FINALS UPDATE: To Tell the Truth (1.1) and
NCIS: Los Angeles (1.4) adjusted up.
WHAT MATTERS:- The Sunday before the Super Bowl had a collection of smaller events, including the Pro Bowl and SAG Awards on cable. On broadcast, Fox went with the Miss Universe competition (1.0/1.5/1.9), which was preliminarily down just a touch from last year's 1.6 average.
- The other three broadcasters all had some combination of regular series, led by CBS with 60 Minutes (1.2) and dramas NCIS: Los Angeles (1.3), Madam Secretary (0.9) and Elementary (0.7). The dramas were all up from two weeks ago, when they faced an NFL playoff game, and exactly matched their ratings from three weeks ago with less NFL interference.
- It was the same story for ABC's To Tell the Truth (1.0/1.0) and the finale of Conviction (0.5): up from two weeks ago, and even with three weeks ago. At 7/6c, America's Funniest Home Videos (1.2) had its highest rating of the season despite being a repeat.
- And on NBC, a repeat of Celebrity Apprentice (0.4) proved to be a rotten lead-in for two original hours of Dateline (0.7/1.0).
FINALS UPDATE: Shark Tank (1.4) and
Dateline (1.0) adjusted up while
20/20 (0.8) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- After a thrilling run through most of January, Last Man Standing (1.2) came back to earth a bit this week, though its lead-out Dr. Ken (1.0) stayed at a fairly high-end rating. LMS dropped behind Shark Tank (1.3) for nightly leadership, while 20/20 was even at 0.9 to tie Dateline.
- The CBS dramas went into repeats (0.8/0.8/0.8) this week, but the competing dramas did not take much advantage. On NBC, a third straight 0.8 from Grimm led into yet another drop from increasingly ugly Emerald City (0.6). Fox's Sleepy Hollow (0.6) was one of the few uptickers, but Rosewood was stuck at 0.6. And the CW was also steady and low with The Vampire Diaries (0.3) and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (0.2).
FINALS UPDATE: Mary Tyler Moore: Love Is All Around (0.8) and
Chicago Med (R)
(0.8) adjusted up while
Scandal (2.0) and
My Kitchen Rules (0.7) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- TGIT staples Grey's Anatomy (2.6), Scandal (2.1) and How to Get Away with Murder (1.5) were back together on the same night for the first time in over ten months. It was a strong statement for the power of synergy, as Grey's and Murder each hit new season highs, with Grey's even topping its year-ago winter premiere (2.4)! Scandal, meanwhile, remained a shadow of where it opened last season (3.3) but did well enough to match the 2016 winter premiere (2.1).
- On the CW, newbie Riverdale opened with a 0.5 rating in the 9:00 hour. It led out of Supernatural (0.6), as that series kicked off its first regularly-scheduled run at 8:00 in 12 years. Riverdale looks a bit stronger than the No Tomorrow and Frequency launches from the fall, but will still have to hold up fairly well to avoid getting into pity renewal or cancellation territory.
- Fox had week three of Hell's Kitchen (1.2) and My Kitchen Rules (0.8).
- And with a bunch of premieres on tap next Thursday, the CBS comedies The Big Bang Theory (1.6) and Mom (1.2) and NBC's Superstore (0.7/0.7) / Chicago Med (0.7) / The Blacklist (0.5) all went into repeats this week. CBS had a tribute to Mary Tyler Moore at 9/8c (0.8/0.7) leading into the finale of Pure Genius (0.7).
Scandal
Thursdays, 9/8c, ABC
Riverdale
Thursdays, 9/8c, CW
FINALS UPDATE: Modern Family (R)
(1.2) and
Law and Order: SVU (R)
(0.9) and
Law and Order: SVU (R)
(1.1) adjusted up while
Hunted (1.3) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- After a big premiere on Sunday, CBS' Hunted settled into Wednesday with a 1.3/1.4 rating for its two hours. That suggests it doesn't have a future as anything more than Survivor filler over the long-term, but it's still (for now) better than anything Undercover Boss did over the last couple months. It led into a typical 0.9 from Code Black at 10/9c.
- Fox finally got a much-needed steady week out of Star (1.2), leading out of a third straight 1.4 from Lethal Weapon (1.4).
- The CW was back with another low-end return for a superhero show from Arrow (0.6), while low-rated fall newbie Frequency (0.3) got one last original lead-in before ceding the timeslot to The 100 next Wednesday.
- ABC began a two-week repeat run for its comedies (1.2/1.1/1.1/1.1), and had strong ratings in the 10/9c with a Donald Trump interview (1.7). NBC was also in repeat mode with double Law and Order: SVU (0.8/1.0) into Chicago PD (0.8).
Best Case/Worst Case lays out possible scenarios for broadcast primetime TV seasons yet to premiere. Here's what's premiering tonight!
FINALS UPDATE: Chicago Fire (1.8) adjusted up while
Agents of SHIELD (0.6) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- It was another dominant night for NBC's drama duo of This Is Us (2.8) and Chicago Fire (1.7), which were both on the upswing to tie their second-biggest ratings of the season. After weeks at 1.7, The Wall (1.6) finally inched down at 8/7c.
- The CW had a rather soft return night from The Flash (0.9), opening the winter with (at least preliminarily) its first fractional result ever. It led into a new timeslot for Legends of Tomorrow (0.6), which came back at the low end of its fall results despite the seemingly compatible lead-in.
- On CBS, NCIS held strong at 1.9, but it was a weirdly rough night for Bull (1.3) and NCIS: New Orleans (1.1), which both fell to new lows.
- Fox's comedy hour of New Girl (0.9) and The Mick (1.0) also inched down again, though Bones (0.9) got a tenth back at 9/8c.
- And the ABC comedies went into repeats (1.0/0.9/0.8/0.6), while Agents of SHIELD preliminarily edged back up to 0.7 after last week's big drop.
These numbers are current through Monday, January 23.
WHAT MATTERS:
- History gave its strong Vikings lead-in (0.71) to another scripted series, a new Navy SEAL drama called Six (0.48). Vikings only has a couple more episodes remaining, so Six will have several weeks to show what it can do without that lead-in.
FINALS UPDATE: Celebrity Apprentice (1.1) adjusted up while
Quantico (0.8) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- A new timeslot after The Bachelor (2.4) gave Quantico (0.9) a boost, but not a particularly encouraging one. It certainly doesn't look any stronger than the show that aired on Sunday in the fall, with half-hours that exactly matched the two-week run of Big Fan (1.0 -> 0.7) (and also may put it in some danger of adjusting down after finals).
- CBS had a big night, as Man with a Plan (1.6) and 2 Broke Girls (1.7) rose to tie their season highs leading out of another 1.7 from Kevin Can Wait. A repeat of The Big Bang Theory (1.6) significantly livened up the 9:30 half-hour compared with usual occupant The Odd Couple, and helped Scorpion (1.3) to tick up at 10/9c.
- In the second week of the brief return for the Fox dramas, Lucifer (1.2) ticked up to match its Gotham lead-in (1.2).
- It was a brutal night for NBC's Celebrity Apprentice (1.0), which tanked to a new low, while Timeless clung to last week's 0.9.
- And the CW was finally back in business after a long winter hiatus, with Supergirl (0.8) a bit below its fall average and Jane the Virgin posting its usual 0.4.
Hunted
Wednesdays, 8/7c, CBS
NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC
FINALS UPDATE: AFC Championship (15.4) and
Hunted (4.1) adjusted up while
Son of Zorn (R)
(1.4) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- CBS used its huge AFC Championship Game lead-in (a prelim in the 13's) on new reality series Hunted (3.6), which will head to Wednesday going forward. It started just under 10 minutes after its listed 10:00 start time, but these events have tended to adjust up in finals because the West Coast viewing is live (and thus counted as part of the 7:00 hour rating in the prelims). Stay tuned!
- The other networks went almost completely into repeat mode, with the exception being an original episode of Fox's Son of Zorn (0.9), on an island among comedy repeats. ABC even had repeats of its winter filler To Tell the Truth (0.6/0.6), plus a measly 0.3 for a Quantico repeat on the eve of its Monday premiere. NBC had Dateline (0.8) leading into movie Ted (0.5/0.5/0.5/0.6/0.7).
FINALS UPDATE: Last Man Standing (1.4) adjusted up.
WHAT MATTERS:- Last Man Standing (1.3) emerged as the outright #1 program on Friday, and its three biggest ratings of the season have all come in January. Its lead-out Dr. Ken (1.0) was up a tenth at 8:30, while Shark Tank (1.0) went into repeats and an inauguration-themed 20/20 (0.9) was down at 10/9c.
- CBS put the value of MacGyver on display by replacing it at 8/7c with a low-rated Trump special (0.7). That new lead-in brought Hawaii Five-0 (1.0) down to one of its lowest ratings of the season. Blue Bloods (1.2) inched down at 10/9c.
- On NBC, Emerald City (0.7) lost another precious tenth at 9/8c, and was outrated both by lead-in Grimm (0.8) and lead-out Dateline (0.8).
- Fox's Rosewood (0.6) and Sleepy Hollow (0.5) also lost a tenth, as did The Vampire Diaries (0.3) on the CW. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend made it 11 in a row at 0.2 this season.
FINALS UPDATE: The Big Bang Theory (3.4) adjusted up while
My Kitchen Rules (0.8) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- NBC's The Good Place signed off for the season with a 1.1 in each of its final two half-hours, matching last week. Later in the night, Chicago Med was back down to 1.2, while The Blacklist had its third straight 1.0 since the new year.
- On CBS, The Big Bang Theory (3.3) was back in originals, and so were some of the viewers for the lead-out comedies. The Great Indoors (1.7) was still shy of its 1.9 from two weeks ago, but Mom (1.7) and Life in Pieces (1.5) both tied their season highs. The penultimate Pure Genius averaged a 0.8 at 10/9c.
- It was a nice week two for Fox's unscripted lineup, as Hell's Kitchen (1.3) actually upticked to a new season high while My Kitchen Rules (0.9) fully maintained its premiere rating.
- And ABC, originally scheduled to bring back TGIT on this night, instead went with repeats of the most recent Grey's Anatomy (0.8) and Scandal (0.6) episodes, plus a Trump family special (0.9) at 10/9c.
- A week before the Riverdale premiere, the CW had one last night of Legends of Tomorrow (0.2) and Supernatural (0.3) repeats.
FINALS UPDATE: Black-ish (1.4) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- In a special Wednesday 8/7c edition, Fresh Off the Boat (1.5) looked like a stronger series than it usually has on Tuesday. The Wednesday bottom-of-hour comedies Speechless (1.6) and Black-ish (1.5) also held up reasonably well with reduced lead-ins. (Modern Family (1.3) was a repeat at 9/8c.) Match Game (1.0) dropped another tenth at 10/9c.
- On Fox, Star (1.2) took another two-tenth drop in its third regularly scheduled episode. It's still not really in iffy territory, but this kind of trend suggests that it could get there. Lethal Weapon stayed at 1.4 in the lead-off spot.
- Another Wednesday brought another round of bad news for Blindspot (0.9), which fell to a new low and has clearly become a weaker show (even relative to year-ago The Mysteries of Laura) since the new year. The NBC staples Law and Order: SVU (1.4) and Chicago PD (1.5) were both even.
- After a couple years of severe drops, the People's Choice Awards (1.2) finally stabilized a bit for CBS, down just a tenth from last year. The event led out of Undercover Boss (1.1).
- And the CW's final week of hibernation rolled on with a repeat Arrow (0.2) into original Frequency (0.2).
These numbers are current through Tuesday, January 17.
WHAT MATTERS:
- We talked about broadcast shows getting hurt by the last-minute NFL playoff game on Sunday, but Showtime is probably hoping that applied to Homeland (0.31) as well. If not, the show was down 45% year-to-year in the same-day ratings, which is probably not what the network was looking for out of the first episode of a three-season renewal.
Still open today:
Star
WEEK ONE (two hours)
Rating: 1.00
Lead-in: Grimm (0.9)
Competition: Shark Tank (1.4),
20/20 (1.3),
Hawaii Five-0 (1.3),
Blue Bloods (1.3),
Sleepy Hollow (0.6),
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (0.2)
FINALS UPDATE: Fresh Off the Boat (1.2) adjusted up.
WHAT MATTERS:- ABC's Tuesday lineup was back with all three hours for the first time in 2017, and it was a mixed night at best. The Middle (1.7) and American Housewife (1.5) continued to do their things, but Fresh Off the Boat (1.1) and The Real O'Neals (0.8) came back at the low end of their fall ratings, while Agents of SHIELD (0.6) plummeted all the way to a new low.
- On NBC, This Is Us (2.6) settled back into its usual 9/8c slot with a pretty typical rating (down four tenths from last week's 10/9c return), and Chicago Fire (1.6) was also normal at 10/9c. The Wall led off with its third straight 1.7, remaining a truly exceptional option to take NBC through The Voice's hiatus.
- CBS had an upticking NCIS (1.9) leading into even Bull (1.5) and NCIS: New Orleans (1.2).
- And on Fox, New Girl (1.0), The Mick (1.1) and Bones (0.8) were all down a tenth from last Tuesday.
- The CW finally wrapped up one of its fall newbie burn-offs, with No Tomorrow (0.2) leading out of one last repeat of The Flash (0.3).
FINALS UPDATE: Howie Mandel All-Star Comedy Gala (0.3) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- NBC featured the return of Timeless (0.9) for a winter run following Celebrity Apprentice (1.2). While a raw series low, this 0.9 was not really any weaker in True than some of its later post-Voice episodes... but that's not a compliment.
- The CBS comedy lineup (1.7/1.5/1.5/1.1), finally free of football competition, had notable surges on Monday. It was also a huge night for ABC's The Bachelor (2.3), which set off on its usual post-premiere growth trajectory.
- On Fox, Gotham (1.2) and Lucifer (1.1) came back for what will be just a three-week stint.
Still open:
The Mick
WEEK ZERO (December 14 preview)
Rating: 2.2
Lead-in: Empire (2.7)
Competition: Modern Family (2.0),
Black-ish (1.6),
Survivor Fall (1.9),
Special: Saturday Night Live Christmas (1.6),
Special: Victoria's Secret Fashion Show (R) (0.3)
WEEK ZERO (Sunday 8/7c preview)
Rating: 2.8
Lead-in: Sports: The OT (3.5)
Competition: The Bachelor Special (0.8),
60 Minutes (1.7),
Sports: Football Night in America (3.0)
FINALS UPDATE: NFL Playoffs (12.0) adjusted up while
To Tell the Truth (0.8) and
Conviction (0.4) and
Madam Secretary (0.7) and
Elementary (0.5) and
The Wall (R)
(0.7) and
Football Night in America (2.1) and
NFL Overrun (13.9) and
The Simpsons (2.8) and
The Mick (1.7) and
Family Guy (1.4) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- This was supposed to be one of the less eventful winter Sundays in primetime, but weather issues caused NBC's early-afternoon NFL playoff game to get moved into prime. Preliminarily, it averaged a mid-10's demo and should adjust well into the 11's after finals.
- That development was not welcome news for Fox, which was hoping that its massive late afternoon NFL audience wouldn't have such an obvious alternative after the game. Their late afternoon game coverage ran about halfway into the 8:00 half-hour, leading to muddled numbers for The Simpsons (one-hour), The Mick and Family Guy. The preliminary half-hours went 7.6 (post-game/The Simpsons) -> 2.6 (Simpsons) -> 2.0 (Simpsons/Mick) -> 1.6 (Mick/Family Guy) -> 1.4 (Family Guy/local).
- Meanwhile, the winter lineups went on as usual for ABC and CBS. ABC's To Tell the Truth (0.8/0.9) came back down a bit after last week's spike, while Conviction hung at 0.5 in the 10:00 hour. The CBS dramas NCIS: Los Angeles (1.0), Madam Secretary (0.8) and Elementary (0.6) were also on the downswing.
FINALS UPDATE: Hawaii Five-0 (1.2) adjusted up.
WHAT MATTERS:- Things didn't get any more promising in week two for Emerald City (0.8), which took a two-tenth drop from an already underwhelming premiere. It matched its lead-in from Grimm (0.8) at 8/7c. And this new lineup seemingly did no favors for Dateline (0.7), which hit a season low in the 10:00 hour.
- This Friday was not quite as explosive as last week for the ABC ratings, but Last Man Standing (1.3) was still able to hang on to its outright second-best rating of the season. Its lead-out Dr. Ken (0.9) was also down two tenths. Shark Tank (1.3) was down 0.1 and 20/20 down 0.2.
- CBS also came back to earth a bit with MacGyver (1.1) and Hawaii Five-0 (1.1), but Blue Bloods (1.3) remained strong at 10/9c.
- On Fox, Rosewood (0.7) tried to keep itself in the picture by upticking in its second Friday outing, while Sleepy Hollow (0.6) held on to last week's premiere rating.
- And though the CW's superhero hibernation continues into another week, the Friday lineup was intact again with The Vampire Diaries (0.4) returning to join Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (0.2).
FINALS UPDATE: Chicago Med (1.3) adjusted up.
WHAT MATTERS:
- Fox premiered new reality series My Kitchen Rules (0.9) at 25% behind its Hell's Kitchen (1.2) lead-in.
- On CBS, The Big Bang Theory (1.9) had the night off, and this time its lead-out comedies did not hold up well in its absence; The Great Indoors (1.4), Mom (1.3) and Life in Pieces (1.2) all dropped multiple tenths. At 10/9c, Pure Genius (0.9) managed an uptick.
- After last week's soft set of returns, NBC saw The Good Place (1.1) get a tenth back this week. But lead-in Superstore (1.2) and the dramas Chicago Med (1.2) and The Blacklist (1.0) were all stuck at last week's levels.
- On ABC, the TGIT hiatus continued with the finale of The Great American Baking Show (1.0) and two-hour African-American music special Taking the Stage (0.9/1.0), which was not bad for filler but a lot lower than last week's Menendez Brothers special.
- And the CW stayed off the map with repeats of Legends of Tomorrow (0.3) and Supernatural (0.2).
My Kitchen Rules
Thursdays, 9/8c, Fox
FINALS UPDATE: The Goldbergs (2.0) and
Speechless (1.8) adjusted up.
WHAT MATTERS:- Wednesday was the first day of the week without some huge event, and the result was a mix of steadiness and small drops for the broadcasters. On ABC, Match Game (1.1) lost a chunk after last week's strong premiere, but the comedy lineup of The Goldbergs (1.9), Speechless (1.7), Modern Family (2.3) and Black-ish (1.7) was very close to last week.
- On Fox, Lethal Weapon (1.4) inched down, while the second 2017 episode of Star (1.4) shed two tenths.
- NBC's Blindspot (1.0) lost a much-needed tenth in the lead-off role, while Law and Order: SVU (1.4) also dropped by 0.1. That left a steady Chicago PD (1.5) as NBC's top program.
- And CBS had an even Criminal Minds (1.4) surrounded by 0.1 drops from Undercover Boss (1.1) and Code Black (0.9).
- The CW stayed in hibernation with a repeat Arrow (0.2) and original Frequency (0.2).
These numbers are current through Tuesday, January 10.
WHAT MATTERS:
- FX opened 2017 with a strong start for new drama Taboo (0.63), beating every rating that Atlanta did in this Tuesday 10:00 hour during the fall. Unless it pulls a The Bastard Executioner-esque collapse from here, it's looking good.
FINALS UPDATE: This Is Us (3.0) and
The Mick (1.2) adjusted up.
WHAT MATTERS:
- Tuesday's ratings are complicated by the big four's coverage of President Obama's farewell address, which covered most of the 9:00 hour in the Eastern time zone. In the prelims, NBC (2.5) had easily the highest big four ratings in the hour, beating ABC (1.3) and CBS (1.1) and Fox (0.9).
- Surrounding NBC's high-rated coverage were The Wall (1.7) at 8:00 and the return of This Is Us (2.6), bumped to a 10:00 scheduled start time but beginning right at that time for the East Coast.
- Fox's The Mick (1.1) took a dip at 8:30, leading out of New Girl (1.1) at 8/7c. After the speech, Bones (1.0) at least preliminarily edged up from last week's premiere, despite a highly irregular 9:55 start time.
- On ABC were The Middle (1.7) and American Housewife (1.5), preliminarily close to last week's ratings in the 8:00 hour, and the return of Agents of SHIELD (0.8) at 10/9c.
- CBS went into repeat mode, with NCIS (1.1) at 8/7c leading into repeats of The Big Bang Theory and NCIS: New Orleans after the speech. And the CW had yet another The Flash repeat (0.3) leading into the penultimate original of No Tomorrow (0.2).
WHAT MATTERS:- ESPN dominated Monday night with college football's national championship game, but ABC's female-skewing The Bachelor (2.1) was completely unfazed, holding up even better than usual against the big game. It led into two episodes new game show Big Fan (1.0/0.7), which is very temporary filler in the 10/9c hour leading up to the return of Quantico in two weeks.
- NBC's Celebrity Apprentice (1.1/1.0) did not hold up so well in week two, dipping from last week's already disappointing 1.3 premiere. A repeat of The Wall (0.8) followed at 10/9c.
- It was mostly repeats elsewhere. The CBS comedy lineup (1.6/1.2/1.0/1.0) basically had the same average as last week's all-original block, led by a repeat of The Big Bang Theory at 8/7c. The Odd Couple (1.0) at 9:30 was the only original. Fox had a repeat of December special Showtime at the Apollo (0.7/0.6) while the CW went with Supergirl (0.3) and Penn and Teller: Fool Us (0.3).
Big Fan
Mondays, 10/9c, ABC
FINALS UPDATE: Golden Globe Awards (5.6) adjusted up while
Golden Globes Arrivals (1.3) and
The Simpsons (3.5) and
Son of Zorn (1.8) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- Event season kicked into gear with NBC's Golden Globe Awards, averaging roughly a 4.8 demo in the prelims from 8:00 to 11:00. This will adjust up a lot after finals to include the live West Coast viewing, and should be very close to or a teeny bit above last year in the demo (it had a 4.7 prelim/5.5 final).
- On ABC, the lead-in from America's Funniest Home Videos (0.8) may have helped produce a much better second week for To Tell the Truth, which was up considerably to 1.0 in both of its original hours. Even lowly Conviction (0.5) edged up at 10/9c.
- We'll have to wait for finals on Fox, since the late afternoon NFL playoff game coverage ran 10 minutes into the 8:00 hour. It's pretty clear there were big boosts for the returns of The Simpsons (4.9), Son of Zorn (2.3), Family Guy (1.8) and Bob's Burgers (1.5), but they should mostly be adjusting down from these numbers in finals.
- CBS was back to its usual Sunday dramas, led by NCIS: Los Angeles (1.3) at 8:00 with Madam Secretary (0.9) and Elementary (0.7) following.
Sleepy Hollow
Fridays, 9/8c, Fox
Emerald City
Fridays, 9/8c, NBC
FINALS UPDATE: Hawaii Five-0 (1.3) adjusted up while
20/20 (1.3) and
Emerald City (1.0) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- After a fall of phoning it in on Friday, NBC opened 2017 by actually trying, and its results were fairly moderate. Grimm (0.9) came back for its final season about in line with what it did throughout last season, and newbie Emerald City (1.1/1.0) basically had the same kind of demo as a typical Dateline episode. With a lot of stuff on the NBC weeknight schedule eyeing this Friday real estate for next season, it seems like Emerald is going to have to hold up really well from here.
- It was a night of premieres, but the incumbent programs had the biggest highlights. ABC had a particularly massive outing, with the whole lineup exploding to new season highs: Last Man Standing (1.5), Dr. Ken (1.1), Shark Tank (1.4) and 20/20 (1.4). CBS' MacGyver (1.2), Hawaii Five-0 (1.2) and Blue Bloods (1.3) were also on the upturn. It was probably a high-viewed Friday night and it's not impossible there were some weather-related preemptions, but these numbers certainly look good.
- Fox opened up its own Friday night drama lineup with a new series low from Rosewood (0.6), leading into Sleepy Hollow (0.6) which tied its low from last spring.
- And the CW began 2017 with two original hours of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (0.2/0.2).
FINALS UPDATE: Truth and Lies: The Menendez Brothers (1.7) adjusted up.
WHAT MATTERS:
- It took till Thursday, but CBS finally got a legit early January bounce. The Big Bang Theory (3.6) surged to its best number since very early in the fall, The Great Indoors (1.9) rose to tie its series premiere rating, and Mom (1.7) had easily a new season high. The growth was still there but not as pronounced for Life in Pieces (1.4), but Pure Genius (0.8) had no benefit whatsoever at 10/9c.
- On the other hand, it was a soft return for NBC's Thursday lineup after a lengthy time off. Superstore (1.2), The Good Place (1.0) and Chicago Med (1.2) were all at or very near their fall lows, and The Blacklist (1.0) set a new one at 10/9c.
- ABC's The Great American Baking Show (1.0) moved to 8/7c and inched up, and led into a very solid 1.6 for two hours of an ABC News special on the Menendez Brothers.
- Fox rescued Hell's Kitchen (1.2/1.1) from Friday night, and it will lead into newbie My Kitchen Rules next Thursday.
- And the CW's big guns stayed in repeat mode with Legends of Tomorrow (0.3) and Supernatural (0.2).
Best Case/Worst Case lays out possible scenarios for broadcast primetime TV seasons yet to premiere. Here's what's premiering tonight!
FINALS UPDATE: Modern Family (2.4) and
Criminal Minds (1.4) and
Lethal Weapon (1.5) adjusted up while
Arrow (R)
(0.2) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:
- Fox had a passable start to its Wednesday Empire hiatus lineup. Lethal Weapon (1.4) was only able to tie its fall low point, but Star (1.6) had a pretty nice start to its 9/8c run and skewed a lot younger than its lead-in.
- ABC's Wednesday comedies The Goldbergs (1.9), Speechless (1.7), Modern Family (2.3) and Black-ish (1.7) all opened 2017 on the upswing. And at 10/9c, Match Game (1.3) opened with even better numbers than most recent Designated Survivor episodes (at least in Live+SD): a far more successful transition to the regular season compared with Sunday's To Tell the Truth. It was the best raw number for Match Game since its series premiere early last summer.
- NBC had the return of Blindspot (1.1), Law and Order: SVU (1.5) and Chicago PD (1.5), a lineup that hadn't been seen since early November. The last two hours smashed CBS' Criminal Minds (1.3) and Code Black (1.0) head-to-head, as an underwhelming week for CBS scripted programming continued. (Blindspot, however, lost to Undercover Boss (1.2) in the 8/7c hour.)
- The CW stayed in superhero repeat mode with Arrow (0.3), which was no help to an original episode of Frequency (0.2).
Match Game
Wednesdays, 10/9c, ABC
Caught on Camera
Fridays, 8/7c, NBC
48 Hours
Saturdays, 10/9c, CBS
WHAT MATTERS:
- Numbers and analysis coming shortly. Fox featured the timeslot premiere of The Mick and the final season premiere of Bones, while NBC had the Tuesday 8/7c debut of The Wall and a two-hour Chicago series crossover. ABC's comedies and the CBS dramas also returned to originals.
Best Case/Worst Case lays out possible scenarios for broadcast primetime TV seasons yet to premiere. Here's what's premiering tonight!
FINALS UPDATE: Jimmy Kimmel Live Special (1.0) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- On the first Monday of the new year, ABC stood tallest with The Bachelor (2.1) just about matching last year's 2.2 premiere. At 10/9c, the network had a Bachelor-themed Jimmy Kimmel Live special (1.1).
- NBC brought back Celebrity Apprentice (1.3) with new host Arnold Schwarzenegger in fairly underwhelming fashion; its last premiere notched a 2.4 two years ago. It looks like Apprentice could still be an improvement on the Monday The Voice reality filler from last year, The Biggest Loser, but it may not be by a huge margin. It led into a second preview of game show The Wall (1.2), which will take up its regular Tuesday 8/7c slot starting tonight.
- CBS was back to Monday originals with Kevin Can Wait (1.4), Man with a Plan (1.2), 2 Broke Girls (1.3), The Odd Couple (1.0) and Scorpion (1.2), but mostly did not enjoy the usual bounces we see at the start of a new year. Perhaps it didn't help that ESPN's Rose Bowl game ran much deeper into East Coast primetime than expected.
- Fox and the CW are both ducking the college football competition on the first couple Mondays of the new year; Fox went with a MasterChef special (0.9) while the CW repeated its iHeartRadio Music Festival (0.3/0.2).
Ransom
Saturdays, 8/7c, CBS
The Mick
Tuesdays, 8:30/7:30c, Fox
The Bachelor
Mondays, 8/7c, ABC
Celebrity Apprentice
Mondays, 8/7c, NBC
FINALS UPDATE: NCIS: Los Angeles (R)
(0.7) and
Sunday Night Football (7.4) and
The Mick (2.8) adjusted up while
NFL Overrun (2.1) and
Ransom (0.8) and
Football Night in America (3.0) and
NFL Overrun (5.1) and
Family Guy (R)
(0.7) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- On the last Sunday of the NFL regular season, as both afternoon networks had a nationally-televised late afternoon NFL lead-in, Fox was the clear winner. A much stronger late-afternoon game boosted new Tuesday-bound comedy The Mick (2.4) to a very solid preview rating at 8/7c, about on par with recent post-NFL episodes of The Simpsons. It led into a one-hour episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine (1.4/1.2) on a special night, which was not particularly different from recent Son of Zorn episodes in the 8:30 slot. A repeat of Family Guy (0.9) rounded out Fox's night.
- CBS used its much weaker NFL lead-in on 60 Minutes (1.7) and a rather meager sampling for Saturday-bound drama Ransom (0.9). Like Fox, CBS then aired one of its regular series on an irregular night, with Pure Genius (0.8/0.7), and rounded the night out with a repeat (of NCIS: Los Angeles (0.6)). All these shows started about 10 minutes after their listed times at the bottom of the hours.
- On ABC, it was a rough start for the network's winter event season filler, which was all downhill after America's Funniest Home Videos (1.0). A preview special for The Bachelor only mustered up a 0.8 at 8/7c, and the return of game show To Tell the Truth (0.7) went well behind its entire summer 2016 run. Then came a Wicked City-esque showing from fall drama Conviction (0.4), moving to its final resting spot on Sunday at 10/9c.
- NBC's Sunday Night Football finale was stripped of a bit of its urgency by the late afternoon results, but still had a solid upper-6 prelim that should adjust to the upper-7's after finals.
Undercover Boss
Wednesdays, 8/7c, CBS
Terry Crews Saves Christmas
Fridays, 8/7c, CW
The Wall
Tuesdays, 8/7c, NBC
Nashville
Thursdays, 9/8c, CMT
Best Case/Worst Case lays out possible scenarios for broadcast primetime TV seasons yet to premiere. Here's what's premiering tonight (and Monday and Tuesday)!
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