0.8) didn't get any more disastrous? (These results may be more subject to change than usual since ABC led off the night with five minutes of election coverage.)
- Fox's New Girl (1.4) had another good result leading off, but Grandfathered (0.9) inched down and Brooklyn Nine-Nine stayed low at 1.0. The Grinder (0.8) was still the weak link at 9:30 but made up some of its recent losses.
- And the CW had a rather huge night in the prelims, as The Flash hit what would be an outright season high at 1.6. iZombie also inched up to 0.6.
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: The Bachelor (2.5) and Scorpion (2.1) adjusted up.
- Week three of the new Fox Monday saw a slowed decline for The X-Files (2.5), still clearly a big hit in this landscape. However, Lucifer (1.7) took another relatively steep step downward at 9/8c.
- Lucifer may have suffered a bit from the return of CBS competition, as CBS had a reasonably solid day after the Super Bowl. Supergirl (1.8) bounced all the way back from last week's drop and Scorpion (2.0) and NCIS: Los Angeles (1.6) were also on the upswing.
- ABC saw The Bachelor (2.4/2.5) continue its usual mid-season surge, but didn't get much at 10/9c as Castle (1.1) returned from a long hiatus. This was about what it usually did in the fall, but just barely beat last week's Bachelor Live in the hour.
- And NBC's Superstore (1.4) stayed at last week's low, but Telenovela (0.9) and The Biggest Loser (1.1/1.2) rebounded a bit.
- On the CW, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is trying to make things interesting with its second straight 0.4, and it actually beat Jane the Virgin (0.3) this time.
WEEK ONE
Rating: 2.4
Lead-in: The X-Files (3.2)
Competition: The Bachelor (2.3),
Scorpion (1.9),
The Biggest Loser (1.2),
Jane the Virgin (0.4)
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: The 111.9 million viewers held in finals, and the final A18-49 rating was 37.7. That's down almost 4% from last year and the lowest Super Bowl average since 2009.
- The Late Show appeared to eke past the 2013 Elementary numbers in prelims, but that did not hold up in finals. The Late Show adjusted down to 20.55 million viewers and a 7.7 A18-49 rating, both slightly behind 2013 Elementary. That made Late Show the lowest direct Super Bowl lead-out in viewers since Alias in 2003, and the lowest in 18-49 rating in our records. (In 18-49, it was only 26% ahead of NFC Championship lead-out The X-Files!)
- TIME ZONE-ADJUSTED UPDATE #2: The Super Bowl averaged 111.9 million viewers according to time zone-adjusted prelims. This would be the third-highest total ever, behind last year (114.44m) and 2014 (112.19m). It is not unheard of for small adjustments to occur between now and the finals, so it could conceivably pass 2014. But a new record does not appear to be in the cards.
- TIME ZONE-ADJUSTED UPDATE #1: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert averaged 21.1 million viewers and a 7.9 demo rating. This just barely eked by the Elementary numbers from three years ago, which was bumped by a stadium black-out to an 11:11 start time. And it fell behind all other recent direct lead-outs.
- Before time zone-adjusted viewership and 18-49 numbers become available, the best we can do with the Super Bowl is look at the household overnights and the non-adjusted 18-49 numbers. The overnight was a 49.0, down just over 1% from last year's record-setting 49.7. It's close enough that the game could definitely still set a viewership record, but these numbers probably make it a slight underdog to do so. And it averaged a very preliminary 34.7 from 7:00 to 10:00, compared with a 35.0 for the game period last year (which adjusted up to a 39.1 final). Much better numbers to come!
- This Super Bowl Sunday is less interesting than usual for the primetime entertainment series world since a late night show occupied the post-Super Bowl slot for the first time. Since The Late Show with Stephen Colbert got a relatively late start (10:54ish), there's really nothing to be gleaned from the early 18-49 numbers. More to come!
These numbers are current through Thursday, February 4.
WHAT MATTERS:
- FX's The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story started with a 1.96. It was not quite as big as the last American Horror Story premiere (2.99), and it skewed a lot older (49% in the 18-49 demo vs. 66% for the last AHS season). But nothing else in scripted original cable was even that close to a 1.0 this week, so it's still huge by any other standard.
Young and Hungry
Wednesdays, 8/7c, Freeform
Super Bowl Lead-out Programs
WHAT MATTERS:
- Sleepy Hollow (0.9) arrived on Friday after sitting out the last two and a half months, and it was able to tie its Thursday average and slightly uptick from its last Thursday episode. This is probably the best it could've asked for, and is kinda reminiscent of how Fringe initially held up when it made a midseason Friday move back in 2011. We'll see if Sleepy Hollow can sustain this better than Fringe ultimately did. Hollow was still a big downgrade on MasterChef Junior, and thus Second Chance (0.6) dropped in its second Friday episode.
- NBC premiered a new season of Caught on Camera with Nick Cannon (0.9), which will apparently have a regular timeslot for the first time. At least for now, it was a slight upgrade on previous occupant Undateable. NBC also saw Grimm (0.9) tick up a bit from last week's poor return, and Dateline (1.0) was back to normal after last week's spike.
- ABC eked out the Friday lead even as Dr. Ken (1.0) inched back down and Shark Tank (1.4) gave back most of last week's big growth. Last Man Standing (1.2) was even and 20/20 (1.2) made up some ground at 10/9c. CBS had Undercover Boss (1.2) and a two-hour Super Bowl halftime special (1.2/1.1).
- The CW's The Vampire Diaries (0.4) shed a tenth in its second Friday episode, but The Originals clung to another 0.4.
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: The Big Bang Theory (3.8) went up a tenth, while Life in Pieces (2.2) and Mom (1.7) each went down a tenth.
- Thursday champ The Big Bang Theory (3.7) was back in originals for the first time in three weeks, and that was not welcome news for some of its competition. NBC's You, Me and the Apocalypse (0.9) had a tough second week, dropping 25%, and the downward momentum continued throughout NBC's night. The Blacklist (1.5) was just barely down at 9/8c, but perhaps most worrying of all was the two-tenth hit to Shades of Blue (1.1) at 10/9c.
- The CW also got stung in the 8/7c hour with Legends of Tomorrow (0.9), though it stayed on par with this week's episode of Arrow since it was also down. The 100 did well to cling to 0.6 again at 9/8c.
- Though a Big Bang repeat didn't hurt Life in Pieces' last original two weeks ago, its original actually did help; Life in Pieces (2.3) is preliminarily tracking toward its best rating since the series premiere. Mom (1.8) was also up a touch, but Angel from Hell (1.4) and Elementary (1.1) remained frozen.
- ABC saw a slight decline for the second night of Madoff (1.0), but an aftershow actually grew at 10/9c (1.2). Fox won yet another pre-TGIT Thursday with American Idol (2.2/2.3).
WEEK ONE
Rating: 1.2
Lead-in: local programming
Competition: Beyond the Tank (1.0),
The Big Bang Theory (R) /
Life in Pieces (2.2/2.0),
Heroes Reborn (1.0),
American Idol (2.4)
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: 2 Broke Girls (1.6) adjusted up.
- ABC took its comedy lineup off the air to debut two-night miniseries Madoff (1.2), which skewed old (7 million total viewers) and had a pretty modest demo appeal. It was of no help to American Crime (0.8) at 10/9c, which ticked down by 0.1 for the fourth consecutive week.
- NBC was back from a week off with a slight downtick for The Mysteries of Laura (1.1) but an above-average night for Law and Order: SVU (1.8) and Chicago PD (1.7). SVU continues to absolutely crush what it was doing against Empire at this time last year, and it was also up against a repeat of Criminal Minds (1.2) this week.
- CBS' Code Black stayed original at 10/9c, and it downticked to 1.2 with its worst lead-in yet. (Though this is still what it was doing in the fall even with original lead-ins.) The bright spots for CBS were 2 Broke Girls (1.5) and Mike and Molly (1.6), but they were also down a tick.
- Fox saw American Idol (2.3) down a bit, but Hell's Kitchen (1.5) picked up a tenth in its second episode on Wednesday.
- And the CW's Arrow (0.9) also took a hit, but Supernatural (0.7) was even.
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: The Muppets (0.9) adjusted up and iZombie (0.5) adjusted down.
- On cable, Ryan Murphy seems to have done it again as FX's The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story started with a 1.96. It was not quite as big as the last American Horror Story premiere (2.99) but a huge cable number by any other standard.
- After nearly two months off, ABC's The Muppets returned in utterly disastrous fashion: with 2.7 million viewers and a 0.8 demo rating, three tenths behind its previous series low and barely a quarter of the series premiere rating back in September. Whatever the showrunner change may have done creatively, it's clear that the audience had absolutely no interest in checking it out.
- The struggles continued later in the night for ABC as Agent Carter (0.8) inched down and What Would You Do? stayed at last week's 0.7.
- The only thing remotely resembling a bright spot on ABC was the return of Fresh Off the Boat (1.4) in the lead-off spot, as it was at least able to beat its last couple fall results.
- On another Tuesday free from CBS drama competition, NBC's Hollywood Game Night (1.1), Chicago Med (1.6) and Chicago Fire (1.8) were all steady or down just a touch.
- Fox's New Girl (1.4) had a good night, rebounding from its last couple drops, and Grandfathered (1.0) was up a tenth at 8:30. But Brooklyn Nine-Nine stayed at last week's season low 1.0, and The Grinder is another show venturing into unmitigated disaster territory as it dropped to a new low 0.6.
- CBS won the night thanks to its annual "Super Bowl's Greatest Commercials" special, usually a one-hour special that was expanded to two for the first time. It's been hovering right around a 2.0 rating for the last five years, and this season's edition (2.0/2.1) was no exception. A repeat of NCIS (1.2) rounded out the night at 10/9c.
- Airing alongside an original The Flash (1.4) for the first time since early December, iZombie inched up to 0.6.
NBA Saturday Primetime
Saturdays, 8:30/7:30c, ABC
Shameless
Sundays, 9/8c, Showtime
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: The Bachelor (2.3), The X-Files (2.7) and Lucifer (2.0) adjusted up. NCIS: Los Angeles (R) (1.0) went down.
- Week two of the new Fox Monday saw The X-Files (2.6) and Lucifer (1.9) each drop in the general vicinity of 20% from last week. That's a bit more than the average week two slippage, but given how well they started, these results are still pretty positive.
- It seemed like such a win for Supergirl to hold at 1.8 last week that perhaps a reality check was inevitable in its second duel with The X-Files. And it certainly got one, dropping all the way to the low end of its fall results at 1.5. It may have hurt that its companions Scorpion (1.2) and NCIS: Los Angeles (1.1) were in repeats. (Notably, NCIS: LA actually had a 1.1 original in October!)
- Most of the other options had a fairly soft night, too. NBC dropped a bit across the board with Superstore (1.4), Telenovela (0.8) and The Biggest Loser (1.0), and ABC's The Bachelor (2.2) also inched down to mark its worst year-to-year result of the season.
- On the CW, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is hoping to hold onto an 0.4 for the first time (though it may not be a particularly solid one with a 0.4 -> 0.3 breakdown). Jane the Virgin had another 0.4.
WHAT MATTERS:
- After three years of live musical productions on NBC, Fox provided its own spin on the format and got spectacular results out of Grease Live!, which averaged a 4.3 demo rating and over 12 million viewers. This came pretty darn close to NBC's breakthrough 4.6 with The Sound of Music Live! back in 2013 and easily beat NBC's The Wiz Live! (3.4) from earlier this season. It's all the more impressive since it started in the low-viewed 7:00/6:00c hour, growing from a 3.7 in the opening half-hour as high as 4.6 by 9:30.
- NBC was a very distant second with a three-hour American Ninja Warrior special (1.4/1.4/1.5). CBS brought back its original drama lineup of Madam Secretary (1.1), The Good Wife (1.0) and CSI: Cyber (1.0) for the first time in three weeks (only to go away again next week for the Super Bowl). And ABC wrapped up a very poor-rated season of Galavant (0.6) with a tiny uptick.
These numbers are current through Thursday, January 28.
WHAT MATTERS:
- Might newbie The Magicians finally be the Syfy drama to break through its recent sub-0.3 ceiling? The show had a nice start by Syfy standards, with a 0.39/0.41 for its two-hour opener on Monday. (The first half of that premiere previewed back in December with a 0.26, but I will count this Monday 9/8c airing as the "official" one since it was so much higher.)
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