Spotted Ratings, Friday 12/29/17

FINALS UPDATE: Hell's Kitchen (R) (0.4) adjusted down.

Spotted Ratings, Thursday 12/28/17

The Top 10 TV Ratings Moments of 2017

It's time for my eighth annual look back at the year's top 10 moments in TV ratings! As always, the criteria are pretty subjective, but I go for a blend of 1) relatively isolated incidents that are impressive for their sheer enormity/cultural impact and 2) moments that exemplify much larger trends in TV this year. Please let me know about my most egregious rankings/omissions. Happy New Year!

Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 12/27/17

FINALS UPDATE: Foster Farms Bowl (0.7) adjusted up.

The Best Of Plus: Broadcast New Scripted Series

This is The Best Of Plus, a look at the top performers since 2001-02 using numbers that are adjusted for historical decline. The table simply looks at the top n examples, where n is the number of years since 2001-02... so with each yearly update, each list will get one entry longer. There are some pithy notes about many of the seasons below the table. The chart you can activate at the bottom chronicles the top single performer within each year.

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 12/26/17

The Best Of Plus: Netlet (CW/WB/UPN) Scripted Seasons

This is The Best Of Plus, a look at the top performers since 2001-02 using numbers that are adjusted for historical decline. The table simply looks at the top n examples, where n is the number of years since 2001-02... so with each yearly update, each list will get one entry longer. There are some pithy notes about many of the seasons below the table. The chart you can activate at the bottom chronicles the top single performer within each year.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 12/25/17

FINALS UPDATE: Man with a Plan (R) (0.6) adjusted up while NBA Basketball (1.8) adjusted down.

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 12/24/17

FINALS UPDATE: The OT (3.6) and The Simpsons (R) (1.7) adjusted up while 60 Minutes (0.7) adjusted down.

Spotted Ratings, Friday 12/22/17

Spotted Ratings, Thursday 12/21/17

FINALS UPDATE: Young Sheldon (1.8), Great News (0.6) and Saturday Night Live Christmas (1.2) adjusted up while S.W.A.T. (1.0) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Numbers coming later today. Most of the CBS Thursday lineup continued into the week before Christmas, with Young Sheldon airing after a repeat of The Big Bang Theory. On NBC, Great News returned with two original episodes in the 8:00 hour.

The Best of Plus: Broadcast Drama Seasons

This is The Best Of Plus, a look at the top performers since 2001-02 using numbers that are adjusted for historical decline. The table simply looks at the top n examples, where n is the number of years since 2001-02... so with each yearly update, each list will get one entry longer. There are some pithy notes about many of the seasons below the table (plus what the list would look like with cable dramas). The chart you can activate at the bottom chronicles the top single performer within each year.

Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 12/20/17

FINALS UPDATE: Movie: Pitch Perfect (1.0) adjusted up while Survivor (1.2) and Will and Grace (R) (0.6) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• On Wednesday, it was Survivor's turn to have a finale with little broadcast competition, and it delivered a 1.9 in each of the first two hours, plus a 1.6 in the 10/9c hour which was about half finale (1.9) and half reunion (1.2). The 1.9 would be even with last fall's 1.9 finale / 1.3 reunion.

•  The best of the rest was NBC, with a repeat of Will and Grace (0.7) and movie Pitch Perfect (0.7/0.9/0.9/1.1/1.1).

SpotVault - The Librarians (TNT) - Winter 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Ellen's Game of Games (NBC) - Winter 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Better Late Than Never (NBC) - 2017-18 Ratings

The Best Of Plus: Broadcast Comedy Seasons

This is The Best Of Plus, a look at the top performers since 2001-02 using numbers that are adjusted for historical decline. The table simply looks at the top n examples, where n is the number of years since 2001-02... so with each yearly update, each list will get one entry longer. There are some pithy notes about many of the seasons below the table. The chart you can activate at the bottom chronicles the top single performer within each year.

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 12/19/17

WHAT MATTERS:

• The Voice's fall finale (2.1/2.0) had the stage to itself among original series, and it was close to 20% below the 2.5 for last fall's finale.

• The only other originals on broadcast were staple holiday specials, ABC's The Year (0.8) and CBS' old-skewing A Home for the Holidays (0.6). A Home matched last year (when it aired on Friday) but The Year was down three tenths from last year, when it didn't have a Voice finale to deal with.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 12/18/17

FINALS UPDATE: The Great Christmas Light Fight (0.9) and The Year in Memoriam (0.7) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• NBC saw a very promising start from its 10/9c preview of Ellen's Game of Games (1.7), which is bound for Tuesday lead-off duty during the winter. It was actually a tick above last year's preview of The Wall, which went on to great success in the Tuesday 8/7c slot a year ago. It also crushed anything that the regular occupant The Brave had done in the slot, and was a whooping 70% above last week's Better Late Than Never preview. Its lead-in The Voice (2.0) ticked up for its performance finale.

• The CBS comedy lineup continued into the week before Christmas, and Man with a Plan (0.9) and Superior Donuts (0.8) both inched down along with Scorpion (0.8) at 10/9c.

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 12/17/17

FINALS UPDATE: Sunday Night Football (5.9) adjusted up while 60 Minutes (2.4), Wisdom of the Crowd (1.0), Football Night in America p2 (1.7) and Football Night in America p3 (2.9) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• A Christmas Story became the latest classic tale to get the live musical event treatment on broadcast TV, with the three-hour Fox telecast averaging a 1.5. This was pretty close to what the network got last fall with The Rocky Horror Picture Show (a 1.7 in October 2016) but still a shadow of the gold standards in this tradition, which remain NBC's The Sound of Music Live! in 2013 (4.6) and Fox's Grease Live! in early 2016 (4.3). 
• Speaking of The Sound of Music, ABC aired the original film across all four hours last night (0.6/0.9/1.0/0.9) and was a few tenths behind last year's 1.1.

• CBS was the only network airing regular series, and got a boost from a massive late-afternoon NFL game between the Patriots and the Steelers (averaging a 6.9 in the 7:00 half-hour). Then came 60 Minutes (2.8), Wisdom of the Crowd (1.2/0.9), NCIS: Los Angeles (0.9) and Madam Secretary (0.7), with adjustments possible since the shows started 8 minutes after their listed times.

• NBC's Sunday Night Football with the Cowboys and Raiders averaged a low-5 prelim, and the West Coast markets will likely get the game into the 6's after finals.

Spotted Ratings, Friday 12/15/17

FINALS UPDATE: Hawaii Five-0 (0.9) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• After last week's surge, MacGyver (0.8) and a double-pump of Hawaii Five-0 (1.0/0.9) were back down in their fall finales.

• They stayed just barely ahead of NBC's steady Blindspot (0.7) and Dateline (0.9), and everything on ABC (0.5/0.5/0.5) and Fox (0.8/0.4) also matched last week. The CW went with a Hollywood Christmas Parade special (0.3).

Spotted Ratings, Thursday 12/14/17

FINALS UPDATE: Thursday Night Football (2.9) adjusted up while Thursday Night Football Pregame (1.2) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• CBS' The Big Bang Theory (2.6) and Young Sheldon (2.0) gave back much of their surges from last week, but the network made up some of it as S.W.A.T. ticked back up to 1.0 at 10/9c.

• On ABC, Frozen became the latest Disney franchise to get a half-hour holiday special, and Olaf's Frozen Adventure (1.4) was easily the highest-rated holiday programming of the night. It helped boost Prep & Landing (1.1) to its best rating in a few years. With The Great American Baking Show pulled due to sexual misconduct allegations, a two-hour repeat of The Great Christmas Light Fight (0.7) rounded out the evening.

• Fox trailed in the holiday special battle with Showtime at the Apollo (0.7) and Taraji's White Hot Holidays (0.7), while the CW did well with the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball (0.4). It was a rough night for NBC's Thursday Night Football, which featured two non-contending teams.

Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 12/13/17

FINALS UPDATE: Speechless (1.2) and Survivor (1.8) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Fall finale night on ABC and Fox brought several upticks, including The Goldbergs (1.6) with its best rating since week two as well as American Housewife (1.3) and Designated Survivor (0.8). Fox's Empire (1.9) and Star (1.3) also gained a tenth apiece. The CW's Riverdale (0.5) and Dynasty (0.2) stayed even.

• With the crime dramas all wrapped for the fall already, CBS ran Survivor (1.7) plus repeats (0.7/0.7) while NBC repeated last week's The Wall special (0.8) and had a Golden Globes 75th Anniversary special (0.8) from 9:00-11:00.

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 12/12/17

WHAT MATTERS:

• Numbers and analysis coming shortly.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 12/11/17

FINALS UPDATE: The Great Christmas Light Fight (0.9), The Bachelor Special (0.5) and Better Late Than Never (1.0) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Numbers and analysis coming shortly.

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 12/10/17

FINALS UPDATE: Sunday Night Football (5.4) adjusted up while 60 Minutes (1.0), Football Night in America p2 (0.6), Football Night in America p3 (2.3), The OT (4.3) and The Simpsons (2.3) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Fox's live-action Sunday comedies took the night off, and it was a bad night to miss as The Simpsons (2.7) rode the NFL boost to its highest ratings of the season. Bob's Burgers (1.6/1.3) aired a one-hour episode from 8:30 to 9:30, and at 8:30 it was higher than any Ghosted episode. Family Guy (1.2) aired at 9:30 and was of course a big improvement on The Last Man on Earth.

• ABC did strong business with a showing of Frozen (1.2) from 8:00 to 10:00, though it was down a half-point from the film's broadcast debut last year. Reality special Encore! (0.5) garnered little interest at 10/9c, though America's Funniest Home Videos (0.9) did well in its return to the 7/6c hour.

• Without NFL help, CBS' Wisdom of the Crowd (0.7) was on the low end, providing little help to NCIS: Los Angeles (0.8) and Madam Secretary (0.7). NBC was down just a bit from recent weeks with a 4.9ish prelim for Sunday Night Football.

Spotted Ratings, Friday 12/8/17

FINALS UPDATE: Blue Bloods (0.9) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• ABC's Once Upon a Time (0.5) and Agents of SHIELD (0.5) were finally together on the same night, with the latter dropping two tenths after last week's OK premiere.

• Everything else on broadcast was original as well, and it was a big bounce-back night for CBS with MacGyver (0.9), Hawaii Five-0 (1.1) and Blue Bloods (1.0) all on the rise. Fox was up as well, with Hell's Kitchen (0.8) and The Exorcist (0.4) inching off of last week's lows. And the CW's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (0.2) and Jane the Virgin (0.3) made a one-off return to the scene after taking the last couple Fridays off.

Spotted Ratings, Thursday 12/7/17

FINALS UPDATE: Thursday Night Football (4.3) and Supernatural (0.6) adjusted up while Thursday Night Football Pregame (1.5) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• ABC continued its holiday filler rollout with the return of The Great American Baking Show (0.8). It was down by two tenths from last year's premiere. It led out of another nice showing for some ABC holiday specials, as Shrek the Halls (1.0) and Toy Story That Time Forgot (0.9) were both up a tick from last year. 

• CBS' The Big Bang Theory (2.8) and Young Sheldon (2.2) were on the rebound, with TBBT all the way back to tie its highest Thursday rating this fall. However, S.W.A.T. (0.9) dropped a tenth for the second straight week at 10/9c.

• The CW's superhero fall finale week concluded with Arrow falling to its first 0.4 of the season (though it was still ahead of the 0.3 on Thanksgiving).

Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 12/6/17

WHAT MATTERS:

• Some of last week's ugliest droppers were on the rebound this Wednesday, with American Housewife up two tenths to 1.2 (though still on the low end compared with all its other points) and Empire (1.8) picking up a notch for Fox. The ABC comedy anchors The Goldbergs (1.5) and Modern Family (1.7) also edged upward, while Speechless (1.1) and Designated Survivor (0.7) were even.

• On NBC, The Blacklist was MIA again as a repeat of last week's Pentatonix special (0.8) filled in at 8/7c. Lead-out dramas Law and Order: SVU (1.3) and Chicago PD (1.2) came back to earth a bit but were still a little above average.

• The CBS dramas were back, with Criminal Minds (0.9) on the low end but SEAL Team hanging at 1.1. It had an assist from Survivor (1.8), which continued to look strong down the stretch of the season.

SpotVault - Knightfall (HISTORY) - Winter 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Happy! (Syfy) - Winter 2017-18 Ratings

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 12/5/17

FINALS UPDATE: NCIS (R) (0.9) and Chicago Med (1.2) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• In the middle of their Thursday Night Football hiatus, NBC comedies Will and Grace (1.8) and Superstore (1.1) returned for Christmas episodes leading out of The Voice (1.8), and both did pretty close to their usual deliveries on Thursday. With a reduced lead-in, Chicago Med (1.1) shed a couple tenths at 10/9c.

• ABC's lineup returned after sitting out last week and mostly sitting out two weeks ago, and it was not a good look overall; The Middle (1.2), Fresh Off the Boat (0.9), Black-ish (1.0) as well as newbies The Mayor (0.7) and Kevin (Probably) Saves the World (0.6) all tied their Halloween lows.

• Fox's Lethal Weapon (1.0), The Mick (0.8) and Brooklyn Nine-Nine (0.7) all matched last week, meaning the comedies held onto their upticks. On the CW, Legends of Tomorrow (0.6) was the first of the superhero shows to show a little growth vs. two weeks ago before the crossover, while The Flash was back down to 0.8. CBS (0.8/0.7/0.6) was in repeat mode, including a SEAL Team tryout in the 9:00 hour.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 12/4/17

FINALS UPDATE: The Great Christmas Light Fight (1.0), The Good Doctor (1.6), The Voice (1.8) and The Wall Special (0.9) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• A repeat of The Big Bang Theory (1.2) filled in for Kevin Can Wait and helped keep the original Man with a Plan at 1.1 at 8:30. However, Superior Donuts (0.9) and 9JKL (0.8) each shed a tenth in the 9:00 hour.

• On Fox, The Gifted (0.8) is clearly limping to the finish late in the fall, losing another tenth after last week's preemption. Lucifer held at 0.9.

• Pending a Monday Night Football preemption in Pittsburgh, ABC finished up The Good Doctor's fall run (1.7), leading out of the return of The Great Christmas Light Fight (1.1/1.2) in the first two hours. Light Fight had a 1.1 all three weeks last year and should be very close to that even with a finals drop. NBC's The Voice (1.8/1.9) and The Wall (1.0) are also pending an MNF preemption in Cincinnati.

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 12/3/17

FINALS UPDATE: Sunday Night Football (6.4) and The OT (3.3) adjusted up while America's Funniest Home Videos (R) (0.7), NCIS: Los Angeles (R) (0.6), Football Night in America p2 (1.6) and Football Night in America p3 (3.1) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• With an underwhelming national NFL lead-in, Fox's The Simpsons (1.7), Ghosted (1.0) and Family Guy (1.1) were all down at least a couple tenths from the last time they had an NFL lead-in on November 12, but still up markedly from two weeks ago without such help.

• Meanwhile, CBS was much stronger than usual for a non-NFL night, thanks to a two-hour Carol Burnett special (1.4/1.5) from 8:00-10:00. Though the raw demo rating is solid, the show skewed incredibly old, which is another way of saying it had very gaudy total viewership numbers (over 15 million in each hour).

• ABC came back to earth somewhat after last week's spikes with America's Funniest Home Videos (1.0) and Shark Tank (0.9). And it was another good night for Sunday Night Football, which should end up around to slightly above last week's 6.0 after finals.

SpotVault - Vikings (HISTORY) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Agents of SHIELD (ABC) - Winter 2017-18 Ratings

Spotted Ratings, Friday 12/1/17

FINALS UPDATE: Blue Bloods (0.8) and The Exorcist (0.3) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Marvel's Agents of SHIELD (0.7/0.6) joined the Friday mix for ABC with a two-hour premiere, about in line with the ratings it was doing throughout the second half of last season.

• CBS had a little slippage with procedurals MacGyver (0.8) and Hawaii Five-0 (0.9), but Blindspot (0.7) was on the rebound for NBC. Hell's Kitchen (0.7) fell to a season low on Fox, leading into another 0.4 for The Exorcist.

Spotted Ratings, Thursday 11/30/17

FINALS UPDATE: The Big Bang Theory (2.5), Thursday Night Football (4.7) and Supernatural (0.6) adjusted up while Thursday Night Football Pregame (1.7) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• CBS series The Big Bang Theory (2.4), Young Sheldon (2.1), Mom (1.4), Life in Pieces (1.1) and S.W.A.T. (1.0) gave back most to all of their Thanksgiving bounces from last week, and were close to their results from two weeks ago. S.W.A.T. was able to stay in the ones, putting it ahead of two weeks ago and back within a tenth of its series premiere four weeks ago.

• On ABC, TGIT is over for the fall but the network had a similar average to a typical TGIT night thanks to A Charlie Brown Christmas (actually up a tenth year-to-year to 1.6) and a two-hour Wonderful World of Disney special (1.2).

• Fox saw Gotham finally down to 0.8 for the first time, after an almost season-long string of low 0.9's. The season's penultimate edition of The Orville matched its 0.9 from two weeks ago.

• Supernatural (0.5) bounced back some but not all the way from last week's Thanskgiving debacle; this would be the show's lowest result this season other than last week. And NBC had an above average Thursday Night Football thanks to the Dallas Cowboys.

Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 11/29/17

FINALS UPDATE: Empire (1.7) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• CBS and NBC saw a split between regular programming and specials on Wednesday. NBC used its annual Christmas in Rockefeller Center special (1.7) as a lead-in to regular dramas. Law and Order: SVU (1.5) and Chicago PD (1.3) benefited big, with the former setting a new season high and the latter tying its premiere's season high. CBS went with two high-end hours of Survivor (1.8/1.7) leading into a Bruno Mars special (1.1) at 10/9c.

• For the other three networks, it was a return to the normal lineups after taking last week off for Thanksgiving Eve. ABC looked normal enough in the 8:00 hour with The Goldbergs (1.4) and Speechless (1.1), but Modern Family (1.6) was on the low end and American Housewife (1.0) took an inexplicably massive dive at 9:30. Designated Survivor returned to 0.7 at 10/9c.

• It was also a rough return from preemption for Empire (1.6), though Star (1.2) held up at 9/8c. The CW was even with Riverdale (0.5) and Dynasty (0.2).

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 11/28/17

FINALS UPDATE: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1.9), This Is Us (2.8) and The Flash (1.0) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• With ABC and CBS both sitting out, NBC was the center of the entertainment world with The Voice (1.8) and the fall finale of This Is Us (2.7), which had its best rating in over a month. Chicago Med (1.3) tied last week's premiere at 10/9c.

• But CBS did better than usual thanks to special staples Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1.8) and the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show (1.5). Both were down from last year's respective 2.3/2.1, but the fashion show still tied This Is Us for the nightly lead with a massive 1.7 A18-34.

• Fox remained original with Lethal Weapon (1.0) and some much-welcomed upticks for The Mick (0.8) and Brooklyn Nine-Nine (0.7).

• And the CW finished out its two-night, four-hour superhero crossover with a third and fourth consecutive 0.9, this time for The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. The crossover was a fair bit weaker than last year's version (which ranged from 1.1 to 1.5), but still helped all the non-Flash shows do way better than normal.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 11/27/17

FINALS UPDATE: CMA Country Christmas (1.1) and The Good Doctor (1.7) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Numbers and analysis coming shortly.

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 11/26/17

FINALS UPDATE: 60 Minutes (1.9), NCIS: Los Angeles (0.9) and Sunday Night Football (6.0) adjusted up while Football Night in America p2 (1.2) and Football Night in America p3 (3.0) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Without The Toy Box to drag down the 7:00 hour, it was a season-high night for America's Funniest Home Videos (1.2) at 8/7c. Its new lead-in was a repeat of AFHV (0.9), which did about double the usual Toy Box rating. The juice continued into the 9:00 hour as Shark Tank (1.0) got back into the ones for the first time in a month. It led into a repeat of Shark Tank (0.8) at 10/9c.

• The CBS lineup started at around 7:45; 60 Minutes (1.5), Wisdom of the Crowd (0.9) and NCIS: Los Angeles (0.8) are currently attributed to the 8:00, 9:00 and 10:00 hours. So they may adjust up (especially 60M) when given their correct start times in finals.

• The Miss Universe Competition averaged a 1.1ish across all three hours of Fox primetime, which would be down markedly from the last competition (a 1.5 in late January 2017). Sunday Night Football averaged a preliminary 5.1 which should end up in the high-5's after finals.

Spotted Ratings, Friday 11/24/17

FINALS UPDATE: Dreamworks Trolls Holiday (1.5) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Numbers coming later today.

Spotted Ratings, Thursday 11/23/17

FINALS UPDATE: Sunday Night Football (5.1) adjusted up while Football Night in America p3 (2.7) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• On Thanksgiving evening, CBS aired a repeat of The Big Bang Theory (2.9) leading into originals of Young Sheldon (2.6), Mom (1.8), Life in Pieces (1.3) and S.W.A.T. (1.1). Though the network's late afternoon NFL game ended well before primetime, its halo was still enough to pull the entire lineup upward by multiple tenths, with Sheldon headed for easily its best rating since the series premiere.

• The CW also went original on Thanksgiving to much weaker results; the Supernatural (0.3) / Arrow (0.3) combo was at barely half of its usual delivery.

• NBC won Thursday with its Thanksgiving NFL game, but it looks like the Redskins and the Giants (with a low-to-mid-4's prelim) will be down significantly from last year's 6.9 Thanksgiving game.

Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 11/22/17

FINALS UPDATE: Saturday Night Live Thanksgiving (1.1) adjusted up while Empire (R) (0.4) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Numbers coming later today. Happy Thanksgiving!

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 11/21/17

WHAT MATTERS:

• On the last full-fledged entertainment night before a long holiday weekend, NBC introduced Chicago Med (1.3) into the Tuesday mix at 10/9c. It was down just a tenth from last year's premiere, but it also had a way bigger lead-in from This Is Us (2.5) than it usually had on Thursday last season. Still, it looks like a solid bet that the show will improve noticeably on previous occupant Law and Order True Crime. At 8/7c, The Voice (1.7) continued a down week by matching Monday's performance episode.

• ABC featured the two-hour finale of Dancing with the Stars (1.3), which was a touch lower than what the show has usually been doing on Mondays, and significantly below the 1.8 fall finale in 2016. It had a comedy hour lead-in from The Middle (1.3) and Fresh Off the Boat (1.1), which both matched last week.

• On a night that usually sees some overall viewing slippage due to the start of the holiday, there were a few down shows, including the NCIS twins (1.4 for the mothership and 0.9 for New Orleans, which had a lot more 10/9c competition than usual) as well as The Flash (0.8). And some shows matched last week, like everything on Fox (1.0/0.7/0.6), Bull (1.1) and Legends of Tomorrow (0.5).

SpotVault - Chicago Med (NBC) - 2017-18 Ratings

Spotted Ratings, Monday 11/20/17

FINALS UPDATE: The Good Doctor (1.8), Kevin Can Wait (1.2) and Man with a Plan (1.0) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• ABC's Dancing with the Stars (1.4/1.5) and The Good Doctor (1.9) along with the early part of the CBS lineup (1.4/1.2/1.0/0.8/0.9) are pending Monday Night Football preemptions.

• It was a down night for the other half of the big four, with The Voice (1.7) taking a tumble while dramas The Brave, Lucifer and The Gifted all lost a tenth to 0.9. The CW was steady with Supergirl (0.5) and Valor (0.2).

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 11/19/17

FINALS UPDATE: Sunday Night Football (7.0) adjusted up while The Toy Box (0.5), 60 Minutes (1.8), Madam Secretary (0.6), Football Night in America p2 (2.4), Football Night in America p3 (3.7) and Bob's Burgers (R) (0.6) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• The American Music Awards on ABC went for a 2.3/2.6/2.3 in its three hours, steadying the ship for the ceremony after last year posted a 2.4 (which was down huge from the 3.5 in 2015). It's an especially solid showing since the awards had a much weaker lead-in than last year in the finale of The Toy Box (0.6) at 7/6c. But that would still be a second consecutive new season high for Toy Box.

• It was also a massive night for Sunday Night Football, as the Cowboys and Eagles posted a low-6 prelim which should be the biggest game for SNF in over two months (or since the start of the TV regular season).

• That combination meant really bad things for the broadcast entertainment options. Despite a national NFL lead-in and a 2.0 from 60 Minutes, CBS quickly went fractional with Wisdom of the Crowd (0.8), NCIS: Los Angeles (0.7) and Madam Secretary (0.7). And with the exception of a strong Bob's Burgers (1.1) at 7:30, Fox was at new season lows with The Simpsons (1.1), Ghosted (0.8), Family Guy (0.9) and The Last Man on Earth (0.7). The first three of those were two tenths behind their previous lows this season.

SpotVault - Shameless (Showtime) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Man with a Plan (CBS) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Damnation (USA) - 2017-18 Ratings

Spotted Ratings, Friday 11/17/17

WHAT MATTERS:

• Once Upon a Time aired two original hours, with its usual 0.5 at 8/7c and its first 0.4 at 9/8c, as the network prepares to launch Agents of SHIELD after Thanksgiving. However, 20/20 (0.7) did better than usual at 10/9c. NBC's Blindspot (0.6) was also down to a new low.
  

• CBS gave back a bit of its surge from a week ago, with Hawaii Five-0 (1.0) and Blue Bloods (0.9) each down a notch while MacGyver held onto the 0.9.

Spotted Ratings, Thursday 11/16/17

FINALS UPDATE: Thursday Night Football (4.2) and Supernatural (0.7) adjusted up while Young Sheldon (2.0) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Week three for the CBS Thursday lineup saw a little downward movement across the board, with The Big Bang Theory (2.6) down a tick or two and Young Sheldon (2.1), Mom (1.4), Life in Pieces (1.1) and S.W.A.T. (0.9) each losing one.

• On ABC, TGIT was mostly steady again, though Grey's Anatomy (1.8) gave back last week's 300th episode uptick. Fox saw The Orville (0.9) go fractional for the first time in over a month. And NBC did a little better at least in the prelims with its second week of Thursday Night Football (2.8).

Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 11/15/17

FINALS UPDATE: The Goldbergs (1.5) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• On a night full of upticks for the big four, perhaps the most crucial one came on CBS, as newbie SEAL Team (1.1) shot back up to a healthy number after three straight declines. Surrounding it were Survivor (1.7) and Criminal Minds (1.0), up a tenth apiece. This is the only regular lineup that will stay on air next week for Thanksgiving Eve.

• After last week's CMA Awards preemption, ABC rebounded across the board vs. its numbers against the World Series two weeks ago with The Goldbergs (1.4), Speechless (1.1), Modern Family (the net's only two-tenth gainer at 1.7), American Housewife (1.3) and Designated Survivor (0.8).

• NBC's Chicago PD (1.2) got a big rebound after last week's stinker, with an assist from a special edition of The Voice (1.4) at 9/8c. The Blacklist remained at 0.9 leading off.

• On Fox, Empire (2.0) was back into the twos for the first time in over a month, but that made a steady Star (1.2) look kinda iffy by comparison.

• The CW did not join in on the positive momentum, as Riverdale remained at 0.5 and Dynasty at 0.2.

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 11/14/17

FINALS UPDATE: Fresh Off the Boat (1.1), Kevin (Probably) Saves the World (0.7) and The Flash (1.0) adjusted up while Bull (1.1) and Law and Order True Crime (0.9) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• It was a slightly up Tuesday for all things NBC, from The Voice (2.0) to This Is Us (2.6) to the finale of Law and Order True Crime (1.0).

• Meanwhile, ABC had a couple downticks, including The Middle (1.3) at 8/7c and a more crucial one for Kevin (Probably) Saves the World, which was back to its 0.6 low from two weeks ago (when it was against the World Series). The other comedies were even, leaving The Mayor at 0.7 for the third week in a row.

• On CBS, NCIS: New Orleans (1.1) was up a tenth while the other two dramas were steady (1.5/1.2). Everything on the other two networks matched last week, which meant The Mick was stuck at 0.7 again.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 11/13/17

FINALS UPDATE: Kevin Can Wait (1.3), The Voice (2.0) and The Gifted (1.0) adjusted up while Dancing with the Stars (1.4) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• CBS made yet another change on Monday with the return of Man with a Plan (1.0) at 8:30. Despite an impressive lead-in from Kevin Can Wait (1.3), MwaP tied its lowest raw rating from last season, and looked a bit weaker in Plus than the fall episodes last season. With its third different lead-in in as many weeks, Superior Donuts (0.9) shed a tenth, putting it squarely between its premiere rating after 9JKL but a tick below what it did after a repeat of The Big Bang Theory last week.

•  The Good Doctor (1.9) was back at huge levels after last week's preemption and seemingly helped drag Dancing with the Stars (1.4) upward with it.

• With the exception of Valor (0.2), which gave back last week's uptick, everything else on broadcast matched last week.

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 11/12/17

FINALS UPDATE: Sunday Night Football (5.8) and The OT (3.6) adjusted up while Wisdom of the Crowd (0.7), Football Night in America p2 (1.8) and Football Night in America p3 (3.2) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Fox's comedies got a national NFL lead-in for just the second time all season. As always, The Simpsons (1.9) got the biggest boost, but it was actually Ghosted (1.3) and Family Guy (1.4) that came closer to their last episodes with NFL help back in early October. The Last Man on Earth (0.9) rounded out an uptick night for the network.

• Meanwhile, CBS got a rare look at Wisdom of the Crowd (0.8), NCIS: Los Angeles (0.9) and Madam Secretary (0.6) without national NFL help. Wisdom and LA each did a little better than two weeks ago without NFL help, when they were also facing the World Series, but Wisdom still took a big dip from last week's NFL-inflated rating.

• On ABC, The Toy Box (0.5) and America's Funniest Home Videos (1.0) were both at season high levels, while Shark Tank (0.9/0.8) dropped a bit less at 10/9c this time, in its last of three original double-pumps.

• NBC had the Patriots and Broncos on Sunday Night Football with a 5.0ish prelim, the show's best performance since the last time the Pats were on three weeks ago.

Spotted Ratings, Friday 11/10/17

WHAT MATTERS:

• The CBS Friday lineup flexed a little muscle, as MacGyver (0.9), Hawaii Five-0 (1.1) and Blue Bloods (1.0) were all on the upswing to high-end results.

• Blindspot remained the best of the rest in the scripted world, posting a 0.7 for the third straight week. Meanwhile, the finale of Inhumans remained at 0.5, leading out of another 0.5 from Once Upon a Time. The Exorcist (0.4) couldn't hold onto last week's uptick and was back to its usual rating. And Jane the Virgin continued to oscillate around the 0.250 mark, back up to a 0.3 in the rounded numbers this week.

Spotted Ratings, Thursday 11/9/17

FINALS UPDATE: The Big Bang Theory (2.8) and Thursday Night Football (4.0) adjusted up while Thursday Night Football Pregame (1.5) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• The new CBS lineup held up swimmingly in week two, with The Big Bang Theory (2.7) poised to go above last week after finals, while Young Sheldon (2.2) stayed well within megahit territory for another week and Mom (1.5) actually picked up a tenth. The only show to decline at all was S.W.A.T. (1.0), but losing just one tenth for week two of a newbie is still encouraging.

• The other broadcast entertainment programs were also eerily steady with last week; in fact, the only movement anywhere was with the 300th episode of Grey's Anatomy (1.9). It was up a tenth from last week and may be up two after finals. 

• It all came against a fairly modest showing for the NBC premiere of Thursday Night Football (2.5), though this game is likely to adjust up heavily since it featured two Pacific time zone teams.

Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 11/8/17

WHAT MATTERS:

• After facing Game 7 of the World Series a year ago, the CMA Awards on ABC (3.3/3.5/2.9) were bumped a week later in 2017, allowing them to dominate the broadcast night and bounce back by a few ticks after last year's big drop.

• Fox's Empire (1.8) and Star (1.2) returned from two weeks off for the World Series, with the former matching its last episode and Star inching down.

• The CBS and NBC dramas did not look good on the heels of preemptions last week; SEAL Team (0.9), Criminal Minds (0.9), Law and Order: SVU (1.1) and Chicago PD (0.9) all hit new season lows. The 8:00 hour proved a little more resilient as Survivor (1.6) and The Blacklist (0.9) both matched last week.

• On the CW, Riverdale (0.5) finally ended its run of 0.6's (at least in the prelims). And after scoring a full season yesterday, Dynasty (0.2) was unable to follow its fellow newbie Valor up to 0.3.

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 11/7/17

FINALS UPDATE: The Middle (1.4) adjusted up while The Mayor (0.7) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• After a brutal Halloween/World Series combo last Tuesday, the broadcasters got most of the way back to normal this week. That included a 0.5 rebound for chart-topper This Is Us (2.5), but it's still going to finish at least a couple tenths behind its lowest pre-Halloween point of the season. The penultimate episode of Law and Order True Crime (0.9) was also on the uptick.

• On CBS, it was a best-since-season-premiere night for NCIS (1.5), leading into Bull (1.2) and NCIS: New Orleans (1.0) which were at more typical levels.

• The only down show of the night was The Mick (0.7), returning from two weeks off due to the World Series and eyeing a season low. Brooklyn Nine-Nine remained mired at 0.6, but Lethal Weapon (1.0) was up a notch.

• On ABC, everything was up a tenth from last week: The Middle (1.3), Fresh Off the Boat (1.0), Black-ish (1.1), The Mayor (0.8) and Kevin (Probably) Saves the World (0.7).

• The CW's The Flash (0.9) also got back to normal after a soft showing last week, as did Legends of Tomorrow (0.5).

Spotted Ratings, Monday 11/6/17

FINALS UPDATE: Dancing with the Stars (1.2), Living Every Day: Luke Bryan (0.8) and The Gifted (1.0) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• After a disastrous start last week, CBS injected some juice into its Monday comedy lineup with a repeat of The Big Bang Theory (1.1) at 8:30. Leading out of Kevin Can Wait (1.2), it was three tenths better than last week's 9JKL in the slot. That helped Superior Donuts (1.0) perk up noticeably from last week's premiere, while 9JKL (0.8) held last week's rating in the move to 9:30. With easier competition than usual, Scorpion (0.8) ticked up at 10/9c. Next week, Man with a Plan takes over at 8:30.

• On ABC, The Good Doctor took the night off in favor of a CMA special featuring future American Idol judge Luke Bryan (1.0). The network is pending preemptions in both Monday Night Football markets (Detroit and Milwaukee).

• NBC's The Brave (1.0) also appeared to benefit from a weaker ABC, back up to its usual number after dropping big a week ago. The Voice (1.9/2.0) was even to slightly up.

• On Fox, Lucifer (1.0) was up to its best rating since the season premiere, perhaps benefiting from the end of DST, while The Gifted matched last week's 1.1. And the CW had an uptick of its own as Valor (0.3) tried to put itself back in play. Its lead-in Supergirl remained at 0.5.

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 11/5/17

FINALS UPDATE: 60 Minutes (2.5), Sunday Night Football (4.9) and Family Guy (1.1) adjusted up while Madam Secretary (0.6), Football Night in America p2 (2.1), Football Night in America p3 (3.1), The Simpsons (R) (0.7) and Bob's Burgers (1.4) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• The late afternoon national NFL lead-in (featuring the Dallas Cowboys) swung over to CBS, helping boost 60 Minutes (2.4), Wisdom of the Crowd (1.1), NCIS: Los Angeles (0.9) and Madam Secretary (0.7) up from last week's numbers against the World Series.

• Fox had NFL help of its own, as the late-afternoon Redskins/Seahawks game which played in several major markets boosted the 7:00 half-hour (1.5) and spilled into the 7:30 half-hour with Bob's Burgers (1.6). Later in the night were The Simpsons (1.3), Ghosted (1.0), Family Guy (1.0) and The Last Man on Earth (0.8); it looks like a particularly below-average night for Family Guy and low-end results for everyone else.

• On ABC, America's Funniest Home Videos (0.9) returned to the 8:00 hour, and Shark Tank (0.9/0.7) was actually down at 10/9c after doing well against the World Series last week.

• NBC's Sunday Night Football was at a season low in the prelims, and we'll have to see if the Raiders audience out west can pull it up to last week's season low 4.8 in the finals.

Spotted Ratings, Friday 11/3/17

WHAT MATTERS:

• All the Friday originals were back in place, and without a whole lot of movement. NBC showed some promise as Blindspot (0.7) matched last week's premiere and Dateline (1.0) was up, tying its season high and topping the night outright.

• Dateline's 1.0 was on top because Hawaii Five-0 (0.9) inched down from its usual level. Back at 8/7c, MacGyver (0.8) was also down a notch, while Blue Bloods hung at 0.9.

• On Fox, The Exorcist was back up to 0.5 for the first time since premiere week, leading out of a steady Hell's Kitchen (0.8).

• And it was status quo on ABC, with 0.5's across the board for Once Upon a Time, Inhumans and 20/20. The CW's Jane the Virgin couldn't hang onto last week's 0.3 and re-joined Crazy Ex-Girlfriend at 0.2.

SpotVault - S.W.A.T. (CBS) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Life in Pieces (CBS) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Mom (CBS) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Major Crimes (TNT) - 2017-18 Ratings

Spotted Ratings, Thursday 11/2/17

FINALS UPDATE: Will and Grace (1.6) adjusted up while Young Sheldon (2.2), Mom (1.4), Life in Pieces (1.2) and S.W.A.T. (1.1) adjusted down.

• This put Young Sheldon (2.2) down by more than 40% from its Premiere Monday preview in September, but still within clear smash territory for now. Big downward adjustments for Mom (1.4) and Life in Pieces (1.2) put them up in Plus but down in raw from last year's premieres, with a major lead-in upgrade.

• And at 10/9c, S.W.A.T. was up a tenth from last year's Pure Genius premiere in this slot, and fell just a tick behind its Life in Pieces lead-in. I would argue not quite as much promise as the SEAL Team premiere, but it's in contention.

WHAT MATTERS:

• For the only time this fall, all five networks had their regular entertainment lineups on at the same time, and it was timeslot premiere night for CBS powerhouses The Big Bang Theory (2.7) and Young Sheldon (2.4). Later in the night, Mom (1.8) and Life in Pieces (1.5) returned to the 9/8c hour, and drama newbie S.W.A.T. (1.3) debuted at 10/9c. CBS is pending Thursday Night Football preemptions in New York City, so stay tuned for finals.

• Last year, one of the big surprises of the fall was how well Superstore and The Good Place did against the return of CBS. This year, they were not quite as heroic, as both sank to season low 1.0 ratings in the 8:00 hour. But NBC took equally sizable hits later in the night as well, including Will and Grace (1.5) and Chicago Fire (1.0). In between, it was an especially rough night for Great News (0.7) at 9:30.

• On Fox, The Orville (1.0) was not able to hold onto last week's big surge and fell back to a more typical number at 9/8c, leading out of another 0.9 from Gotham. ABC's TGIT (1.8/1.1/0.9) and the CW's Supernatural (0.6) and Arrow (0.5) all exactly matched last week.

Renewology: November Sweeps Bubble Watch (Comedy Edition)

It's time to talk about some bubble shows! Check out yesterday's drama post.

Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 11/1/17

FINALS UPDATE: The Goldbergs (1.3), Speechless (1.0), Survivor (1.6), The Blacklist (0.9) and World Series (8.2) adjusted up while SEAL Team (R) (0.5) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Fox went big with Game 7 of the World Series, averaging a preliminary 7.0 from 8:00 to 11:00. But the outcome was not in huge doubt for most of the game, so it looks like it may not have gotten quite the Game 7 bounce of recent Series past.

• ABC was the only big four opponent that plowed forward with its full regular lineup. The network seemed to get whacked harder in the first half of the night, when it was facing most of the usual entertainment competition; The Goldbergs (1.2), Speechless (0.9) and Modern Family (1.5) all shed two tenths. But American Housewife (1.2) was down just one and Designated Survivor actually matched last week's 0.7.

• On the other two networks, the 8:00 show stayed original while the last two hours got preempted. Survivor (1.5) was down a couple notches, but NBC's The Blacklist managed to match last week's 0.8.

• The CW also went original, with Riverdale managing to hold on to yet another 0.6 while Dynasty stayed at 0.2.

Renewology: November Sweeps Bubble Watch (Drama Edition)

Let's talk about some bubble shows! Comedies coming tomorrow.

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 10/31/17

FINALS UPDATE: The Middle (1.2) and World Series (6.0) adjusted up while Law and Order True Crime (0.7) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Halloween converged with a monstrous Game 6 of the World Series (4.9/5.0/5.5), leading to a slew of ratings declines on the other broadcasters. This game should probably be expected to adjust up a little more than usual, since it ended before midnight ET/9:00 PT.

• The worst decline came from This Is Us (2.0) on NBC, since it had the added triple whammy of a The Voice recap special (1.0) as a lead-in. Its newbie lead-out Law and Order True Crime (0.8) was down two tenths, mimicking The Brave's drop on Monday. 

• CBS was down two tenths across the board with NCIS (1.2), Bull (1.0) and NCIS: New Orleans (0.9). ABC's 8:00 hour of The Middle (1.1) and Fresh Off the Boat (0.9) was also down two tenths, but the remaining programs Black-ish (1.0), The Mayor (0.7) and Kevin (Probably) Saves the World (0.6) lost just one.

• The second-biggest drop on broadcast came from CW's The Flash (0.7), which was down three tenths after a great showing last week. Its lead-out Legends of Tomorrow (0.4) shed one tenth.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 10/30/17

FINALS UPDATE: Lucifer (0.9) adjusted up while Dancing with the Stars (1.4) and The Good Doctor (1.9) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Life after The Big Bang Theory began for CBS Monday as Kevin Can Wait (1.2) moved to the lead-off role and Superior Donuts (0.8) opened season two at 9/8c. Though Kevin made a strong transition to the lead-off slot, it was a miserable night for all the other comedies. 9JKL tumbled all the way to a 0.8, Superior Donuts opened on a new series low, and Me, Myself and I crashed to 0.7 after three weeks at 0.9.

• It was also a rough night on NBC, with The Voice (1.9) down three tenths and The Brave (0.8) down two. But NBC's loss was ABC's gain, as Dancing with the Stars (1.4) and The Good Doctor (1.9) both gained a tenth from last week (and were very close to gaining two tenths, with respective 1.45/1.94 finals).

• Fox Monday mimicked Fox Thursday and saw some encouraging upticks in the middle of the World Series coverage, with Lucifer (0.9) ekeing out an upward adjustment in finals and The Gifted (1.1) rebounding after three straight weeks of declines.

SpotVault - Superior Donuts (CBS) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Blindspot (NBC) - 2017-18 Ratings

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 10/29/17

FINALS UPDATE: Sunday Night Football (4.8) adjusted up while 60 Minutes (1.2), Wisdom of the Crowd (0.7), Football Night in America p2 (1.4), Football Night in America p3 (2.7), The OT (4.3) and World Series (5.3) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Sunday night marked the only collision between the World Series (5.4/5.5/5.7) and the NFL. NBC's Sunday Night Football (4.3/4.5/4.0) appears headed for a season low, while the World Series looks to have exploded ahead of the first four games which had preliminary ratings in the 2.9 to 3.9 range. The baseball game had an assist from Fox's late afternoon NFL window, but was also a thriller game that stretched deep into late night Sunday.

• With Ten Days in the Valley pulled earlier this week, the only scripted series to go up against all of this were CBS' Sunday dramas Wisdom of the Crowd (0.8), NCIS: Los Angeles (0.8) and Madam Secretary (0.6). The prelims don't look pretty, and these numbers will be uncertain until finals because they started about a half hour late in a bunch of major markets. 60 Minutes averaged a preliminary 1.5 at 7:00 but that includes a lot of local football.

• Meanwhile, ABC had a second run of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1.0) leading into two original hours of Shark Tank (0.9/0.9). Tank would be down a tenth from last week, but managed to more than double last week's Ten Days in the Valley rating at 10/9c.

Spotted Ratings, Friday 10/27/17

FINALS UPDATE: MacGyver (0.9), World Series (3.9) and Jane the Virgin (0.3) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• On the fifth Friday of the season, NBC's Blindspot (0.7) finally showed up in the 8:00 hour. It was a new series low for Blindspot, and tied Grimm's lowest rating in the hour last season. But since it was a big improvement on Law and Order True Crime repeats, it helped bump Dateline (0.8/0.9) back up.

• Fox dominated with Game 3 of the World Series (3.3/3.5/3.3), which fell squarely in the middle of the 3.0 and 3.9 prelims from the first two games.

• On CBS, Hawaii Five-0 had the night off as a Michael Jackson Halloween special (1.1) aired to nice ratings at 8/7c. MacGyver (0.8) was bumped to 9/8c and led into Blue Bloods (0.9), and both shows matched last week.

• And ABC's Inhumans (0.5) saw a one-tenth rebound after last week's brutal drop, but Once Upon a Time (0.5) did not.

Spotted Ratings, Thursday 10/26/17

FINALS UPDATE: Thursday Night Football (3.4) adjusted up while Thursday Night Football Pregame (1.4) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• On Fox's World Series off day, The Orville (1.2) had a particularly impressive showing, coming back from a repeat last week and rising to its highest rating since the move to Thursday. Gotham was even at 0.9.

• Grey's Anatomy (1.8) was also back after a week off, but its ratings went in the other direction with a three-tenth drop. Its lead-outs Scandal (1.1) and How to Get Away with Murder (0.9) saw no rebound despite the return of their lead-in. 

• With their fall finales looming next week, NBC had a strong night as Superstore (1.2), Will and Grace (1.8), Great News (1.0) and Chicago Fire (1.2) were all on the uptick.

Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 10/25/17

FINALS UPDATE: World Series (4.2) adjusted up while Designated Survivor (0.7) and The Blacklist (0.8) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• After breezing through Tuesday's game in about two and a half hours, the Dodgers and Astros went roughly four and a half hours in an epic Game 2 of the World Series on Wednesday. So unlike Game 1, last night the World Series was a big part of the mix for primetime on the West Coast. The preliminary 3.9 for Game 2 was actually as high as the final for Game 1, but there may not be as much of an adjustment since there's a lot of West Coast viewing included this time.

• The competitors had a mix of steadiness and one-tenth drops. CBS' SEAL Team was back at a preliminary 1.0 after adjusting up from 1.0 to 1.1 last week, and Survivor (1.7) was also down a notch in the prelims. Criminal Minds stayed at 1.0.

• On ABC, it was frequent adjuster The Goldbergs (1.4) and American Housewife (1.3) on the downtick, while everything else was even. And NBC's The Blacklist (0.9), Law and Order: SVU (1.2) and Chicago PD (1.1) were all steady.

• And the CW's Riverdale got a win as it managed to hang onto 0.6 in week three. But Dynasty could not eke out a third 0.3, and was down to 0.2 for the first time.

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 10/24/17

FINALS UPDATE: Fresh Off the Boat (1.1), Kevin (Probably) Saves the World (0.7), This Is Us (2.8) and World Series (3.9) adjusted up while Law and Order True Crime (1.0) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• The World Series opened on Fox with a low-3 prelim from 8:00 to 10:30. It shouldn't come as much surprise that this is massively down from last year (Game 1 had a 5.4 prelim/5.6 final), which was a true banner year for baseball, but it may have trouble even getting to the low end of Game 1 ratings historically. (My lowest on record was a 3.4 in 2014, then a 3.6 in 2006 and 2012.) Worth noting we may see these games adjust up more because there's a West Coast team involved.

• The good news in a lower-rated World Series is it probably won't have too much impact on the competition. But a notable exception on opening night may have been ABC's middling drama Kevin (Probably) Saves the World, which took a crucial crash to 0.6 in week four after pulling off a steady 0.8 last week. The ABC comedies all matched last week with the exception of Fresh Off the Boat (1.0), which was down a tick.

• Like on Monday, NBC was down a couple tenths or so with The Voice (1.9), and This Is Us (2.7) followed it downward. At 10/9c, Law and Order True Crime will hope to hold onto its preliminary 1.1 this time after adjusting down last week.

• CBS' dramas were all even, and the CW (which has a history of getting dinged by the Series) actually got an uptick from The Flash (1.0) and a steady Legends of Tomorrow (0.5).

Cablemetrics: The Walking Dead, Outlander, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Mr. Robot

These numbers are current through Monday, October 23.

WHAT MATTERS:

• The Walking Dead (5.03) returned for what looks like another year as the biggest entertainment program on TV. It'll take a few weeks to really get a gauge on how fast this show is bleeding, because it was never going to to live up to the show's most impressive performance ever, the 8.36 at the start of last fall. While it was actually pretty close to the Plus of its 2014 and 2015 season premieres, it was also just the second Dead premiere to come in lower than the previous season finale.
  

Spotted Ratings, Monday 10/23/17

FINALS UPDATE: The Big Bang Theory (2.8) and The Voice (2.2) adjusted up while The Good Doctor (1.8) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• In its final Monday episode before moving to Thursday next week, The Big Bang Theory (2.7) was even to very slightly down, while its lead-outs 9JKL (1.4) and Kevin Can Wait (1.2) rebounded a bit as they prepare to handle the 8:00 hour on their own next week. Me, Myself and I (0.9) and Scorpion (0.8) both matched last week.

• On ABC, The Good Doctor (1.9) will need a finals assist to extend its 2.0 streak to five weeks, while its lead-in Dancing with the Stars (1.3) gave back last week's Disney bump. The network was preempted in Washington, DC for Monday Night Football.

• Fox led off a World Series-heavy week with its regular Monday dramas Lucifer (0.8) and The Gifted (1.0), which were both down a tenth.

• NBC's The Brave was steady at 1.0 despite a decline from its The Voice (2.2/2.1) lead-in, while the CW's Supergirl (0.5) and Valor (0.2) were both even in week three.

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 10/22/17

FINALS UPDATE: Shark Tank (1.0), NCIS: Los Angeles (1.1) and Sunday Night Football (6.5) adjusted up while Madam Secretary (0.8) and The Mick (R) (1.1) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• CBS had the national NFL overrun for the second straight week, and this time its lineup started just a few minutes after 7:30, so everything might be subject to slight downward adjustments. From the prelims we have so far, it looks like a pretty strong night for 60 Minutes (2.8/2.1), an even Wisdom of the Crowd (1.1), slightly down NCIS: Los Angeles (1.0), while Madam Secretary's 10:30 half-hour was actually up to 0.9.

• Meanwhile, Fox appears to have gotten some help from its local market NFL overruns, with a 1.3 in the 7:00 half-hour (which was a repeat of The Mick for most markets), while Bob's Burgers (1.3), The Simpsons (1.6) and Ghosted (1.1) would all be up from last week if they hold. The 9:00 hour of Family Guy (1.2) and The Last Man on Earth (0.8) was even.

• ABC had a dip from Shark Tank (0.9), fractional for the first time all season, but everything else matched last week. And NBC's Sunday Night Football featured a Super Bowl rematch between the Patriots and Falcons. The mid-to-high-5 prelim suggests it should finish over a 6 after finals, which would be SNF's best number in at least a month.

SpotVault - The Walking Dead (AMC) - Fall 2017 Ratings

SpotVault - Mr. Robot (USA) - 2017 Ratings

SpotVault - Good Behavior (TNT) - Fall 2017 Ratings

SpotVault - The Shannara Chronicles (SPIKE TV) - 2017 Ratings

War of 18-49 Updates for Cable 2017: Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Pretty Little Liars and more!

Here's a quick catch-up on War of 18-49 pages for cable shows that have already existing War pages. Click the names in each one of these tables to see the now-updated War of 18-49 page. The last version of this was 11 months ago, so we're covering seasons that have concluded since then. (I'm gonna try to start doing these more frequently so that these pages don't go many months without updates.) See also last week's summer broadcast update.

Spotted Ratings, Friday 10/20/17

WHAT MATTERS:

• It was a devastating Friday night for ABC's genre dramas, as Once Upon a Time (0.5) and Inhumans (0.4) both tanked by two tenths.

• The CBS dramas were much steadier, with MacGyver (0.8), Hawaii Five-0 (1.0) and Blue Bloods (0.9) all matching last week. Fox was also even with Hell's Kitchen (0.8) and The Exorcist (0.4), but NBC's Dateline (0.7) had a rough night, dropping two tenths below all of its first three results of the season.

• And on the CW, Jane the Virgin (0.2) wasn't able to hold onto 0.3 for a second week on Friday. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend stayed at 0.2.

Spotted Ratings, Thursday 10/19/17

FINALS UPDATE: Thursday Night Football (4.5), Gotham (0.9) and Supernatural (0.7) adjusted up while Thursday Night Football Pregame (1.5) and Arrow (0.5) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Grey's Anatomy had the night off on the last Thursday before November sweeps, and Halloween specials It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1.4) and Toy Story of TERROR! (1.1) filled in at a long way below their respective 2.2/2.0 ratings on a Wednesday a year ago. With no Grey's lead-in, both Scandal (1.1) and How to Get Away with Murder (0.9) were down a tenth.
  

• On NBC, it was a particularly brutal evening for 9:30 comedy Great News (0.8), which fell by two tenths and went back to retaining less than half of its lead-in from Will and Grace (1.7). Earlier in the night, Superstore (1.1) was even and The Good Place (1.1) down a tenth, while Chicago Fire hung at 1.1 at 10/9c despite the weaker lead-in.

• Fox's The Orville went into repeat mode (0.6) for a week, but Gotham (0.8) stayed original and was down a notch.

• And week two for the Supernatural (0.6) / Arrow (0.6) reunion saw the former down a tenth, but Arrow matched last week's premiere.

Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 10/18/17

FINALS UPDATE: The Goldbergs (1.5), Survivor (1.8) and SEAL Team (1.1) adjusted up while Criminal Minds (1.0) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Several of the shows that showed promising steadiness in week three followed it up with big dips in week four. That included CBS' newbie SEAL Team (1.0), which fell by two tenths the week after scoring a full season order. It looked like a particularly weak link in the lineup since Survivor (1.7) and Criminal Minds (1.1) were both even. The Fox pair of Empire (1.8) and Star (1.3) was also down two tenths apiece.

• On the CW, Riverdale (0.6) was down two tenths from last week's explosive opening, but that still kept it ahead of every raw number from season one. Dynasty managed to hang onto a preliminary 0.3 in the demo, but a big dip in total viewers (from 1.3 million last week to under a million this time) suggests it might be a much weaker 0.3.

• On ABC, comedy anchors The Goldbergs (1.4) and Modern Family (1.7) both inched down from last week's finals, while Speechless (1.1) and American Housewife (1.4) were even. At 10/9c, Designated Survivor fell to its first 0.8.

• And NBC saw Law and Order: SVU (1.2) even, surrounded by preliminary downticks from The Blacklist (0.9) and Chicago PD (1.1).

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 10/17/17

FINALS UPDATE: NCIS (1.4), The Voice (2.2) and This Is Us (2.9) adjusted up while Black-ish (1.1) and Law and Order True Crime (1.0) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• The ABC comedy lineup mostly continued moving downward in its third week, with a particularly rough point for 9:30 newbie The Mayor (0.8) as it shed two more tenths. Anchors The Middle (1.3) and Black-ish (1.2) were down a tenth in the prelims, while Fresh Off the Boat (1.1) stabilized after taking the biggest drop last week. At 10/9c, drama Kevin (Probably) Saves the World kept itself in contention by hanging at 0.8 in week three, this time matching its Mayor lead-in.

• On NBC, the slippage stopped in week four for This Is Us (2.8), and with a 2.9 -> 2.8 breakdown it looks likely to be up week-to-week in the finals. That was a good point since its lead-in The Voice (2.1) was down at least two tenths from last week. Law and Order True Crime remained at 1.1 at 10/9c.

• CBS saw another drop from NCIS (1.3), but its lead-outs Bull (1.2) and NCIS: New Orleans (1.1) stayed surprisingly close by.

• Fox's Brooklyn Nine-Nine (0.6) gave back last week's uptick, while Lethal Weapon (0.9) also inched down. The Mick was even at 0.8.

• And on the CW, both The Flash (0.9) and Legends of Tomorrow (0.5) were down from last week's premieres.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 10/16/17

FINALS UPDATE: The Big Bang Theory (2.8), Me, Myself and I (0.9), The Voice (2.4) and Lucifer (0.9) adjusted up while Dancing with the Stars (1.4), The Good Doctor (2.0) and 9JKL (1.2) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Despite preemptions in both Monday Night Football markets, ABC had the healthiest night as Dancing with the Stars (1.4) was up a tick on Disney Night and The Good Doctor pulled off a fourth consecutive 2.0 or better in the 10:00 hour.

•  It was another tough night in CBS comedy land as 9JKL (after adjusting down to 1.2 in finals) and Kevin Can Wait (1.1) both shed another two tenths. Me Myself and I (0.9) eked out a finals uptick, matching last week.

• Elsewhere, the 8:00 veterans The Voice (2.4), Lucifer (0.9) and Supergirl (0.5) matched last week while their newbie lead-outs The Brave (1.0), The Gifted (1.1) and Valor (0.2) were down a tenth.

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 10/15/17

FINALS UPDATE: America's Funniest Home Videos (0.9), 60 Minutes (2.3) and Sunday Night Football (5.6) adjusted up while Wisdom of the Crowd (1.1), Madam Secretary (0.7), Football Night in America p2 (2.3), Football Night in America p3 (3.0) and Ghosted (R) (0.7) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• With a late afternoon NFL lead-in, the CBS lineup started right at 7:30 on the East Coast just like during premiere week. (In fact, there were over 10 minutes of postgame/commercials separating the end of the NFL and 60 Minutes.) After 60 Minutes (2.2), Wisdom of the Crowd (1.2) and NCIS: Los Angeles (1.1/1.0) were both just a little behind what they did with NFL help two weeks ago, while Madam Secretary (0.8) had its first 10:30 episode.

• Meanwhile, Fox didn't have national NFL help this week. Animated comedies The Simpsons (1.3), Family Guy (1.2) and Bob's Burgers (1.1) along with The Last Man on Earth (0.8) were all reasonably close to what they did on Premiere Sunday, but Ghosted (1.0) was down several notches at 8:30.

•  It was mostly status quo on ABC, which meant more horrible numbers from The Toy Box (0.4) and Ten Days in the Valley (0.4), surrounding America's Funniest Home Videos (down a tenth to 0.8) and Shark Tank (1.1). NBC's Sunday Night Football was in the general vicinity of 5.0 in the prelims, as it has been pretty consistently since the start of the regular season.

War of 18-49 Updates for Summer 2017: America's Got Talent, The Bachelorette, Big Brother and more!

Here's a quick catch-up on War of 18-49 pages for the summer broadcast shows that have already existing War pages. Another edition 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.

Spotted Ratings, Friday 10/13/17

WHAT MATTERS:

• The CW's premiere week ended with dramedies Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (0.2) and Jane the Virgin (0.3) reuniting on Friday, after occupying Monday together two years ago. The 0.2 is a familiar number for Crazy, which had it for all 13 episodes last year, while Jane was preliminarily able to hold onto 0.3 in a Friday move after actually hitting 0.2 a few times on Monday last spring.

• On ABC, Once Upon a Time held onto last week's 0.7 premiere, but Inhumans (0.6) and 20/20 (0.6) were both down a tenth.

• CBS' Hawaii Five-0 (1.0) and Blue Bloods (0.9) were both down a notch in the prelims, leading out of another 0.8 from MacGyver.

• And Fox's Hell's Kitchen (0.8) will hope for a third straight uptick in finals, while The Exorcist (0.4) couldn't even muster up a 0.5 in the prelims this time. NBC's Dateline (0.8/0.9) was down a tenth from last week in both hours with a lower lead-in from a repeat of Law and Order True Crime (0.4).

SpotVault - Jane the Virgin (CW) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (CW) - 2017-18 Ratings

Spotted Ratings, Thursday 10/12/17

FINALS UPDATE: Grey's Anatomy (2.1), Thursday Night Football (4.6), Will and Grace (1.8) and Gotham (0.9) adjusted up while Thursday Night Football Pregame (1.8) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• On night four of the CW premiere week, Arrow (0.6) made its first ever timeslot move and now airs out of Supernatural (0.7). It looks like a productive pairing so far, as both of the veterans were down just a tenth from last year's premieres.

• The second week of the reunited TGIT triumvirate saw Grey's Anatomy (2.1) even and How to Get Away with Murder (1.0) on the rebound, but Scandal (1.2) dropped two tenths from last week's premiere.

• NBC had a little slippage from hourly anchors Superstore (1.1), Will and Grace (1.8) and Chicago Fire (0.1), but the bottom-of-the-hour comedies The Good Place (1.2) and Great News (1.0) were both even.

• And Fox had another nice night from The Orville (1.0), bouncing back by a tenth after last week's big drop. A finals adjustment helped Gotham (0.9) to match last week.

SpotVault - Supernatural (CW) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Arrow (CW) - 2017-18 Ratings

Renewology: The CW's Premiere Week and Un-Rounded Numbers

Happy Friday. In this post, I will have a quick word on the CW's newbie premieres and a much longer, wonkier word about some things that are going on here with un-rounded numbers this fall.

Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 10/11/17

FINALS UPDATE: The Goldbergs (1.5), Survivor (1.7), The Blacklist (1.0) and Empire (2.0) adjusted up while Dynasty (0.3) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• It was opening night for the CW's reboot of Dynasty, but in the end it was the returnee Riverdale (0.8) that actually stole the show. The sophomore opened on a new series high by a mile, after premiering at 0.5 and hitting a bunch of 0.3's late last season. Keeping in mind that female-skewers of the CW past like Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill rarely went above a 60 Plus, the network has to be elated with how this went down at least for one night.
• But considering the Riverdale heat, it was a pretty flat start for Dynasty (0.4). Since it comes from the lesser CBS studio, it is too early to discount it, but a 0.4 -> 0.3 breakdown means it is not even on the upper side of 0.4.

• At least in the prelims, it was a bit of a shaky night for ABC in the 8/7c hour as The Goldbergs (1.4) and Speechless (1.1) lost two tenths again. But things were steadier from there, with Modern Family (1.8) down one tenth and American Housewife (1.4) and Designated Survivor (0.9) both even.

• CBS and Fox both saw their lineups stabilize in week three, which was welcome news for the newbie SEAL Team (1.2) between Survivor (1.6) and Criminal Minds (1.1). Empire (1.9) led the night and matched last week, while Star (1.5) remained a big win for Fox as it was actually up a tenth (though it was very close to a 1.5 last week).

• And NBC had one-tenth slippage from The Blacklist (0.9) and Law and Order: SVU (1.2), but Chicago PD (1.2) was even.

CW Daily Renewology for 2017-18

SpotVault - Dynasty (CW) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Riverdale (CW) - 2017-18 Ratings

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 10/10/17

FINALS UPDATE: Bull (1.3), The Voice (2.4), Lethal Weapon (1.0), The Mick (0.8) and The Flash (1.1) adjusted up while NCIS: New Orleans (1.0) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• In week two for ABC Tuesday, The Middle (1.4), Black-ish (1.3), The Mayor (1.0) and Kevin (Probably) Saves the World (0.8) were all down two tenths from last week's premieres. Fresh Off the Boat (1.1), after barely ekeing out a 1.4 in finals last week, was down three. Those are not huge week two drops for newbies Mayor and Kevin, but not exactly promising either since they were both pretty mediocre to begin with.

• Night two of the CW's fall rollout saw the season premiere of The Flash (1.0), down three tenths year-to-year, while Legends of Tomorrow (0.6) continued to do its thing at 9/8c, matching last year's Thursday premiere.

• It was a rough night on Fox, where Lethal Weapon (0.9) and The Mick (0.7) both shed two tenths after holding up decently last week. Brooklyn Nine-Nine (0.7) tried to keep itself in the conversation by matching Mick this week.

• NBC led the way again with steady The Voice (2.3) and Law and Order: True Crime (1.1) sandwiching another 10%ish drop from This Is Us (2.8).

• And the CBS lineup stabilized this week, with NCIS (1.4) and Bull (1.2) both even while NCIS: New Orleans (1.1) upticked into a tie for the preliminary lead at 10/9c.

SpotVault - The Flash (CW) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Legends of Tomorrow (CW) - 2017-18 Ratings

Spotted Ratings, Monday 10/9/17

FINALS UPDATE: The Good Doctor (2.0) and The Big Bang Theory (2.9) adjusted up while 9JKL (1.4), Kevin Can Wait (1.2), Me, Myself and I (0.9), Scorpion (0.8) and The Brave (1.1) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• It was a soft start to the CW's new season, as Supergirl (0.5) was only able to tie its low point from last spring, and down by more than half from its CW premiere from a year ago. And there was little interest in its new lead-out Valor (0.3), which looked no better than a typical Jane the Virgin episode on its series premiere night.

• On Fox, it was a normal to slightly high week two drop for The Gifted (1.2). The good news is it really wasn't down any more than its Lucifer lead-in (0.9).

• ABC's The Good Doctor (1.9) came down from its stratospheric heights from the first two weeks, but was still massively ahead of its Dancing with the Stars (1.3) lead-in.

• And The Brave (1.2) had a steady (or maybe even slightly up) third week, leading out of a slightly declining The Voice (2.4/2.5).

• And the prelims make it look like a steady night for CBS, but CBS is pending a Monday Night Football preemption in Minneapolis.

SpotVault - Valor (CW) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Supergirl (CW) - 2017-18 Ratings

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 10/8/17

FINALS UPDATE: Sunday Night Football (5.8) adjusted up while NFL Overrun (6.6) and The OT (4.4) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• The late afternoon NFL lead-in jumped over to Fox, where The Simpsons (2.2) got a big boost but still paled in comparison to a lot of its post-NFL ratings from last year. The lead-in juice was only able to keep Ghosted (1.4) even with last week's premiere, and same with Family Guy (1.4), but The Last Man on Earth (1.0) was actually up a tenth at 9:30.

• Meanwhile, it was week two for Wisdom of the Crowd (1.0) on CBS. It had a decent week two hold considering 60 Minutes (1.1) was a point weaker, but NCIS: Los Angeles (1.0) fell just as much at 9/8c. Madam Secretary (0.8) opened a new season at 10/9c in pretty reasonable fashion by this timeslot's standards. (Elementary's season high last season was 0.8.)

• And on ABC, America's Funniest Home Videos (0.9) joined the Sunday gang with a new regularly-scheduled slot at 8/7c. Despite a 0.4 lead-in from The Toy Box, Videos came within a tenth of last year's 7/6c premiere. Shark Tank had a 1.1 at 9/8c, while Ten Days in the Valley (0.4) was down a tenth from last week's already DOA start.

SpotVault - Madam Secretary (CBS) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - America's Funniest Home Videos (ABC) - 2017-18 Ratings

Spotted Ratings, Friday 10/6/17

FINALS UPDATE: Hawaii Five-0 (1.1), Dateline (1.0) and Hell's Kitchen (0.9) adjusted up while The Exorcist (0.4) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Rebooted Once Upon a Time (0.7) took over its new role at the start of the ABC lineup in soft fashion, tying its lowest rating from last spring and down by almost half from last year's 1.3 Sunday premiere. Week two of Inhumans (0.7) settled into the 9/8c hour, dropping two tenths from last week's premiere.

• Week two of the CBS lineup saw MacGyver (0.8) and Hawaii Five-0 (1.0) hold even while Blue Bloods (1.0) was down a tenth. And The Exorcist held on at 0.5, leading out of a 0.8 from Hell's Kitchen (tying last week's prelim but needing an uptick to match last week's final).

SpotVault - Once Upon a Time (ABC) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Scandal (ABC) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Thursday Night Football (CBS) - Fall 2017 Ratings

SpotVault - Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO) - Fall 2017 Ratings

Spotted Ratings, Thursday 10/5/17

FINALS UPDATE: Grey's Anatomy (2.1) and Thursday Night Football (5.0) adjusted up while Thursday Night Football Pregame (1.8) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Premiere Thursday's big event Will and Grace (2.0) took a pretty sizable fall in week two, and its lead-out Great News (1.0) was down considerably as well. Perhaps the best news for NBC on Thursday has been the surrounding hours, especially 8/7c where Superstore (1.2) and The Good Place (1.2) took much smaller drops and were within a tenth of the same night last year. Chicago Fire (1.2) took a slightly harder fall at 10/9c but remained a historical-adjusted improvement on last year's Thursday dramas.

• On ABC, the original TGIT lineup was filled out as Scandal (1.4) opened its final season in the 9/8c hour. It came in toward the high end of what it was doing last spring, and 30% behind its January 2017 premiere. Grey's Anatomy (2.0) and How to Get Away with Murder (0.9) were both down in the low teens from last week's premieres.

• After an excellent hold last week, The Orville (0.9) couldn't keep it up in its second try against full competition, but Gotham stabilized at 0.9. And CBS' Thursday Night Football had about the same low-3's prelim as last week.

Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 10/4/17

WHAT MATTERS:

• Every series was on the downswing on the second Wednesday of the season, with some of the steepest drops coming from Fox's Empire (1.9) and Star (1.4). Empire will need an upward adjustment to avoid tying its low point from last season.

• CBS' SEAL Team (1.2) took a typical-ish drop for a week two newbie, and its surrounding programs Survivor (1.6) and Criminal Minds (1.1) each shed two tenths.

• ABC was down two tenths almost across the board with The Goldbergs (1.6), Modern Family (1.9), American Housewife (1.4) and Designated Survivor (0.9). Speechless (1.3) lost just one.

• NBC had pretty good holds relatively speaking, with The Blacklist (1.0) and Law and Order: SVU (1.3) and Chicago PD (1.2) all losing just a tenth.

ABC Daily Renewology for 2017-18

CBS Daily Renewology for 2017-18

NBC Daily Renewology for 2017-18

Fox Daily Renewology for 2017-18

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 10/3/17

FINALS UPDATE: Fresh Off the Boat (1.4) and The Voice (2.3) adjusted up while Law and Order True Crime (1.1) and Brooklyn Nine-Nine (0.6) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• The ABC Tuesday lineup came on the scene a week late, with the final season of The Middle (1.6) leading the way in healthy fashion. After Fresh Off the Boat (1.3) at 8:30, Black-ish (1.5) moved to a new night and appears fairly anchor-worthy so far. However, there was pretty mediocre premiere retention for its new comedy lead-out The Mayor (1.2) at 9:30. At 10/9c, drama newbie Kevin (Probably) Saves the World (1.0) was not exactly dazzling, but certainly not as hopeless as Sunday's Ten Days in the Valley.

• On NBC, This Is Us (3.1) shed close to 20% from last week's series high premiere, but its lead-out Law and Order True Crime (1.2) was crushed even harder. Even The Voice (2.2) was down at least a few tenths for the network.

• CBS' NCIS (1.4) and Bull (1.2) were both down from last week's premieres, but NCIS: New Orleans (1.0) held steady. And on Fox, comedies The Mick (0.9) and Brooklyn Nine-Nine (0.7) both matched last week while Lethal Weapon (1.1) was down a notch.

SpotVault - The Middle (ABC) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - The Mayor (ABC) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Kevin (Probably) Saves the World (ABC) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Fresh Off the Boat (ABC) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Black-ish (ABC) - 2017-18 Ratings

Spotted Ratings, Monday 10/2/17

FINALS UPDATE: The Big Bang Theory (3.2) and The Voice (2.6) adjusted up while Dancing with the Stars (1.4), The Good Doctor (2.2), Kevin Can Wait (1.3), Scorpion (0.8), The Brave (1.1) and Legends of Tomorrow (R) (0.1) adjusted down. That means a full week two hold for the Good Doc.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Week two began with a big dose of reality for a CBS Monday without Young Sheldon. The Big Bang Theory (3.0) still topped the night easily, even after losing about a quarter of last week's massive premiere audience. But newbie 9JKL barely held half of its lead-in, and the 9/8c comedies Kevin Can Wait (1.4) and Me, Myself and I (1.0) were each down more than a third from last week's premieres. Scorpion (0.9) was also down, though just a tenth.

• Fox brought its Monday lineup into the mix a week late, with newbie The Gifted (1.5) and its lead-in Lucifer (1.1) both starting pretty well.

• NBC's The Voice (2.5) and The Brave (1.2) were both just a hair behind last week's finals, but The Brave could be a downward adjustment candidate with a 1.3 -> 1.0 breakdown.

• And ABC had preemptions in both Monday Night Football markets, so stay tuned for finals, but we can say for sure that The Good Doctor (2.4) continued to build by huge quantities out of its Dancing with the Stars (1.6) lead-in.

SpotVault - The Gifted (Fox) - Fall 2017 Ratings

SpotVault - Lucifer (Fox) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - 9JKL (CBS) - 2017-18 Ratings

The 2017-18 Daily Year-to-Date Rankings

This is a sortable list of series and ratings averages for the 2017-18 season, including every series that has a page in the SpotVault or War of 18-49. For the first time, it is also a filterable list, meaning you can boil the table down to just one network, one category of programming or only new shows. (The striped formatting looks kinda ugly when filtered, but hopefully that is worth the added functionality.)

The 2017-18 Climate Center: League Averages

The Climate Center helps you keep up with some of this site's bigger-picture numbers on a week-to-week basis. Though most of the A18-49+ posts aren't updated until the summer, this can keep you posted on how things are developing while the season is ongoing.

The League Averages post covers the numbers that really make A18-49+ go: the 'league average,' which is an average of all ratings for original non-sports series on the big four networks during the traditional 35- or 36-week regular season. No sports, no reruns, no specials, no movies, no sustaining programming included!

The 2017-18 Climate Center: Networks

The Climate Center helps you keep up with some of this site's bigger-picture numbers on a week-to-week basis. Though most of the A18-49+ posts aren't updated until the summer, this can keep you posted on how things are developing while the season is ongoing.

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.

The 2017-18 Climate Center: Renewology Targets

Ever wonder how Renewology comes up with its percentages? A key part is the network-specific target averages; the R% is all about how close a show is to its target average. This Climate Center post will illustrate the steps that go into creating those targets, within each network and category.

The first table is simply a week-to-week list of all the network/category targets, so you can see easily how they've evolved over the course of the season. Then there's a more in-depth look at the components of the target on each network. At the bottom of these tables is a brief description of what these numbers are. For more on why they're actually used in Renewology, please see the summary of the Renewology process. (The stuff about target averages is under Step Three.)

Spotted Ratings, Premiere Sunday 10/1/17

FINALS UPDATE: 60 Minutes (2.1), NCIS: Los Angeles (1.3) and Sunday Night Football (5.8) adjusted up while Ten Days in the Valley (0.5), Wisdom of the Crowd (1.3) and The Simpsons (R) (0.5) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• CBS had the first late-afternoon NFL lead-in of the regular season, and its lineup started right at the scheduled 7:30 start time. After 60 Minutes (2.0) at 7:30 was new drama Wisdom of the Crowd (1.4/1.3). Usually NCIS: Los Angeles was in the 1.5-1.7 range on national NFL nights, but it also looks like this will be a weaker NFL/60 Minutes than usual. Meanwhile, NCIS: LA (1.2) made the move to an hour later, and a repeat of SEAL Team averaged a preliminary 0.8 in the 10:30 half-hour (but ran to 11:30 on the East Coast). 

• The Fox comedies were back for another season on Sunday, with newbie Ghosted (1.4) looking promising at 8:30 between The Simpsons (1.4) and Family Guy (1.3). Bob's Burgers (1.3) opened the season at 7:30 (not sure if it includes any local NFL overruns). The Last Man on Earth (0.9) was the weak link, but all these shows at least preliminarily looked really good, matching their premieres from a year ago (and Bob's would be up if it holds). Next week will see the comedies get a likely monster NFL lead-in from Cowboys/Packers.

• And ABC's latest Sunday revamp included a dreadful start for sophomore dud The Toy Box (0.4) in the 7/6c hour, but promising growth from there for Shark Tank (1.1/1.4) on its new night. But the Shark Tank lead-in was no help for new drama Ten Days in the Valley (0.6), which on premiere night could only match last fall's Sunday lows for Secrets and Lies and Quantico.

SpotVault - Wisdom of the Crowd (CBS) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - The Toy Box (ABC) - Fall 2017 Ratings

SpotVault - The Simpsons (Fox) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - The Last Man on Earth (Fox) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Ten Days in the Valley (ABC) - Fall 2017 Ratings

SpotVault - Shark Tank (ABC) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Ghosted (Fox) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Family Guy (Fox) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Bob's Burgers (Fox) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - 48 Hours (CBS) - 2017-18 Ratings

Premiere Friday Renewology: Inhumans and The Exorcist

Here are a few quick thoughts on what Premiere Friday says about the renewal/cancellation landscape. These are based on prelims and I probably will not get around to updating this page with the finals.

Spotted Ratings, Premiere Friday 9/29/17

FINALS UPDATE: Hell's Kitchen (0.9) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Life after Last Man Standing and Shark Tank began on ABC Friday with the two-hour premiere of Marvel's Inhumans (0.9/0.8) and 20/20 (0.6). For now, Inhumans was not that much weaker than what those shows did on the year-ago Premiere Friday, but this type of show does not have a sterling history of post-premiere holds.

• On CBS, the drama trio of MacGyver (0.8), Hawaii Five-0 (1.0) and Blue Bloods (1.1) returned intact from last season. MacGyver was only able to tie its weak finale low from last season, while Hawaii Five-0 also matched its finale and Blue Bloods was up a tenth.

• Fox also brought back its fall 2016 lineup of Hell's Kitchen (0.8) and The Exorcist (0.5). Exorcist did not live up to Fox's faith in it, opening on a new series low and just half of the year-ago series premiere. It was also a soft showing for Kitchen, which had never gone fractional in its 2016-17 season.

• We'll see Blindspot on NBC in a few weeks, but for now the network simply went with a repeat of Law and Order True Crime (0.5) and two hours of Dateline (0.8/0.9).

SpotVault - The Exorcist (Fox) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - MacGyver (CBS) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Inhumans (ABC) - Fall 2017 Ratings

SpotVault - Hell's Kitchen (Fox) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Hawaii Five-0 (CBS) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Dateline (NBC) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Blue Bloods (CBS) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - 20/20 (ABC) - 2017-18 Ratings

Spotted Ratings, Premiere Thursday 9/28/17

FINALS UPDATE: Thursday Night Football (4.8), Superstore (1.3), The Good Place (1.4), Will and Grace (3.0) and Gotham (0.9) adjusted up while How to Get Away with Murder (1.0) and Thursday Night Football Pregame (2.0) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• On Premiere Thursday, NBC popped in a big way with its revival of Must See TV sitcom Will and Grace (2.9). Excluding Olympics and Super Bowl lead-outs, this will be the first NBC sitcom episode to crack a 200 in A18-49+ since... the finale of Will and Grace in 2006.
• In terms of W&G's ability to lift all boats around it, the results were mixed but had some clear positives. Superstore (1.2) looks like it will be just a touch below last year's premiere in Plus, but an improvement over some of its ugliness late last season. The Good Place (1.3) basically matched the demo of its post-America's Got Talent preview last week, which seems like a win. And W&G's lead-out Great News (1.3) eked out a new series high, but was still at less than half of its lead-in. The biggest winner of all was the drama Chicago Fire (1.5), which looked great in its move to a new night (topping last year's 1.4 Chicago Med premiere on the night).

• Meanwhile, it was TGIT time on ABC, with the two-hour return of Grey's Anatomy (2.3) leading into How to Get Away with Murder (1.1). Grey's Anatomy was amazingly healthy once again vs. last year's 2.5 premiere, but Murder fizzled a bit considering how well it ended last year. The network's nightly average got a lot of help year-to-year since the second hour of Grey's got compared against last year's 1.1 Notorious launch.

• Fox's Gotham (0.8) and The Orville (1.1) marched onward after making their timeslot debuts last week. It was a promising showing for Orville, matching last week when it had less competition, and the lineup still looks like an improvement on last year's Rosewood / Pitch duo (they got a 0.7/1.1 for their premieres on this night last year).

• And CBS had its first game of Thursday Night Football, after the first two weeks of TNF were cable only (presumably a ploy to get all five CBS games counted in the network's regular season average). As usual, expect these games to adjust way up in finals because the final ratings will include the simulcast rating with NFL Network, though last night's game was mucked up a bit by a weather delay.

SpotVault - Will and Grace (NBC) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Superstore (NBC) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - How to Get Away with Murder (ABC) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Grey's Anatomy (ABC) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Great News (NBC) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Chicago Fire (NBC) - 2017-18 Ratings

Spotted Ratings, Premiere Wednesday 9/27/17

FINALS UPDATE: Survivor (1.8) adjusted up while Arrow (R) (0.2) and Supernatural (R) (0.2) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• After three solid debuts last year, this year's Premiere Wednesday had only one series opener: the CBS drama SEAL Team (1.5). It is a fine start, holding most of its Survivor (1.7) lead-in's demo and topping the night in total viewers with almost 10 million. Criminal Minds (1.3) did all right as it finally made the move to 10/9c. Survivor (1.7) continued a soft-ish start for the reality franchises this fall, down at least 20% from last year's 2.3 fall premiere.

• Fox took over the lead on Premiere Wednesday with the return of Empire (2.4), now at 8/7c on a regular basis for the first time and leading into fellow Lee Daniels series Star (1.8). Empire was down 40%ish from its year-ago premiere, but it's gotten pretty used to trends like that in the spring half of last season. An upward adjustment would tie it with last season's finale. The bump for Star was solid, as it zoomed back ahead of its entire Wednesday run in 2017, and had close to the same Plus as its post-Empire preview in December 2016.

• ABC plugged in sophomore American Housewife (1.6) at 9:30 after three years of Black-ish in the timeslot. At least on premiere night, Housewife was not too indistinguishable from a typical Black-ish episode - acceptable, but not a breakout.
• As for the returnees, Modern Family (2.1) was down a little more than league average in its return, while The Goldbergs (1.8) held up nicely at 8/7c. At 8:30, sophomore Speechless (1.4) looked like a weaker link than it was even last spring, and certainly compared with its 2.0 launch last fall. At 10/9c, Designated Survivor (1.1) was of course down huge from last year's 2.2 launch but toward the high end of what it was doing in the spring.

• And NBC saw The Blacklist (1.1) take over at 8/7c, where Blindspot aired all of last season. Early indications are that the show may see some benefit from airing in the earlier hour; it was never higher than 1.0 in all of its winter/spring 2017 episodes. Its veteran lead-outs Law and Order: SVU (1.4) and Chicago PD (1.3) appear to be down a bit in Plus, after opening with 1.8 and 1.6 last year.

Premiere Wednesday Renewology: The "Solid," "Fine," "OK" SEAL Team Premiere

Here are a few quick thoughts on what Premiere Wednesday says about the renewal/cancellation landscape. These are based on prelims and I probably will not get around to updating this page with the finals, but I'm trying to anticipate some things that could happen in finals.

SpotVault - The Goldbergs (ABC) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - The Blacklist (NBC) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Survivor (CBS) - 2017-18 Ratings

Survivor

Wednesdays, 8/7c, CBS

SpotVault - Star (Fox) - Fall 2017 Ratings

SpotVault - Speechless (ABC) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - SEAL Team (CBS) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Modern Family (ABC) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Law and Order: SVU (NBC) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Empire (Fox) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Designated Survivor (ABC) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Criminal Minds (CBS) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Chicago PD (NBC) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - American Housewife (ABC) - 2017-18 Ratings

Spotted Ratings, Premiere Tuesday 9/26/17

FINALS UPDATE: Bull (1.3), The Voice (2.7) and This Is Us (3.9) adjusted up while Law and Order True Crime (1.6), Brooklyn Nine-Nine (0.7) and Legends of Tomorrow (R) (0.2) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• After a quiet start to the season, NBC roared into the lead on Tuesday with the return of last year's mega-smash This Is Us (3.8). The show exploded to another new series high, double digits ahead of last season's finale and a full point ahead of last year's series premiere. It was another down night for its lead-in The Voice (2.6), but it could at least beat Monday's rating if it gets adjustment help.
• However, NBC had a second straight premiere with 50% or less retention in the 10/9c hour with the short-order anthology series Law and Order: True Crime (1.7).

• Fox got its fall programming under way with the returns of Lethal Weapon (1.2), The Mick (0.9) and Brooklyn Nine-Nine (0.8). On a new night, Lethal Weapon matched the low point from its first season but is still clearly a success story; and it is noteworthy that the show skewed much younger with competition from NCIS. (Last year's 1.2 came with almost six million viewers, while this episode had just 4.266 million.) Meanwhile, both Mick and Brooklyn bounced back from their results late last season, but still scored well below their respective 1.3/1.1 Tuesday premieres.

• CBS brought back last year's Tuesday trio of NCIS (1.6), Bull (1.2) and NCIS: New Orleans (1.0). The year-ago evening involved Bull's 2.2 series premiere, but both of the NCIS series were down close to 30% from Premiere Tuesday last year.

• And it was ABC's turn to delay its regular lineup for a week, instead going with a Dancing with the Stars-themed Celebrity Family Feud (1.3) and two hours of Dancing with the Stars (1.2). It was a very competitive outing for the Feud, beating its last five ratings from the summer.

Premiere Tuesday Renewology: Law & Order True Crime and Fox's Bubble Comedies

Here are a few quick thoughts on what Premiere Tuesday says about the renewal/cancellation landscape. These are based on prelims and I probably will not get around to updating this page with the finals, but I'm trying to anticipate some things that could happen in finals.

SpotVault - This Is Us (NBC) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - The Mick (Fox) - Fall 2017 Ratings

SpotVault - NCIS: New Orleans (CBS) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - NCIS (CBS) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Lethal Weapon (Fox) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Law and Order True Crime (NBC) - Fall 2017 Ratings

SpotVault - Bull (CBS) - 2017-18 Ratings

SpotVault - Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Fox) - 2017-18 Ratings

Premiere Monday Renewology: Uncertain Starts for Me, Myself & I and The Brave

Here are a few quick thoughts on what Premiere Monday says about the renewal/cancellation landscape. Gonna try to get back into doing these "columns" on a somewhat regular basis this season.

Spotted Ratings, Premiere Monday 9/25/17

FINALS UPDATE: The Big Bang Theory (4.1) and Young Sheldon (3.8) adjusted up while Dancing with the Stars (1.4), The Good Doctor (2.2), Me, Myself and I (1.6), The Brave (1.3) and So You Think You Can Dance (0.5) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• CBS made a massive Premiere Monday splash with the debut of Young Sheldon (3.7), which held almost all the lead-in from its parent series The Big Bang Theory (3.9). That puts it ahead of last year's Kevin Can Wait premiere, and virtually certain to become the highest scripted series premiere on record in A18-49+. (2 Broke Girls' 301 in 2011 is the only one that has cracked a 300.) This will throw some more intrigue into CBS' Young Sheldon rollout plan; the show is slated to sit on the bench from now until November 2. Can the eye really leave a potential megahit comedy on the shelf for six weeks??
• The Young Sheldon hype shouldn't completely obscure that it was an incredible night from TBBT (3.9) in its own right. This will be the biggest historical-adjusted performance in the history of the show, probably over a 350 Plus.
• Later in the night, Kevin Can Wait (2.3) was back for season two, and it managed to come pretty close to last year's premiere after making news with its replacement of Erinn Hayes with Leah Remini in the off-season. It led into new comedy Me, Myself and I (1.7), which held up OK at 9:30. But the CBS momentum was gone by 10/9c, as Scorpion (1.0) was down considerably from last year's premiere with a lot more competition.

• ABC had its own extremely impressive start with 10/9c drama The Good Doctor (2.4), which built big on its lead-in from Dancing with the Stars (1.5). This was well over double the measly 0.9 premiere of Conviction a year ago, and on a Plus basis should handily outrate anything Castle ever did in eight seasons with this timeslot. The network may adjust down in finals due to a Monday Night Football preemption in Dallas.

• This left NBC as a bit of a Premiere Monday afterthought, even though it was close behind CBS for the nightly average with two hours of The Voice (2.3/2.8). Voice was down at least 20% year-to-year. New drama The Brave opened with a 1.4 at 10/9c (including a shaky 1.6 -> 1.2 half-hour breakdown). This was down four tenths from the Timeless premiere a year ago and even more steeply behind The Good Place, which had a 2.3 for the hour on Premiere Monday.

• Fox stayed out of the Premiere Monday mix, instead wrapping up the So You Think You Can Dance season (0.6/0.5). Lucifer and The Gifted will join the fray next week.