FINALS UPDATE: Fresh Off the Boat (0.9) adjusted down. Please note that the State of the Union ratings included below are the preliminaries, as they were not officially released in finals.
WHAT MATTERS:- The big four networks stepped aside to simulcast the State of the Union address in the last two hours. At 8/7c, the only series originals were Ellen's Game of Games (1.8) and a double-dip of Fresh Off the Boat (1.0/1.0) which both matched last week. With the big lead-in and traditionally high-rated news department, NBC was on top among the big four's 9:00-11:00 prelims (1.6/1.3).
- The CW stayed original at 9/8c with week three of Black Lightning, and was rewarded as the show zoomed back up to tie its 0.8 series premiere rating. It was also a big night for The Flash (0.9), which rose to its best rating since the new year.
FINALS UPDATE: 9JKL (0.9) adjusted up.
WHAT MATTERS:
- Fox's The Resident (0.9) was down another tenth in its third episode, but that kept it ahead of its lead-in Lucifer (0.8) which shed a tenth of its own.
- On CBS, the lead-off hour of Kevin Can Wait (1.2) and Man with a Plan (1.1) was down a notch, but 9JKL (0.9) and Scorpion (0.9) both picked up a tenth. And it was a high-end night for Supergirl (0.6) on the CW.
FINALS UPDATE: Grammy Awards (5.9) adjusted up while
Shark Tank (0.9) and
Grammy Red Carpet Live (1.5) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- It's looking like a sharply down year for the Grammy Awards on CBS, as the show averaged only a 5.3 or 5.4 in the 3.5-hour preliminary ratings. It will adjust up after West Coast viewing is added in finals (it adjusted up from 7.3 to 7.8 last year), but it's almost certainly going to be a new historical low for the ceremony (below the 6.5 low in our records).
- ABC was a respectable second with two repeats of America's Funniest Home Videos (1.0/0.9) and two more originals of Shark Tank (1.1/1.0), which bounced back a bit from last week's episodes against the NFC Championship. NBC eked out a quiet third with two hours of Dateline (0.6/0.7) edging Fox's comedy repeats.
FINALS UPDATE: Blue Bloods (R)
(0.6) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- After two 0.7's to start the new year, Blindspot was down to 0.6 this week. Taken held the 0.5 again at 9/8c, and Dateline was also even at 0.7.
- The CW's Jane the Virgin (0.2) was back from a lengthy holiday hiatus with a low-end rating, reuniting with lead-in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (0.2).
- ABC's Child Support (0.7) and Agents of SHIELD (0.6) were steady as was Fox's Hell's Kitchen (0.9), while The Resident (0.4) proved a weaker repeater at 9/8c than 9-1-1 had in recent weeks. CBS repeated its Bruno Mars special (0.7) and crime dramas (0.6/0.7).
FINALS UPDATE: Grey's Anatomy (2.3) adjusted up while
The Big Bang Theory (R)
(1.2) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:
FINALS UPDATE: Match Game (0.8) adjusted up.
WHAT MATTERS:- For ABC, it was an experimental night as The Goldbergs (1.7) did very nice business with its spin-off backdoor pilot at 8/7c and American Housewife got the Grover Cleveland treatment with original episodes at 8:30 (1.4) and 9:30 (1.1). The 8:30 edition had the series' best rating since October and outrated all Speechless episodes since September. The 9:30 edition as well as Match Game (0.7) were on the low end.
- Fox smash 9-1-1 (1.6) dominated the 9/8c hour, giving back most of last week's bounce in the demo but growing in total viewers as both of its drama competitors and Modern Family all had the night off. The X-Files (1.0) was back down to its week two rating at 8/7c.
- On CBS, The Amazing Race went to two hours (1.3/1.1) and could only match last week's SEAL Team at 9/8c. Criminal Minds (0.9) stayed original at 10/9c and was down a tick.
FINALS UPDATE: The Middle (R)
(0.9) adjusted up while
Bull (1.3) and
LA to Vegas (0.8) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- It was another dominant Tuesday for NBC, but Ellen's Game of Games (1.8) took a big dip after getting a weather-related boost last Tuesday, and Chicago Med (1.3) was also down to its lowest rating since the new year. In the middle, This Is Us was steady at 2.5, setting up a very consequential Super Bowl episode.
- CBS was back from last week's repeats with a really good night for Bull (1.4) in between typical ratings for NCIS (1.5) and NCIS: New Orleans (1.0).
- Encouragingly, Fox's Lethal Weapon (1.2) and LA to Vegas (0.9) held onto all of last week's bounces. However, The Mick (0.7) did not.
- And week two of the CW's Black Lightning (0.6) took a normal-to-steep drop from last week's 0.773 premiere. It had little help from The Flash (0.7), which itself dipped to a low-end rating. ABC was in repeats.
FINALS UPDATE: The Brave (0.7) adjusted up.
WHAT MATTERS:- Fox's medical drama The Resident (1.0) had a less-than-promising start in its regular Monday 9/8c timeslot, shedding over 60% of its Sunday preview audience and starting out well below last year's ultimately failed 24: Legacy and APB. It led out of Lucifer (0.9), which was back to normal-ish after some recent stumbles.
- ABC's Monday lead grew as The Bachelor (1.8/1.7) and The Good Doctor (1.7) were very close to last week.
- On CBS, the 8/7c hour remained strong with Kevin Can Wait (1.3) and Man with a Plan (1.2) matching last week, but Superior Donuts (1.0) gave up a tenth and 9JKL (0.8) tanked by two. Scorpion (0.8) also dropped a notch.
- NBC had a similar story with The Wall (1.2) even but Better Late than Never (0.9) and The Brave (0.6) giving back some of their recent surges. And the CW's Supergirl (0.5) was back to normal after last week's 0.6.
FINALS UPDATE: NFC Championship (13.4) adjusted up while
Shark Tank (0.9),
NFC Championship Postgame (6.3) and
The Resident (2.6) adjusted down.
The Resident went a whooping 37% behind last year's
Hunted (4.1) in the same spot, though the postgame show lead-in was down 25% y2y (and the game itself down 13%).
WHAT MATTERS:- The last big four network without an active medical drama, Fox jumped into the space with a preview of The Resident (2.7) after the NFC Championship Game (12.4/12.0/9.8). It had an early start time (10:03) but a blowout game for a lead-in. This preliminary number should adjust up (the top 25 markets rating was 3.4) since it doesn't currently account for the West Coast viewing which took place in the 7:00 PT hour.
- ABC was the only other network airing a regular lineup against the game, plowing forward with originals of America's Funniest Home Videos (0.8) and Shark Tank (1.0/1.0) which were all down markedly from recent weeks.
FINALS UPDATE: Penn and Teller: Fool Us (R)
(0.2) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- Numbers and analysis to come.
FINALS UPDATE: Grey's Anatomy (2.3) adjusted up while
Scandal (1.2) and
Great News (0.6) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- The return of TGIT saw winter bounces all around, with Grey's Anatomy (2.2) and Scandal (1.3) both rising to their best ratings since the season premieres and How to Get Away with Murder (1.0) breaking a one for the first time since week three.
- On CBS, The Big Bang Theory (2.9) and Young Sheldon (2.4) came down a touch from their huge numbers the last two weeks, and S.W.A.T. (1.0) was also down a notch at 10/9c. The 9/8c hour of Mom (1.6) and Life in Pieces (1.2) was even.
- Meanwhile, NBC got a bit of relief as Will and Grace (1.3) made up most of last week's huge drop, and Great News (0.7) and Chicago Fire (1.0) also ticked up. However, Superstore (1.0) was down a tenth leading off.
- On Fox, The Four (1.0/1.3) continued to linger very close to its premiere rating.
- And the CW was back in business on Thursday with an even Supernatural (0.6) and slightly up Arrow (0.5).
WHAT MATTERS:- Wednesday continued the week's upward momentum as Fox's 9-1-1 (1.8) zoomed all the way back up to tie its series premiere rating, and its lead-in The X-Files (1.1) also rallied a bit.
- ABC's first three comedies The Goldbergs (1.7), Speechless (1.3) and Modern Family (1.8) had their highest ratings since very early in the season, while American Housewife had a more average 1.3 and Match Game (0.8) was even.
- On CBS, SEAL Team (1.1) came off the ledge a bit with a two-tenth uptick. The Amazing Race (1.5) was also up a notch, and Criminal Minds (1.0) was even.
- NBC was up a tenth across the board, putting The Blacklist at 1.1 for the first time since the season premiere while Law and Order: SVU and Chicago PD each posted 1.4.
- The CW didn't join in on the fun as Riverdale (0.5) and Dynasty (0.2) both returned from hiatus and matched their typical fall levels.
FINALS UPDATE: Modern Family (R)
(0.7) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- The CW's new Tuesday lineup saw a below-average return for The Flash (0.8) and full retention at 9/8c for newbie Black Lightning (0.8). Excluding the November crossover, it started out well above anything Legends of Tomorrow or any of the non-Flash superhero shows did during the fall.
- Elsewhere, it was a repeat night for CBS, and the lack of NCIS was seemingly a good thing for pretty much everyone in the 8/7c hour. The biggest riser was Fox's Lethal Weapon (1.2), up two tenths to tie its season high. Week three of LA to Vegas (0.9) and The Mick (0.8) were up by a tenth later in the night.
- Ellen's Game of Games (2.2) was also on the upswing, but This Is Us (2.5) fell a bit at 9/8c and Chicago Med (1.5) perked up at 10/9c.
- And on ABC, The Middle (1.4) was the lone mover, picking up a tenth while everything else matched last week.
WHAT MATTERS:- On the first football-free Monday of 2018, it was a big growth night for pretty much everything. The Bachelor (1.8) was up a whooping four tenths; while still down in Plus from last season, this was a better trend than it showed in the first couple weeks. The Good Doctor (1.7) was one of the more modest growers week-to-week, up just a tenth.
- January is always good times for CBS comedies, and this Monday was no exception as Kevin Can Wait (1.2) was up two tenths and the other three comedies (1.2/1.1/1.0) surged by three tenths.
- Recently renewed The Gifted shook off some shaky recent results and got a nice bounce all the way back to 1.0 for its two-hour season finale, with The Resident poised to take its 9/8c timeslot next Monday.
- NBC's The Wall (1.2), Better Late than Never (1.0) and The Brave (0.7) were up two tenths apiece, meaning Wall has now gained four tenths since its New Year's Day premiere.
- And the CW superhero empire was back in business with the return of Supergirl (0.6) at 8/7c. It was the first time Supergirl scored something other than a 0.5 all season, other than the crossover episode in late November.
FINALS UPDATE: NCIS: Los Angeles (1.1) and
Family Guy (1.8) adjusted up while
NFL Overrun (10.6),
The Simpsons (3.3),
Bob's Burgers (2.1) and
The Last Man on Earth (1.2) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- Fox's NFL playoffs coverage stretched to 8:30 on the East Coast, putting the animated comedies 30 minutes after their originally scheduled times. With another big lead-in, Fox gave Ghosted the night off and Bob's Burgers (2.2) had the second comedy slot instead. Though some minor adjustments are possible thanks to the West Coast airing at different times, it looks like another round of season highs ahead for The Simpsons (3.5), Bob's (2.2), Family Guy (1.7) and a 10/9c edition of The Last Man on Earth (1.3).
- ABC was once again the best of the rest, though America's Funniest Home Videos (1.2) was down a bit from last week's high as it had to face more of the football. Shark Tank (1.3/1.2) was down a tenth at 9/8c but up a tenth at 10/9c.
- On CBS, 60 Minutes (0.8) and Wisdom of the Crowd (0.7) were even but NCIS: Los Angeles (1.0) and Madam Secretary (0.7) picked up a tenth. NBC had two hours of Dateline (0.6) and movie Ride-Along (0.6/0.7).
FINALS UPDATE: Hawaii Five-0 (1.1) adjusted up.
WHAT MATTERS:- After a weak post-Voice run last spring, NBC's Taken (0.5) didn't look any better in its return on Friday, dropping two tenths behind its Blindspot lead-in (0.7), while Dateline (0.8) grew back by three tenths at 10/9c.
- Week two of Child Support (0.8) was down a tenth, meaning it was still ahead of all ABC's drama episodes on the night this season. Its lead-outs Agents of SHIELD (0.6) and 20/20 (0.7) also gave up a tenth.
- It was a big night for the 8/7c hour elsewhere, as both Hell's Kitchen (1.1) and MacGyver (1.0) were up to new season highs and Kitchen topped the night outright. However, Hawaii Five-0 (1.0) came back down to normal after last week's surge, while Blue Bloods (1.0) was even.
FINALS UPDATE: The Big Bang Theory (3.1),
Young Sheldon (2.6) and
The Four (1.1) adjusted up.
WHAT MATTERS:
- 2018 became downright rough for Will and Grace (1.1), as the revival dipped by three more tenths after an already soft start to the year last week. That left W&G at the same demo rating as the lead-off comedy Superstore (1.1), which was even alongside The Good Place (1.0) again in the 8/7c hour. It was also a tough night for Chicago Fire (0.9), which dipped by two tenths at 10/9c. Perhaps the shows can in part blame ABC, which had a big surge in the last two hours thanks to a Tonya Harding-themed Truth & Lies (1.4).
- On CBS, the power hour of The Big Bang Theory (3.1) and Young Sheldon (2.6) held up beautifully in their second episodes of the winter, while Mom (1.6) and Life in Pieces (1.2) inched down in the 9/8c hour and S.W.A.T. (1.1) was even to pull well ahead of Fire at 10/9c.
- And Fox's The Four (1.1) got some finals help, leaving it just a tenth behind last week's premiere.
FINALS UPDATE: Speechless (1.2) adjusted up.
WHAT MATTERS:- The X-Files (1.0) and 9-1-1 (1.5) were both down by three tenths in their second episodes of the season. It's within the range of a typical week two drop for 9-1-1, which means the show still has a lot of promise, but a bit of a steep decline for X-Files. 9-1-1 won the night in adults 18-34 (1.0) for the second straight week.
- On CBS, most of The Amazing Race's breakout audience came back for week two (1.4), while SEAL Team (0.9) was even and went behind its upticking Criminal Minds lead-out (1.0).
- ABC was steady in the first hour with The Goldbergs (1.5) and Speechless (1.1), but slightly down from there with Modern Family (1.6), American Housewife (1.2) and Match Game (0.8). It was the same story on NBC: even The Blacklist (1.0) and downticking Law and Order: SVU (1.3) and Chicago PD (1.3).
FINALS UPDATE: Kevin (Probably) Saves the World (0.6) and
The Flash (R)
(0.2) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- NBC megahit This Is Us (2.7) returned to the 9/8c hour, pairing with the new unscripted smash Ellen's Game of Games (2.1) for the first time. Game of Games was down a touch vs. last week's 2.2/2.4 opener, while This Is Us was narrowly below its 2.8 fall finale (and down in raw/up in Plus vs. last year's 3.0 winter opener). Chicago Med (1.4) rounded out the slightly down night.
- On Fox, there was a pretty sizable week two drop for LA to Vegas (0.8), which found itself at the high end of what The Mick has been doing this season. This is a blow to its chances of emerging as a stronger show than the fall comedies. Its surrounding programs Lethal Weapon (1.0) and The Mick (0.7) were each down a tick.
- It was also a down night for the ABC comedies, as The Middle (1.3) and Fresh Off the Boat (1.0) gave back their winter bounces and Black-ish (1.0) inched down at 9/8c. The repeat of Modern Family at 9:30 (0.8) was also down a notch, leading into steady Kevin (Probably) Saves the World (0.7).
- CBS held up relatively well on the second Tuesday of the new year, with NCIS (1.5) and NCIS: New Orleans (1.0) both even surrounding a one-tenth drop from Bull (1.2).
FINALS UPDATE: The Brave (0.5) and
Supergirl (R)
(0.2) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- ESPN's college football national championship game dominated Monday night and was up from last year (at least in overnight household ratings). (It averaged an 8.0 in A18-49 last year.) But two 10/9c dramas returned to the scene anyway. ABC's smash The Good Doctor (1.6) managed to tie its fall finale with a new lead-in from The Bachelor (1.4). Bachelor inched down from last week's already shaky premiere, and was down 33% from the episode against this game last year.
- On NBC, The Wall (1.0) and Better Late Than Never (0.8) both turned upward from last week's premieres, but The Brave (0.6) took a hard fall in its first episode without a The Voice lead-in.
- After rough results against football last week, the Fox dramas went into repeats this time (0.6/0.4). CBS was in second place with all repeats once again, led by The Big Bang Theory (1.4).
FINALS UPDATE: Shark Tank (1.4) and
Golden Globe Awards (5.0) adjusted up while
Golden Globes Arrivals (1.3),
The OT (6.1),
The Simpsons (2.8) and
Ghosted (1.6) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- Note: The 5.0 for the Golden Globe Awards is the time zone-adjusted fast national, so that number (and the -11% y2y) should be very close to the final. The Globes Arrivals number is still not time zone-adjusted, so expect a significant downward adjustment in finals. Also, Fox's comedies started 7 minutes after their listed timeslots, so downward adjustments are more likely than usual.
- Sunday event season began with the Golden Globe Awards on NBC, while Fox's comedies got an NFL playoff game lead-in.
WHAT MATTERS:- ABC's Once Upon a Time hiatus began with the premiere of new game show Child Support (0.9) doing better than any Once episode this season. It lifted Agents of SHIELD (0.7) to tie its season high at 9/8c, and 20/20 (0.8) hit a new season high at 10/9c (probably getting some additional benefit from no Dateline competition).
- The CBS drama trio of MacGyver (0.9), Hawaii Five-0 (1.2) and Blue Bloods (1.0) saw some winter bounce, with MacGyver tying its season high and Five-0 setting a new one.
- In a bit of Winter Olympics warmup, NBC aired the US Figure Skating Championships (0.7/0.7/0.8), with dramas Blindspot and Taken due to return next week.
- Fox's Hell's Kitchen, that rare competition reality show to take a holiday break in the middle of its season, was back with a high-end 0.9 leading into better-than-The Exorcist numbers from a pilot encore of 9-1-1 (0.6).
- And the CW capped off a quiet week with the return of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (0.2), which won't be joined by Jane the Virgin till the 26th.
WHAT MATTERS:- The Thursday comedy lineups on CBS and NBC collided for the first time in 2018 (and just the second time all season), and it was a rout for the eye with big upticks all around. The Big Bang Theory (3.1) was close to even in Plus with its January opener last year, while Young Sheldon (2.6) was as usual a huge timeslot gainer and helped vault Mom (1.7) and Life in Pieces (1.3) to very nearly even year-to-year in raw numbers. S.W.A.T. (1.1) was back up to tie its series high rating at 10/9c.
- The results were not as rosy on NBC. Superstore (1.1) and The Good Place (1.0) held up OK in the 8:00 hour but Will and Grace (1.4) was down to a new low, while Great News (0.6) had its worst performance yet with an original W&G lead-in. Chicago Fire managed to pull itself back up to a typical-ish 1.1 at 10/9c.
- Fox kept going with its big January rollout as reality competition The Four (1.1/1.2) had a two-hour premiere. How it did depends on your expectations; the next American Idol or The Voice it is clearly not, but it's still possible it could do as well as or better than Gotham and The Orville from this fall.
- Two weeks out from the return of TGIT, ABC had its first of two January Truth & Lies specials (1.1), this one on the 1993 Waco siege. It was nice filler, but a clear step below last year's Menendez murders special on the year-ago evening (1.7).
FINALS UPDATE: Chicago PD (1.4) adjusted up while
The X-Files (1.3) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- Fox's early January rollout continued with the return of The X-Files (1.4) getting overshadowed by its new drama lead-out 9-1-1 (1.8). Plus-wise, 9-1-1 opened in the same general vicinity as shows like Rosewood, Lucifer, Lethal Weapon and Star, but all those shows had a lot more lead-in or lead-out help, so this is a really good start. As for X-Files, it's looking like a weaker if still solid performance for the revival in its second go-round; this 1.4 was already below the lowest Plus of the winter 2016 run.
- On CBS, The Amazing Race (1.6) took over as winter Survivor filler in surprisingly massive fashion; it hasn't even hit a 1.6 in raw numbers in the last five seasons! In Plus, this will be one of the very biggest episodes in the history of the show. But it was no help to SEAL Team (0.9), which took a disappointing dip in its first head-to-head outing against 9-1-1. Criminal Minds was even at 0.9 at 10/9c.
- The ABC comedies saw little to no January bounce, with The Goldbergs (1.5) and Speechless (1.1) actually below their fall finales in the prelims while Modern Family (1.7) and American Housewife (1.3) were even. Match Game (0.9) returned to the 10/9c hour and was a bit of an improvement on Designated Survivor (at least in Live+SD).
- NBC's The Blacklist (1.0), Law and Order: SVU (1.4) and Chicago PD (1.3) were all on the uptick in their returns from hiatus.
FINALS UPDATE: Bull (1.3) adjusted up.
WHAT MATTERS:- NBC got a blockbuster start from the Tuesday premiere of Ellen's Game of Games (2.2/2.4), which went bigger than all but the earliest weeks of The Voice's fall season. It helped lift Chicago Med (1.5) to a new season high in the 10/9c hour.
- On Fox, new 9/8c sitcom LA to Vegas (1.1) was well ahead of anything that The Mick and Brooklyn Nine-Nine had done in the slot this fall. A typical post-premiere drop probably puts it in The Mick territory or maybe even a little better, which would be nice. It got some help from the biggest Lethal Weapon (1.1) since week two of the season, and The Mick held onto an 0.8 in its transition to the 9:30 half-hour.
- ABC got a winter bounce in the 8:00 hour with The Middle (1.5) and Fresh Off the Boat (1.2) both hitting their best ratings since the season premieres. There was not quite as much momentum later in the night with Black-ish (1.1), a repeat of Modern Family (0.9) and Kevin (Probably) Saves the World (0.7).
- And CBS got a little uptick from NCIS (1.5) but was pretty close to normal later on with Bull (1.2) and NCIS: New Orleans (1.0).
WHAT MATTERS:- 2018 began with a big night for the College Football Playoff on ESPN, but most of the broadcasters brought back their regular lineups anyway. That turned out to be a pretty rough decision across the board. ABC was of course on top with the return of The Bachelor (1.5), but it was down roughly 30% from last year's 2.1 opener.
- NBC and Fox fought for the rest of the original scraps, with NBC airing The Wall (0.8) and two hours of Better Late than Never (0.7) while Fox hit new lows with dramas Lucifer (0.7) and The Gifted (0.7). CBS eked out second place despite staying in repeat mode thanks to The Big Bang Theory (1.1) and a triple-header of Young Sheldon (1.0/0.9/0.9).
FINALS UPDATE: The Wall (R) (0.6) and
The OT (3.0) adjusted up while
SEAL Team (R) (0.5) adjusted down.
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