FINALS UPDATE: The Voice (2.1) adjusted up while
CMA Country Christmas (1.0) and
Conviction (0.6) and
Gotham (1.0) and
Lucifer (1.1) and
Jane the Virgin (0.4) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:
- The CW kicked off its four-way superhero crossover week with Supergirl (1.1), plus Jane the Virgin (0.5). (Pending a Green Bay preemption for Monday Night Football.)
- Elsewhere, only NBC (The Voice (2.0) / Timeless (1.1)) and Fox (Gotham (1.1) / Lucifer (1.2)) had regular lineups. CBS was all repeats except for The Odd Couple (0.9).
- ABC had its annual 'CMA Country Christmas' special (1.3) and Conviction (1.0) but is pending major MNF preemptions.
FINALS UPDATE: NFL Overrun (6.5) and
60 Minutes (2.8) and
NCIS: Los Angeles (1.5) and
Madam Secretary (1.0) and
Sunday Night Football (6.2) and
Son of Zorn (R)
(0.7) adjusted up while
Football Night in America (2.5) and
Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas (0.8) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- ABC's drama lineup was back with a minor uptick for Once Upon a Time (1.0), then even Secrets and Lies (0.7) (which will wrap up with two hours next week) and the 2016 finale of Quantico (0.7) (which was recently granted a Monday stint after The Bachelor in 2017).
- CBS is pending NFL overrun-muddled results for 60 Minutes (2.3 from 8:00-9:00), NCIS: Los Angeles (1.4 from 9:00-10:00) and Madam Secretary (0.9 from 10:00-11:00). These shows all started 11 minutes before the hour in the East/Central (plus Elementary at 10:49 ET), which means they could be adjusting up in finals.
- Without a national NFL overrun, Fox mostly went into repeats (as CBS will do next week). A 7:30 edition of Bob's Burgers (1.1) was the only original, leading out of a combination of local NFL overruns plus holiday special Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas (1.0). The 8:00-10:00 lineup (1.1/0.6/0.8/0.5) was all repeats.
- And NBC's Sunday Night Football, featuring Kansas City and Denver, had a high-5's prelim.
FINALS UPDATE: Sunday Night Football (6.9) and
Pitch (R)
(1.1) adjusted up while
The Great Indoors (1.1) and
Football Night in America (4.1) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:
- On Thanksgiving night, CBS was again the only network with original series programming. The Big Bang Theory (1.4) was the only repeat, leading into The Great Indoors (1.2), Mom (1.2), Life in Pieces (1.0) and Pure Genius (0.8). The younger-skewing Life in Pieces took a sizable hit, but everything else was only down in the 10-15% area.
- NBC had its usual Thanksgiving primetime football game, but with a 6.0ish prelim, Steelers/Colts looks like it will decline significantly from last year's evening game (which averaged a 9.0 final).
- Fox had a presumably massive late afternoon NFL game, boosting repeats of Rosewood (2.2) and Pitch (1.0). These numbers are ridiculous enough (including a 2.8 at 8:00) that I'm assuming the postgame show bled into the 8:00 hour a bit, but maybe somebody can clarify.
- ABC went with a two-hour Wonderful World of Disney special (1.0) and comedy repeats (0.6/0.5). The CW had a four-pack of Whose Line Is It Anyway? repeats (0.3/0.3/0.3/0.3).
FINALS UPDATE: A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (2.0) and
Lethal Weapon (R)
(0.9) and
Empire (R)
(0.8) adjusted up while
Modern Family (R)
(1.2) and
The Hollywood Walk of Fame Honors (0.2) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:
- Once a battleground for original programming despite the depressed overall viewing, this Thanksgiving Eve saw only one network in the original series game: CBS, with a two-hour Survivor (1.5) and Code Black (0.9). Survivor took a three-tenths hit from last week, which is about the norm from recent Thanksgiving Eve telecasts, while Code Black stayed at typical levels.
- But CBS was not without competition, as some holiday specials proved potent. ABC's A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1.9) impressed in the 8:00 hour, leading into repeats of Modern Family (1.3) and Black-ish (1.1) and a Designated Survivor-themed edition of 20/20 (0.9).
- NBC had a Macy's parade special at 8/7c (0.9) and then won the last two hours of the night with a two-hour Saturday Night Live Thanksgiving special (1.6/1.5) which did much better than last year (1.1).
- Bringing up the rear was Fox with repeats of Lethal Weapon (0.8) and Empire (0.7), and the CW with a two-hour Hollywood Walk of Fame special (0.3/0.2).
FINALS UPDATE: Frosty the Snowman (1.0) adjusted up while
How Murray Saved Christmas (0.7) and
Lethal Weapon (R)
(0.5) adjusted down.
FINALS UPDATE: American Housewife (1.5) adjusted up.
WHAT MATTERS:- For most networks, it was the last night of original entertainment programming before a long holiday weekend. ABC had rather soft interest in the two-hour season finale of Dancing with the Stars (1.7/1.8), which didn't bump up at all from the Monday performance finale and went well below the 2.4 ender from last fall. And if there was any hope that DWTS pre-tune would help the Tuesday 8:00 comedies, that didn't really materialize (except maybe in total viewers). In the demo, The Middle (1.6) was even and American Housewife (1.4) actually fell to a new low.
- DWTS didn't exactly devastate the 9:00 to 11:00 competition either, but may have held it back a bit. On CBS, Bull (1.5) and NCIS: New Orleans (1.2) matched last week, but their lead-in NCIS (1.9) had its best outing in well over a month.
- NBC's This Is Us (2.4) was down a bit, but it had an even bigger build relative to The Voice, which plummeted to a 1.8. Chicago Fire held at 1.5.
- Fox headed into the holidays on a rough note with new lows for both New Girl (0.8) and Scream Queens (0.5). Leading off was Brooklyn Nine-Nine with its fourth straight 0.9.
- And the CW's The Flash inched down to 1.1, leading into No Tomorrow (0.3).
These numbers are current through Monday, November 21.
WHAT MATTERS:
- News events caused USA Network to bump its Ryan Philippe drama Shooter to the fall, and it opened last Tuesday with a 0.50 demo rating. This is a better raw rating than the last two dramas to launch after the WWE SmackDown franchise: Colony in January (0.44) and Queen of the South in June (0.45). However, SmackDown (which recently relocated to Tuesday) was also a lot stronger itself... it averaged a 0.96 leading into Shooter after getting roughly a 0.7 for those other two launches. So it may be a little premature to say that Shooter did way better. However, it did seem like a pretty good demographic fit with the wrestling, skewing sharply male at 59%.
FINALS UPDATE: Conviction (0.7) and
The Odd Couple (1.0) and
Supergirl (0.9) and
Jane the Virgin (0.4) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- Kevin Can Wait (1.5) preliminarily ticked down for the second straight week on CBS, but it was a decent night for the rest of the comedy lineup; Man with a Plan (1.3) was even, while 2 Broke Girls (1.4) and The Odd Couple (1.1) both ticked up. Scorpion hung another 1.2 at 10/9c.
- ABC had only a minimal uptick for the performance finale of Dancing with the Stars (1.8), though it was still even-ish in Plus with last year's performance finale (2.1). Conviction had another 0.8 at 10/9c.
- On NBC, the late-season slump continued for The Voice (2.1/2.0), which will hope to benefit from DWTS' absence in the coming weeks. Timeless clung to 1.2 in the prelims at 10/9c.
- Fox's Gotham (1.1) and Lucifer (1.0) both inched down.
- And the CW's Supergirl (1.0) and Jane the Virgin (0.6) should be adjusted due to Monday Night Football preemptions.
It's time for another edition of Renewology Swings of the Week. Which
shows had the best and worst weeks in terms of Renewology odds? These
numbers cover
Week 9
of the 2016-17 season (November 14-20).
FINALS UPDATE: NFL Overrun (5.7) and
Sunday Night Football (6.2) and
Bob's Burgers (1.1) and
Family Guy (1.4) adjusted up while
60 Minutes (2.6) and
NCIS: Los Angeles (1.5) and
Elementary (0.7) and
Football Night in America (2.7) and
The Simpsons (R)
(0.5) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- ABC mercifully took a break from airing its drama Sunday lineup, but the bad news kept flowing with a significant year-to-year decline for the American Music Awards (2.4). The Awards may have helped lift America's Funniest Home Videos (1.1), which hit a prelim season high and matched the year-ago evening.
- Fox had a low-end The Simpsons (1.3) but a pretty typical non-overrun evening at 9/8c with Family Guy (1.3) and The Last Man on Earth (0.9). However, the network's most notable point may have come at 8:30, where Bob's Burgers (1.2) filled in and significantly outperformed the recent non-overrun episodes of Son of Zorn. (Bob's also had a 1.0 for a 7:30 original.)
- CBS (5.1/4.0/2.3/1.9/1.4/1.2/0.9/0.8) had the national NFL overrun, starting its regular programs at 46 minutes after the hour. Looking at just the halfs that are exclusively dedicated to one program, you would get 60 Minutes (2.3), NCIS: Los Angeles (1.4) and Madam Secretary (0.9), but we'll see how it looks after finals.
- After a spike last week, Sunday Night Football was back to fairly normal with a mid-5's prelim that should adjust up to somewhere in the low-to-mid-6's.
Here's a quick catch-up on War of 18-49 pages for some 2016 cable
shows that got left behind in the last few months. Just doing shows that
have already existing War pages, though I may be adding some more War posts for cable series in the near future. Click the names in each one of these
tables to see the now-updated War of 18-49 page.
This
is hitting a lot of material that is over a year old, because many of
these shows were only part-way through a split season as of the last
time I did cable War updates. I'm including the new split-season halves on these updates, but still not doing grades yet for the material that is technically an incomplete season.
FINALS UPDATE: The Exorcist (0.6) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- CBS' veterans Hawaii Five-0 (1.3) and Blue Bloods (1.2) each gave back part of their spikes, while MacGyver clung to 1.1 for the fifth time in the last six episodes. CBS Friday has aired in its entirety every single week of the season to date, but the streak will end with Black Friday next week.
- On ABC, Last Man Standing was preliminarily back down to its usual 1.1, while Dr. Ken held the 0.9 and Shark Tank stayed at 1.2. 20/20 (0.7) gave back all of its big post-election bounce from last week.
- In the Fox prelims, The Exorcist (0.7) took a tenth away from lead-in Hell's Kitchen (1.0).
- NBC's lineup of Caught on Camera (0.7) and Dateline (1.0/1.1) was up a bit.
- And The Vampire Diaries edged down to 0.3 for the CW, leading into another 0.2 from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
FINALS UPDATE: Grey's Anatomy (2.2) and
Thursday Night Football Pregame (2.2) and
Thursday Night Football (4.2) adjusted up while
The Great Indoors (1.4) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- ABC sent its Thursday bookend dramas Grey's Anatomy (2.1) and How to Get Away with Murder (1.4) off to holiday hiatus with two-tenth upticks. For Grey's, it was really just getting back to a normal rating after last week's drop, but Murder actually made it all the way back to its season high from the premiere in September. Next time we see these shows, they'll again be a part of the official 'TGIT' branding, with Scandal in the middle instead of Notorious (0.9).
- After a solid week three, the CBS comedies turned back downward this time, especially The Big Bang Theory (3.1) and The Great Indoors (1.5) in the 8:00 hour. Mom (1.4) and Life in Pieces (1.4) each shed a tenth in the 9:00 hour, while Pure Genius continued to hold onto a 0.9 at 10:00. As has been tradition in the Thursday Night Football era, all these shows (except for Big Bang) will have to endure an original Thanksgiving telecast next week, and CBS doesn't have the late afternoon game this time.
- NBC had a fairly modest result in its first ever game under the Thursday Night Football banner, with a high-2's prelim that will likely translate to somewhere in the low-4's after finals (when the NFL Network simulcast is included).
- Fox's drama duo of Rosewood (0.7) and Pitch (0.7) stayed stuck at last week's lows. And the CW's Supernatural inched back up to 0.7, leading out of yet another 0.6 from Legends of Tomorrow.
FINALS UPDATE: The Goldbergs (1.9) and
Speechless (1.7) and
Chicago PD (1.2) adjusted up while
Black-ish (1.5) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- ABC's The Goldbergs (1.8) gave back last week's spike, and its lead-outs Speechless (1.6) and Modern Family (2.2) also inched down. However, Black-ish (1.6) picked up a tenth, and Designated Survivor (1.2) was even again at 10/9c.
- On CBS, Criminal Minds (1.4) got back a tenth after last week's stinker, but Survivor (1.8) lost the same. Code Black (0.9) stayed fractional at 10/9c.
- Fox had an up-and-down night of its own, with Empire (3.1) moving back into the threes but Lethal Weapon (1.7) dropping a tenth.
- NBC's Blindspot desperately needed an uptick after last week's low, and it at least got a small one with a 1.1. But a two-hour Chicago PD (1.2) dipped, as it hit just a 1.1 in the out-of-timeslot 9:00 hour before growing to its normal 1.3 at 10/9c.
- And it was another 0.7/0.3 night for Arrow and Frequency on the CW.
FINALS UPDATE: New Girl (1.0) adjusted up.
WHAT MATTERS:- It was the first 'normal' Tuesday in about a month, and a lot of shows were able to take advantage. ABC's comedies The Middle (1.6), American Housewife (1.6), Fresh Off the Boat (1.3) and The Real O'Neals (1.1) were all on the upswing, and most of them by multiple tenths compared with two weeks ago. ABC also had huge improvement in the 10/9c hour as another of its David Blaine specials (1.6) allowed the network to keep Agents of SHIELD on hiatus for another couple weeks.
- NBC's huge This Is Us (2.6) also had a nice leap, beating its last couple episodes and building big on its lead-in from The Voice (2.1). But Chicago Fire stayed at a low-end 1.5, perhaps suffering from the David Blaine competition.
- There was also good news on the CW, where The Flash (1.2) roared back after managing only a 1.0 in its last several outings. But that was of absolutely no help to No Tomorrow (0.3) at 9/8c, whose breakdown (0.3 -> 0.2) reveals it is actually closer to 0.25 than 0.35...
- The 'worst' performances of the night were still basically steady with their last originals; that included CBS' NCIS (1.7), Bull (1.5) and NCIS: New Orleans (1.2). And Fox was back to Tuesday reality after a very lengthy hiatus with Brooklyn Nine-Nine (0.9), New Girl (0.9) and Scream Queens (0.6).
These numbers are current through Monday, November 14.
WHAT MATTERS:
- Week four saw another small decline for The Walking Dead (5.43), and a worst-yet 20% behind the year-ago fourth episode.
FINALS UPDATE: 2 Broke Girls (1.3) adjusted up while
Supergirl (0.7) and
Jane the Virgin (0.3) adjusted down.
FINALS UPDATE: 2 Broke Girls (1.3) adjusted up while
Supergirl (0.7) and
Jane the Virgin (0.3) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- The fourth week for the CBS comedy lineup saw several downticks. Kevin Can Wait (1.6) still looks good in the lead-off spot, but Man with a Plan (1.3) was just OK again at 8:30, and 2 Broke Girls (1.2) had a particular stinker at 9/8c. The CBS trends improved in the second half of the night as The Odd Couple (1.0) was even and Scorpion (1.2) picked up a tenth.
- ABC had a bit of an upswing with Dancing with the Stars (1.7/1.6) and Conviction (0.8), which rebounded to normal after a horrible result last week.
- On Fox, Gotham (1.2) and Lucifer (1.1) both had pretty good nights, with Lucifer growing for the second straight week since its Halloween low point.
- NBC's The Voice (2.3) and Timeless (1.2), along with the CW's Supergirl (0.8) and Jane the Virgin (0.5) are mostly eyeing slight growth, but may be nicked by Monday Night Football preemptions in finals.
It's time for another edition of Renewology Swings of the Week. Which shows had the best and worst weeks in terms of Renewology odds? These numbers cover
Week 8
of the 2016-17 season (November 7-13).
FINALS UPDATE: 60 Minutes (3.4) and
Sunday Night Football (7.7) adjusted up while
NCIS: Los Angeles (1.6) and
Madam Secretary (1.0) and
The OT (6.7) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- CBS' 60 Minutes (3.2) got a big ratings pop with the first major interview with the new president-elect. This includes some local NFL overruns in some rather sizable markets, so it could come down some, but it still has a shot at a season high (beating a bunch of episodes that had national NFL support). Again, wait for finals, but that 60 Minutes bounce appears to have helped NCIS: Los Angeles (1.9), but not done much for Madam Secretary (1.1) and Elementary (0.7).
- On ABC, the end-of-DST bounce evaporated for America's Funniest Home Videos (0.8) and Once Upon a Time (0.9), which may have been undone by a much stronger NFL week. But Secrets and Lies (0.7) and Quantico (0.7) came at least a touch off of the ledge.
- Fox had a huge national NFL overrun from Cowboys/Steelers, and its comedy lineup of The Simpsons (3.1), Son of Zorn (1.6), Family Guy (1.6) and The Last Man on Earth (1.1) looked pretty similar to the last time the network had a national overrun back on October 16 (when Simpsons had a Treehouse of Horror episode).
- On the first Sunday after the election, there were some positive signs for the NFL, which also had excellent matchups for both the Fox late afternoon game (preliminary 8.1 at 7:00) as well as NBC's Sunday Night Football. The mid-6 prelim for SNF was the franchise's best preliminary rating since September.
Here's a quick catch-up on War of 18-49 pages for some summer shows that got left behind in the early fall rush. Just doing shows that have already existing War pages. Another version of this for cable is coming soon! Click the names in each one of these tables to see the now-updated War of 18-49 page.
FINALS UPDATE: Last Man Standing (1.2) adjusted up.
WHAT MATTERS:
- It was a big week for CBS' Friday veteran crime dramas, with Hawaii Five-0 (1.4) and Blue Bloods (1.3) each up by two tenths to tie their season highs and rank as Friday's top two programs. (Five-0's previous 1.4 came with over a half point more of lead-in support than what MacGyver did last night (1.1).) That means Five-0 has now picked up by 0.4 in two weeks since a 1.0 against the World Series.
- ABC also had some good news as Dr. Ken slid back up to 0.9, and 20/20 (1.1) finally showed some real life at 10/9c. Anchors Last Man Standing (1.1) and Shark Tank (1.2) had their usual numbers.
- It was an eerily steady night elsewhere:
- Fox: Hell's Kitchen (1.1) and The Exorcist (0.6)
- CW: The Vampire Diaries (0.4) and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (0.2)
- NBC with Caught on Camera (0.6) and Dateline (0.9/1.0)
FINALS UPDATE: Life in Pieces (1.5) adjusted up while
Superstore (1.2) and
Superstore (1.3) and
Chicago Med (1.4) and
The Blacklist (1.2) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:
- Thursday was the third and final showdown between CBS and NBC originals this fall, as NBC's half of the Thursday Night Football package begins next week. We'll have to wait for finals on NBC's double-length Superstore (1.3/1.4), Chicago Med (1.5) and The Blacklist (1.4), as they are likely pending downgrades due to preemptions in the local TNF markets.
- On CBS, meanwhile, it was a bounce-back Thursday for The Big Bang Theory (3.4), and that resonated to some degree later in the night as The Great Indoors (1.7), Mom (1.5) and Life in Pieces (1.4) were all on the upswing. It was a new worst-ever retention for Indoors, and it won't get any better after finals, but a moderately encouraging point for Mom after two weak efforts to start the season. At 10/9c, Pure Genius at least kept itself alive in the short term by staying at 0.9.
- ABC had kind of a weird night as Grey's Anatomy (1.9) was surprisingly down on the first Thursday with no DST, but Notorious (0.9) was up and How to Get Away with Murder (1.2) held on.
- Maybe the World Series actually did help Pitch, which crashed to a 0.7 this week. It led out of a low-end effort from Rosewood (0.7).
- And on the CW, Legends of Tomorrow clung to a 0.6 but Supernatural (0.6) inched down.
FINALS UPDATE: Black-ish (1.5) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- Most Wednesday entertainment programs were back from the first time in two weeks. ABC started with a nice bounce as viewing levels were likely higher for The Goldbergs (2.0) at 8/7c, while Speechless (1.7) and Modern Family (2.3) were even. But Black-ish (1.6) inched down, and Designated Survivor (1.2) was unable to mount any kind of rally from its big dip against the World Series last time.
- America did not seem to be in much of a mood for dark crime dramas on the day after the election, with schizophrenic Criminal Minds (1.3) falling all the way to a new low and looking a lot more like the show that had a 1.4 stinker back in week two. Leading out was Code Black (0.9), which had its first fractional result with an original Minds lead-in (though it was still up from last week against the World Series). CBS' star was clearly Survivor (1.9), which bounced all the way back from a dip against the biggest Series game last week.
- And the NBC dramas also had a tough time, with new season lows for Blindspot (1.0) and Law and Order: SVU (1.3), while Chicago PD (1.3) tied its low from two weeks ago.
- Fox was returning from an even longer hiatus; it had to sit out the last two World Series weeks, and Empire even missed the week before that due to a debate. So Empire (2.9) took a pretty sizble crash at 9/8c, but Lethal Weapon (1.8) had a rather robust return anyway at 8/7c.
- Arrow inched back up to 0.7 for the CW, leading into another 0.3 from Frequency.
FINALS UPDATE: ABC Election (2.7) and
CBS Election (2.4) and
NBC Election (4.0) and
Fox Election (1.2) and
The Flash (R)
(0.3) and
No Tomorrow (R)
(0.1) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- The broadcast networks stepped aside for the latest in a long list of major 2016 primetime interruptions: coverage of Election Day. In the prelims, NBC (4.0/4.6/4.6) was in the lead, followed by ABC (2.6/3.0/3.2), CBS (2.4/2.7/2.7) and Fox (1.4/1.7/1.8).
- The CW didn't have election coverage (at least on a national basis) but also sat out for the night, airing repeats of The Flash (0.4) and No Tomorrow (0.2).
Also still open:
Pure Genius
WEEK ONE
Rating: 1.9
Lead-in: The Big Bang Theory (3.4)
Competition: Grey's Anatomy (2.2),
The Good Place (1.2),
Rosewood (0.8),
Legends of Tomorrow (0.6)
These numbers are current through Monday, November 7.
WHAT MATTERS:
- AMC's The Walking Dead (5.68) took another dip in its third week, and this point was 15% below the year-ago week three (as it grew by a few tenths in week three of last season).
FINALS UPDATE: Conviction (0.6) and
The Odd Couple (1.0) and
Jane the Virgin (0.4) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- The end of DST plus the fact that last week was Halloween caused a rather ridiculous upswing in overall viewing on Monday, pretty much throughout the first two hours but especially at 8:00 (which was up over 20%, from 24.5 to 30.1). That resulted in a slew of broadcast increases in those early hours.
- Most drastic was CBS' Kevin Can Wait (1.7), using an added assist from an Adam Sandler guest spot to zoom all the way back to its timeslot premiere rating from two weeks ago. Man with a Plan (0.1), 2 Broke Girls (1.4) and The Odd Couple (1.0) each packed on a tenth, but that meant MwaP looked a bit weaker by comparison with its Kevin lead-in.
- The Voice (2.3) also had a significant increase, but is predictably finding it very difficult to sustain last year's hot pace from the late fall. It led into big ratings for a Saturday Night Live election special (2.1) at 10/9c, nearly doubling the week-ago Timeless.
- Fox's Gotham (1.2) and Lucifer (1.0) as well as the CW's Supergirl (0.7) were also on the post-Halloween upswing.
FINALS UPDATE: 60 Minutes (2.4) and
NCIS: Los Angeles (1.4) and
Madam Secretary (1.0) and
Sunday Night Football (6.6) adjusted up while
Football Night in America (2.9) and
Son of Zorn (R)
(0.6) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- The end of Daylight Saving Time as well as the end of the World Series were good news for ABC's first two hours, as America's Funniest Home Videos (1.0) and Once Upon a Time (1.1) both had two-tenth upswings. But that made for an even more bitter pill to swallow for Secrets and Lies (0.6) and Quantico (0.6), which couldn't bounce back at all.
- CBS used the national NFL overrun on 60 Minutes (2.1 from 8:00-9:00), NCIS: Los Angeles (1.3 from 9:00-10:00) and Madam Secretary (0.9 and 10:00-11:00), plus a rough 10:50 start time for Elementary. Some of these shows should be able to adjust up in finals since each of their first ten minutes were chopped off in these preliminary half hour-based numbers.
- On Fox, Family Guy (1.2) and The Last Man on Earth (0.9) tied their last results (two weeks ago against The Walking Dead's premiere). It seems there was less local NFL overrun help, as there was some slippage earlier in the evening from Bob's Burgers (1.0), The Simpsons (1.4) and Son of Zorn (0.9).
- NBC had a mid-5's prelim for Sunday Night Football, which will probably end up a few tenths below last week's final 6.5.
Also still open:
Man with a Plan
WEEK ONE
Rating: 1.0
Lead-in: Life in Pieces (1.4)
Competition: How to Get Away with Murder (1.2),
The Blacklist (1.2)
FINALS UPDATE: Shark Tank (1.2) adjusted up while
The Exorcist (0.6) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:
- Friday was the first chance for primetime lineups to come back into action after either facing or being preempted for the World Series last week. That was most felt on CBS, where MacGyver (1.1) and Hawaii Five-0 (1.2) instantly reclaimed the two tenths they lost against the Series. However, Blue Bloods was stuck at another 1.1 at 10/9c.
- On ABC, the returns of comedies Last Man Standing (1.1) and Dr. Ken (0.8) were both even with two weeks ago. At 9/8c, Shark Tank couldn't pick back up to its pre-Series level, staying at its disappointing 1.1 from the opening weeks of the season (as well as last week against the Series). 20/20 inched up to 0.8.
- Fox's Hell's Kitchen (1.1) and The Exorcist (0.7), as well as the CW's The Vampire Diaries (0.4) and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (0.2), all matched their results from the last pre-Series Friday two weeks ago. NBC also had a typical phone-it-in night with Caught on Camera (0.6) and Dateline (0.9/1.0).
FINALS UPDATE: How to Get Away with Murder (1.2) and
The Big Bang Theory (3.1) adjusted up while
The Great Indoors (1.6) and
Superstore (1.1) and
The Good Place (1.2) and
Chicago Med (1.3) and
The Blacklist (1.1) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- The new CBS Thursday lineup trickled downward in week two, starting with The Big Bang Theory (3.0) dropping a few tenths. The Great Indoors (1.7) had an OK hold at 8:30, shedding just two tenths, while Mom (1.3) remained surprisingly modest in the early going with its own two-tenth drop post-premiere. Life in Pieces (1.3) remained the overachiever with another strong hold at 9:30, and Pure Genius (0.9) shed a tenth in its second week.
- On Fox, Pitch inched up to 0.9 following two nights of enormous baseball on the network, while Rosewood (bound for Friday this winter) had its usual 0.8 again.
- ABC's staples Grey's Anatomy (2.1) and How to Get Away with Murder (1.1) each inched down in the prelims, surrounding a steady but low Notorious (0.8).
- NBC's lineup of Superstore (1.2), The Good Place (1.4), Chicago Med (1.6) and The Blacklist (1.3) are all pending preemptions in the Thursday Night Football markets. It seems fairly clear that Superstore didn't sustain last week's big surge to 1.3, but it also may drop the least of any of these shows in finals since the game didn't start till nearly 8:30.
- On the CW, Supernatural ticked up to 0.7, leading out of another 0.6 from Legends of Tomorrow.
WEEK ONE
Rating: 1.6
Lead-in: Kevin Can Wait (1.7)
Competition: Dancing with the Stars Fall (1.6),
The Voice Fall (2.7),
Gotham (1.1),
Supergirl (0.8)
FINALS UPDATE: Survivor (1.6) and
World Series (12.6) adjusted up while
Criminal Minds (R)
(0.8) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:
- Thanks to an extra inning and a rain delay, it took until deep into primetime on the West Coast, but a 108-year curse finally ended for the Chicago Cubs, and a lot of people were watching. In the prelims, Game 7 of the World Series averaged almost 40 million viewers and just over a 12 demo rating, nearly doubling the previous high of this Series. It will certainly be the biggest rating for a baseball game since Game 7 of the 2001 World Series (which had a 14.6), and the first time the sport has even cracked double digits since 2004. The previous high for this decade was a 7.4!
- ABC was forced to counter with its own big event, and still got roughly a 3.0 demo out of the CMA Awards. That was down about 20% from last year.
- CBS was the only other big four network with original material, seeing about a 20% hit to Survivor (1.5) at 8/7c and a three-tenth drop for Code Black (0.7), which was also saddled with a repeat lead-in from Criminal Minds (0.9). NBC went with crime drama repeats (0.6/0.8/0.7).
- On the CW, Arrow (0.6) and Frequency (0.3) stayed original and managed to cling to low-end numbers.
FINALS UPDATE: Fresh Off the Boat (1.1) and
Chicago Fire (1.5) and
World Series (6.6) and
The Flash (1.0) adjusted up.
WHAT MATTERS:
- Fox's dream World Series raged on with another huge rating for Game 6, plus a result that ensured an enormous seventh and final game tonight.With a preliminary low-6 rating, it looks like it went at least 10% ahead of the opener which was in the mix last Tuesday, but perhaps not beat out the Series high 6.7 from Sunday. It'll destroy the last couple historical Game 6 ratings (a 5.7 in 2013 and a measly 3.5 in 2014), and may match or slightly edge the 6.5 Game 6 from 2011.
- More World Series meant still more declines for broadcast entertainment programs. ABC was a mixed bag, with the 8:00 hour of The Middle (1.4) and American Housewife (1.5) each down just a tenth, Fresh Off the Boat (1.0) and The Real O'Neals (0.8) down a very unwelcome two-tenths, and Agents of SHIELD (0.8) steady.
- On NBC, This Is Us (2.3) shed just a tenth, which is pretty strong considering the added difficulty of The Voice (1.4) going into recap show mode in the 8:00 hour. Chicago Fire (1.4) was preliminarily down two tenths at 10/9c.
- The CW's The Flash (0.9) is eyeing a new series low, but will hope to get out of fraction-town after finals (which may be possible with a 1.0/0.9 half-hour breakdown). No Tomorrow had 0.3 again.
- And CBS ducked the Series by adding last-minute repeats of NCIS (1.1), Bull (1.0) and NCIS: New Orleans (0.9). They'll do the same with Criminal Minds against tonight's Game 7.
These numbers are current through Monday, October 31.
WHAT MATTERS:
- Week two of The Walking Dead brought a 27% week-to-week drop, but the resulting 6.09 demo was only about a single tenth behind the year-ago week two. Sustaining that stratospheric level from the cliffhanger-inflated premiere was probably never gonna happen, but it would go down as a huge win if all this can ultimately keep the show within a league average drop. So week two looks positive in that sense, especially since it had World Series competition as well. (The aftershow Talking Dead plummeted even harder, down 45% to a 2.03 in week two.)
FINALS UPDATE: Gotham (1.0) adjusted up while
Kevin Can Wait (1.3) and
Man with a Plan (1.3) and
2 Broke Girls (1.3) and
The Odd Couple (0.9) and
Scorpion (1.1) adjusted down.
- For the CBS comedy night, this means a pretty huge drop for Kevin Can Wait at 8/7c, but a decent enough hold from week two of Man with a Plan (causing Renewology to warm up a bit, even on a down night). 2 Broke Girls was down 0.1 (OK) and The Odd Couple down 0.2 (not great) from last week.
WHAT MATTERS:
- Halloween brought another slew of broadcast drops, and it'll be tough to know exactly what they mean until seeing the week-to-week change in overall viewing (as well as sorting out MNF preemptions). It was week two for the new CBS comedy lineup of Kevin Can Wait (1.4), Man with a Plan (1.5), 2 Broke Girls (1.5) and The Odd Couple (1.2), with Scorpion (1.4) rounding out the night. Stay tuned, as the network had at least one football preemption.
- NBC's The Voice (1.9/2.0) and Timeless (1.1) had a particularly rough night in the prelims, with Voice shedding about 25% week-to-week.
- Dancing with the Stars (1.4/1.5) took a more modest decline, but the network got little at 10/9c out of its annual CMA Awards preview special (0.7).
- Fox's Gotham (0.9) and Lucifer (0.9) both dipped into fractional territory for the first time.
- And Supergirl (0.6) was nicked again at 8/7c, leading into increasingly resilient Jane the Virgin (0.4) at 9/8c.
It's time for another edition of Renewology Swings of the Week. These numbers cover
Week 6 of the 2016-17 season (October 24 thru October 30). This week, I'll also take a look at what I did to "fix" the major R% problem with CBS comedies.
FINALS UPDATE: Sunday Night Football (6.5) and
World Series (6.7) adjusted up while
60 Minutes (1.2) and
Football Night in America (2.9) and
NFL Overrun (7.3) and
The OT (4.5) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- Sports took center stage on Sunday, with another point of massive year-to-year growth for Game 5 of the World Series. It had a low-6's prelim, easily the highest of the series to date and well above the clincher on this night last year (which had a 4.8 prelim and 5.1 final). It was also a fantastic game result for Fox, which now gets at least one more game on Tuesday.
- And NBC's Sunday Night Football, featuring the always ratings-reliable Dallas Cowboys, had a 6.0ish prelim, its highest in a month even with that competition.
- The entertainment options got left far behind once again. On a week-to-week basis, it was actually a worse week for CBS' NCIS: Los Angeles (1.2), Madam Secretary (0.8) and Elementary (0.6), with LA and Madam each going multiple tenths behind their previous season lows. But even 'just' one-tenth drops were very unwelcome news for ABC's Once Upon a Time (0.9), Secrets and Lies (0.6) and Quantico (0.6).
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