FINALS UPDATE:MasterChef (1.0) and MasterChef (1.2) adjusted up.
WHAT MATTERS:
NBC's summer staple American Ninja Warrior (1.2) began a two-week stop on Wednesday before returning to its usual Monday slot. It was down two tenths vs. last year's Monday premiere; if it can uptick in the return to Monday (which is what happened when it did this in 2016), all will be well.
But the news was rougher at 10/9c as summer drama Reverie opened with just a 0.6 at 10/9c. That's a much weaker start than last year's Midnight, Texas, which started at 0.9 and actually never went below 0.6.
Ninja Warrior won the head-to-head against the return of Fox's MasterChef (0.9/1.1). It was down two tenths year-to-year if you just compare the 8/7c hour year-to-year, but the 1.0 average for the night would be down one tenth.
And despite its recent cancellation, Code Black (0.7/0.7) had another decent showing with two originals from 9:00 to 11:00.
The Gigahit Years 'The next Empire' is a phrase that has become part of the TV ratings lexicon, referring to shows that exhibit multiple weeks of post-premiere growth. But most shows that get that label do so as kind of a joke, stuff like People Icons that is starting from a really small base. Empire was not just a growth story; it was a breakout on premiere night. Its January 7, 2015 premiere averaged 9.9 million viewers and a 3.8 demo (226 Plus), remarkably building on its lead-in from American Idol (3.4). Even with a much more conventional post-premiere trajectory, Empire could've been hugely successful from that starting point.
But that's not what happened. Empire became that once-in-a-generation show that both started at megahit levels (which only happens about 1-2 times per season) and grew from its series premiere rating (which also only happens about 1-2 times per season). And it was an almost weekly occurrence: 4.0 in week two. 4.4 in week three. After its only hiccup in week four, back up to 4.6 in week five. Then 4.8, 5.2, 5.4, 5.8, 5.8. By the time the 5.8's rolled around, it was more than doubling its lead-in from American Idol! And the season one finale, which started at a special time, provided one last uptick: a 6.1 at 8/7c followed by a 6.9 (410 Plus) for the last episode at 9/8c. At the end of the season, this two-and-a-half month whirlwind would ultimately grade out as the biggest broadcast drama of the A18-49+ era with a 303 average.
Season two also averaged a 303, but went about it very differently. Empire came back after over six months off to a 6.7 demo (a series high 460 Plus), and pretty much headed downward from there. It held onto the fives for a couple weeks, the fours for the rest of the fall (except for an unfortunate 3.2 on Thanksgiving Eve) and the upper 3's for most of the spring. The Decline Begins
Empire was so huge in its opening seasons that it could be a productive player even after multiple seasons of substantial decline... and that's pretty much what has happened. Season three opened on a 4.2 and went through the mid-3's, low-3's and high 2's during the fall. The second half of the season was mostly low-2's and got as low as a 1.9. But even with a 38% year-to-year decline, including a 26% decline in Plus, it still comfortably cleared the megahit threshold.
Season four finally saw a move to 8/7c, where it led into fellow Lee Daniels drama Star, and it began with a similar rate of decline if not even worse; it was south of 2.0 by the second week of the season. But this season seemed to hold onto its viewers a lot better than the previous two; it stayed in the high-1's the whole rest of the way. That -33% listed below for season four was actually a -40% for the fall and a -24% for the spring. So while the megahit days were done for Empire, the hopes for a relatively graceful decline phase were still alive.
It had another round of relative stability in the fall of 2018, leading to the show's smallest drops since season two, but the bleeding sped right back up in the spring.
Final Season on Tuesday
And that led to a drastically weakened final season as a bit of a scheduling afterthought, placed on Tuesday after The Resident. It began its spring 2020 run with a couple low-0.6's and was promising to be an even bigger disaster, but some possible help from COVID-19 viewership inflations brought it back up to a 0.7 level for most of the spring.
FINALS UPDATE:America's Got Talent (2.5) adjusted up while World of Dance (1.7), The Flash (R) (0.2) and The 100 (R) (0.1, -0.2) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:
NBC opened another summer of overwhelming Tuesday returns with the premieres of America's Got Talent (2.3/2.6) and World of Dance (1.8). For Talent, it was a league average decline or less vs. last summer's huge 2.7 premiere. World of Dance declined more severely vs. last year's 2.4 series premiere, but was basically in line with the high-1's it pulled throughout the rest of its rookie run.
Fox put last year's game show duo of Beat Shazam (0.8) and Love Connection (0.6) up against Got Talent. The shows were down huge from last year's series premieres on a Thursday (1.2/1.1), but this is basically where these shows settled throughout the second half of last summer. The only other broadcast original was CBS newsmagazine 48 Hours: NCIS (0.5).
FINALS UPDATE:Man with a Plan (R) (0.6) and Stanley Cup Finals (1.7) adjusted up while The Crossing (0.4) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:
With an American Idol taking up its usual spot on the last Monday of the regular season, The Bachelorette was left with Memorial Day for its season premiere (1.4). It was significantly below last year's 1.8 premiere, but the more appropriate comparison is to last year's Memorial Day episode (1.5) which makes it look much more reasonable.
NBC had game one of the Stanley Cup Finals (1.6/1.6/1.5). It was very close to last year's 1.7 opener, despite facing huge competition from Game 7 of the NBA's Western Conference Finals on TNT.
Elsewhere, quite a few dramas from regular season Mondays continued into the summer. That included a mostly ignored one-time return for Lucifer (0.5/0.5), unloading two leftover episodes that would've been incorporated into a season four. ABC's The Crossing (0.5), CBS' Elementary (down a tenth to 0.4) and the CW's Supergirl (0.4) and season finale of iZombie (0.2) were also back.
FINALS UPDATE:Empire (1.7) and Star (1.3) adjusted up while Survivor (1.4), Survivor reunion (0.8, -0.3) and The Originals (R) (0.1) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:
On the last day of the regular season, only one show pulled off a nice season finale spike: NBC's Thursday-bound Law and Order: SVU, which was up two tenths to a 1.2 overall, including a 1.3 average in the 10:00 hour. It was down just a tenth from last season's two-hour finale.
Meanwhile, Survivor (1.5/1.4) matched or even went a touch below last week, finishing at least 20% behind the 1.9 finale from last spring. Fox was even with Empire (1.6) and actually down a touch with Star (1.2). And ABC sat out the last Wednesday with movie Toy Story 3 (0.7/0.6) and a 20/20 special (0.5).
FINALS UPDATE:Roseanne (2.5) and NCIS (1.3) adjusted up.
WHAT MATTERS:
ABC said goodbye to nine-season comedy staple The Middle, which averaged a 1.8 in its regular 8:30 timeslot and fell to 1.6 for the second half of the one-hour finale. Though The Middle couldn't get back to its levels from the early Roseanne weeks, this was up multiple tenths from what it's been doing earlier this month. Its lead-in Roseanne (2.4) ended the spring on a season low, and Splitting Up Together (1.0) didn't look so hot leading out of Middle at 9:30. For the People headed into a long off-season with its third 0.5 in the final four weeks.
On NBC, The Voice completed its limp to the finish with a 1.5/1.4 for its two-hour finale from 9:00 to 11:00. Even though it didn't have to go up against Dancing with the Stars like in previous years, this will be down considerably from last spring's 1.9 finale. (Last spring's finale also had to lead out of Great News (0.7/0.8), while this one got a Voice recap (1.1).)
CBS' NCIS (1.2) ended the season even or narrowly down, leading into a repeat (0.7) and the return of newsmagazine 48 Hours: NCIS (0.5). The CW's The Flash (0.8) ended the season well, but it was no help to The 100 which was stuck at 0.3. Fox went with a movie (0.4/0.5).
My recap of the Renewology maiden voyage in 2016-17 was actually published in late September, but I'm doing this one four months earlier because there is a lot of stuff fresh on my mind! I'm also feeling better about how things went for the model this year, which may be another motivating factor...
FINALS UPDATE:Supergirl (0.4) and iZombie (0.2) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:
Spring reality staples Dancing with the Stars (1.1) and American Idol (1.6) were together for the first time, ending their seasons with one-hour and two-hour finales. DWTS was up a touch from the last couple weeks, while Idol bounced back markedly from last Sunday but still fell a bit below the live shows from previous weeks.
The ABC shows combined for a nightly win over NBC, which had its last Monday of The Voice (1.5) and another installment of Running Wild (0.7). Both networks easily beat out Fox's Miss USA competition (0.6), which was down two tenths from last year when it aired on a Sunday.
On CBS, the last two Monday originals standing were the only two that got renewed: Man with a Plan (1.0) and Elementary (0.5). Sandwiched by The Big Bang Theory repeats (1.1/1.0), MWAP was in the ones for the second week in a row. The CW's Supergirl (0.5) and iZombie (0.3) were both even and will continue airing into the summer.
FINALS UPDATE:Billboard Music Awards (2.4, +0.3) adjusted up while Dateline (0.6, -0.3), Family Guy (0.8) and Bob's Burgers (0.7) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:
After six years on ABC, the Billboard Music Awards (1.9/2.2/2.1) moved over to NBC. Since the show aired live in all time zones, it should get some boost in finals and end up down around 10% year-to-year; last year had a 2.3 prelim and 2.6 final.
The Billboard move proved to be a double-whammy for ABC, as it became tough competition for the network's Sunday finale of American Idol (1.3). It was down at least three tenths from last week, and America's Funniest Home Videos (0.9) and Deception (0.6) were also on the downswing.
Fox's animated anchors The Simpsons (0.8) and Family Guy (0.9) inched down for their season finales, but the final Fox episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine (0.8) and 7:30/9:30 editions of Bob's Burgers (0.7/0.8) were even. CBS' NCIS: Los Angeles (0.8) was also steady in its two-hour season finale from 8:00 to 10:00.
FINALS UPDATE:20/20 (0.4), Blindspot (0.5), Harry and Meghan: A Love Story (0.2) and Life Sentence (0.1) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:
On the last Friday of the season, ABC's Once Upon a Time (0.5) couldn't even manage a one-tenth uptick for its series finale. Agents of SHIELD was also steady at 0.5.
The Hawaii Five-0 (0.7) season finale was back down to tie its low from two weeks ago, leading out of another 0.6 from Celebrity Undercover Boss. But NBC was on the upswing with Blindspot (0.6) and Dateline (0.8), as was Fox with the two-hour finale of MasterChef Junior (0.7/0.9).
The CW (which looks like it may be pending a preemption) was the latest to offer a royal wedding special (0.3), while Life Sentence hopes to hold onto a preliminary 0.2.
FINALS UPDATE:Survivor (1.5) and The Blacklist (0.8) adjusted up.
WHAT MATTERS:
NBC gave its 10/9c hour over to another royal wedding special (0.6), and its lead-in dramas The Blacklist (0.7) and Law and Order: SVU (1.0) were both down a tenth. The lack of Chicago PD was much-welcome news for Code Black, which perked up to a season high 0.8 on CBS. Survivor (1.4) had its lowest prelim of the season while SEAL Team (0.9) was even.
Fox dominated with Empire (1.6) and a four-week high for Star (1.3), and ABC got a couple post-cancellation upticks for Alex, Inc. (0.8) and Designated Survivor (0.6) while the renewed comedies (1.2/1.3/1.1) all matched last week. The CW's Riverdale (0.4) and The Originals (0.3) were also steady.
FINALS UPDATE:The Middle (1.5), NCIS (1.3) and Chicago Med (1.0) adjusted up while The 100 (0.3) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:
CBS was all the way back to normal with NCIS (1.2) in the week after Pauley Perrette's departure. Following it was a two-hour season finale for NCIS: New Orleans, with a rare 1.0 in the 9/8c hour (though still worse than what Bull usually did here) followed by a 0.8 at 10/9c.
On Fox, a seven-season run for New Girl (0.6/0.6) ended quietly, up a tenth from last week while leading out of a MasterChef Junior recap special (0.5).
ABC was very close to last week with Roseanne (2.6), The Middle (1.4), Black-ish (1.2), Splitting Up Together (1.0) and For the People (0.5). NBC was up with The Voice (1.4) but down with Chicago Med (0.9), while Rise finished its run with its usual 0.7 in the middle. And the CW matched last week with The Flash (0.7) and The 100 (0.4).
FINALS UPDATE:The Big Bang Theory (R) (1.1) and Man with a Plan (1.0) adjusted up.
WHAT MATTERS:
Recently axed Lucifer (0.8) became the second show in as many days to end its season on an uptick in the midst of a huge online fan campaign. It was the show's first trip back to 0.8 since late March. Lead-out The Resident (0.9) also ended its season well.
CBS plugged in a repeat of The Big Bang Theory (1.0) at 8/7c, keeping Man with a Plan at 0.9 while Superior Donuts (0.9) joined in on the post-cancellation upswing trend in a big way. (It was the first 0.9 for Donuts since early March.) Elementary had 0.6 for the third week in a row at 10/9c.
Reality staples The Voice (1.6) and Dancing with the Stars (1.1/1.0) were even to slightly up, while the 10/9c lead-outs Running Wild (0.8) and The Crossing (0.5) were slightly down and even. The CW stayed on the high end of its spring levels with Supergirl (0.5) and freshly renewed iZombie (0.3).
FINALS UPDATE:American Idol (1.7) and Genius Junior (0.6) adjusted up while Genius Junior (0.5) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:
NBC had two-hour finales for Genius Junior (0.6/0.5) and the still pending Timeless (0.6/0.6), which was up a tenth from last week. The ratings could shift a bit due to a nearly 15 minute golf overrun.
On ABC, America's Funniest Home Videos (1.2) got a little NBA bump and American Idol (1.6) should be even or down a tenth from last week if it gets its usual finals surge. The recently cancelled Deception remained at 0.7.
CBS preempted this week's Instinct; though that turned out not to be a death knell for the show, 60 Minutes (0.8) did improve the 8/7c hour a touch. NCIS: Los Angeles stayed at 0.8 as it prepares for a two-hour finale next week, and Madam Secretary inched up to 0.6.
And Fox also got a little improvement with NBC-bound Brooklyn Nine-Nine (0.8), Family Guy (1.0) and a 9:30 edition of Bob's Burgers (0.8).
It was an uptick night for CBS dramas Hawaii Five-0 (0.8) and Blue Bloods (0.8), even though they got little help from the return of Undercover Boss in celebrity form (0.6). This was below everything the Boss did in its late-season Friday run last year (0.8/0.7/0.9/0.8).
Everything on ABC (0.5/0.5/0.5) was also up a notch, but NBC's Blindspot (0.5) and Dateline (0.6/0.7) along with the CW dramas (0.1/0.1) were closer to even. Fox was close to its usual MasterChef Junior levels with a two-hour Meghan Markle special (0.6/0.7).
FINALS UPDATE:Grey's Anatomy (1.9), The Big Bang Theory (2.9) and Young Sheldon (2.2) adjusted up while Quantico (0.4), Supernatural (0.4, -0.2) and Arrow (0.3) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:
The wedding season finale on The Big Bang Theory (2.8) did not get the show anywhere close to its season premiere heights, but it was still ahead of last season's 2.7 finale, up at least four tenths from last week, and the show's best rating since February 1. And the momentum continued throughout the night, with Young Sheldon (2.1) up two tenths, the first half of the Mom finale (1.5) up a tenth from last week, Mom at 9:30 (1.3) handily outperforming Life in Pieces, and S.W.A.T. (0.9) also up a notch.
It was also a momentous night on Grey's Anatomy (1.8), which was up at least two tenths at 8/7c. But that was no help to Station 19 (0.9), which dropped at 9/8c. Quantico settled in at 0.5 at 10/9c.
NBC also fared better than usual with a double-length Chicago Fire season finale (0.9/1.1), and Fox was up a tenth with Gotham (0.7) and Showtime At the Apollo (0.6). The CW (0.6/0.4) is pending a baseball preemption in New York.
Part two of the upfront previewis the SCHEDULE-centric portion, examining
the big-picture scheduling questions each network faces on each night
in the final week before its upfront.
On each
night, you can see the network's average 2017-18 ratings with its most
frequent occupant in three different sub-sections of the year: "fall"
(premiere week through December 31), "winter" (January 1 to the
beginning of Daylight Saving Time) and "spring" (the start of DST
through Thursday, May 3). You can also switch from the A18-49 ratings to
the True ratings, which should make the comparisons across nights and
across the season a bit more fair.
Last week's Renewology was the SHOW-centric portion, drilling more into the merits of individual shows: CW Renewology
More Upfront Questions: NBC | Fox | ABC | CBS | CW
ABC had a very mixed night, with some recovery for Modern Family (1.3) and American Housewife (1.1) in the 9:00 hour. But Alex, Inc. (0.7) and Designated Survivor (0.5) both plummeted to what they had been doing in late April with much less lead-in support. For Designated, that included its first ever 0.2 in adults 18-34.
The other networks provided a mix of steadiness and one-tenth drops. NBC's The Blacklist fell to its first 0.7, while Law and Order: SVU (which was renewed while the episode was airing on the East Coast) inched down to 1.1. The Chicago PD finale stayed at 1.2.
Fox's Empire (1.6) and the CW's The Originals (0.3) also shed a tenth preliminarily, but Star (1.2) and Riverdale (0.4) matched last week. Everything on CBS (1.5/0.9/0.7) was even.
Part two of the upfront previewis the SCHEDULE-centric portion, examining
the big-picture scheduling questions each network faces on each night
in the final week before its upfront.
On each
night, you can see the network's average 2017-18 ratings with its most
frequent occupant in three different sub-sections of the year: "fall"
(premiere week through December 31), "winter" (January 1 to the
beginning of Daylight Saving Time) and "spring" (the start of DST
through Thursday, May 3). You can also switch from the A18-49 ratings to
the True ratings, which should make the comparisons across nights and
across the season a bit more fair.
Last week's Renewology was the SHOW-centric portion, drilling more into the merits of individual shows: CBS Renewology
More Upfront Questions: NBC | Fox | ABC | CBS | CW
FINALS UPDATE:The Voice (1.3) and Chicago Med (1.1) adjusted up while Bull (1.2) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:
NCIS said goodbye to original cast member Pauley Perrette with a season high-tying 1.6 demo rating, up at least four tenths from last week. The boost definitely carried through to Bull (1.3), which was up two tenths, but NCIS: New Orleans (0.8) somehow dropped at 10/9c.
Even a much bigger NCIS was unable to faze Roseanne (2.6), as it matched last week's final and beat last week's prelim. The Middle (1.5) and Black-ish (1.2) also tied last week, but the network was down a tenth in the second half of the evening with Splitting Up Together (1.0) and For the People (0.5).
Fox's Lethal Weapon (0.8) was up in what turned out to be Clayne Crawford's final episode, while a move to doubling up at 9/8c did nothing for New Girl (0.5/0.5). NBC (1.2/0.7/1.0) matched last week and the CW was actually on the upswing with both The Flash (0.7) and The 100 (0.4).
Part two of the upfront previewis the SCHEDULE-centric portion, examining
the big-picture scheduling questions each network faces on each night
in the final week before its upfront.
On each
night, you can see the network's average 2017-18 ratings with its most
frequent occupant in three different sub-sections of the year: "fall"
(premiere week through December 31), "winter" (January 1 to the
beginning of Daylight Saving Time) and "spring" (the start of DST
through Thursday, May 3). You can also switch from the A18-49 ratings to
the True ratings, which should make the comparisons across nights and
across the season a bit more fair.
Last week's Renewology was the SHOW-centric portion, drilling more into the merits of individual shows: ABC Renewology
More Upfront Questions: NBC | Fox | ABC | CBS | CW
FINALS UPDATE:Dancing with the Stars (1.0), Man with a Plan (0.9), The Voice (1.5) and Supergirl (0.5) adjusted up while The Resident (0.8) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:
Guest spots from Chris Rock and Adam Sandler brought the still not-yet-renewed Kevin Can Wait back up to 1.0 for its second season finale. But the momentum did not extend later in the night, as Man with a Plan (0.8) and Superior Donuts (0.7) stayed even. (Both will be original again next week following a The Big Bang Theory repeat.) Elementary (0.6) was also steady.
NBC had the return of Running Wild with Bear Grylls (0.9), which is back on a regularly-scheduled basis for the first time in two years. It matched last week's Good Girls finale, but The Voice (1.4/1.5) gave back all of its uptick from last week.
Fox's Lucifer (0.7) and The Resident (0.9) were both on the rebound after last week's lows. On ABC, the second week of Dancing with the Stars (0.9/1.0) was down a tenth or two from last week's premiere, while The Crossing (0.5) matched last week. And the CW's iZombie (0.3) is hoping for an uptick as a final decision on its fate awaits.
Part two of the upfront previewis the SCHEDULE-centric portion, examining
the big-picture scheduling questions each network faces on each night
in the final week before its upfront.
On each
night, you can see the network's average 2017-18 ratings with its most
frequent occupant in three different sub-sections of the year: "fall"
(premiere week through December 31), "winter" (January 1 to the
beginning of Daylight Saving Time) and "spring" (the start of DST
through Thursday, May 3). You can also switch from the A18-49 ratings to
the True ratings, which should make the comparisons across nights and
across the season a bit more fair.
Last week's Renewology was the SHOW-centric portion, drilling more into the merits of individual shows: Fox Renewology
More Upfront Questions: NBC | Fox | ABC | CBS | CW
FINALS UPDATE:American Idol (1.8) adjusted up while America's Funniest Home Videos (1.0) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:
Only a bit of the Disney bounce wore off for American Idol (1.7/1.6), which was down just a tenth from last week's prelims in each hour. If it can actually pull off an adjustment to 1.8, that would be the show's best rating other than Disney Night since week two. America's Funniest Home Videos (1.1) and Deception (0.7) were also down a tenth.
Little Big Shots left the NBC schedule, saving its remaining episodes for a summer run, and an extra original of Genius Junior (0.5) did much worse than even the diminished LBS. The 9/8c Genius (0.6) and Timeless (0.5) were not really any worse than usual.
On its season/series finale night, The Last Man on Earth tried to make one last case, holding at 0.7 despite a drop from Family Guy (0.9) and actually pulling into a tie with Brooklyn Nine-Nine (0.7), which was down two tenths at 8:30.CBS got upticks from Instinct (0.7) and NCIS: Los Angeles (0.8), but Madam Secretary (0.5) was down.
Part two of the upfront previewis the SCHEDULE-centric portion, examining
the big-picture scheduling questions each network faces on each night
in the final week before its upfront.
On each
night, you can see the network's average 2017-18 ratings with its most
frequent occupant in three different sub-sections of the year: "fall"
(premiere week through December 31), "winter" (January 1 to the
beginning of Daylight Saving Time) and "spring" (the start of DST
through Thursday, May 3). You can also switch from the A18-49 ratings to
the True ratings, which should make the comparisons across nights and
across the season a bit more fair.
Last week's Renewology was the SHOW-centric portion, drilling more into the merits of individual shows: NBC Renewology
More Upfront Questions: NBC | Fox | ABC | CBS | CW
FINALS UPDATE:MasterChef Junior (0.7) adjusted up while Dynasty (0.1) and Life Sentence (0.1) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:
On season finale night for MacGyver (0.6), it was a terrible night for all three of the CBS dramas. Mac hit its first ever 0.6 just a week after its first ever 0.7; Hawaii Five-0 fell to 0.7 after never getting below 0.9 all season; and Blue Bloods (0.7) found a new series low as well.
Fox's MasterChef Junior (0.6/0.7) was also on the downswing in its return from an NFL Draft preemption last week, and ABC's Once Upon a Time (0.4) gave back last week's uptick while NBC was even with Blindspot (0.5) and Dateline (0.7). The only network that appears to have upward momentum is the CW (0.2/0.2), but it looks like there's a preemption here as Life Sentence would be up by over 100% in total viewers.
FINALS UPDATE:The Big Bang Theory (2.4) and Gotham (0.6) adjusted up while Station 19 (1.0), Life in Pieces (1.0) and Showtime At the Apollo (0.5) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:
Numbers to come. NBC aired its final comedies of the 2017-18 regular season with the finales of Superstore, A.P. Bio and Champions.
Welcome to Upfront Renewology!
This is the SHOW-centric half of the upfront preview, digging into the
merits of individual shows by network. The next round will be Upfront Questions,
the SCHEDULE-centric look ahead to upfront week. The following week, the schedules come out,
and with them come the Upfront Answers.
ABC's The Goldbergs (1.2), Modern Family (1.3) and American Housewife (0.9) returned to originals after two weeks off, and Goldbergs and Housewife are both eyeing new lows in the prelims. Alex, Inc. (0.8) and Designated Survivor (0.6) both bounced back a bit with more lead-in support.
It was a healthier return for NBC's Law and Order: SVU (1.2) and Chicago PD (1.2), with SVU amazingly two tenths above the year-ago evening (when it was facing a strong Criminal Minds episode). The Blacklist continued with 0.8's at 8/7c.
Fox's Empire (1.7) and Star (1.2) along with CBS' Survivor (1.5), SEAL Team (0.9) and Code Black (0.7) were all close to last week, with SEAL inching up from last week's low. On the CW, Riverdale and The Originals each hit 0.4 again.
Welcome to Upfront Renewology!
This is the SHOW-centric half of the upfront preview, digging into the
merits of individual shows by network. The next round will be Upfront Questions,
the SCHEDULE-centric look ahead to upfront week. The following week, the schedules come out,
and with them come the Upfront Answers.
FINALS UPDATE:Roseanne (2.6) and Chicago Med (1.0) adjusted up while The 100 (0.3) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:
Back from a week off, the gigahit days came to an end for Roseanne (2.5), which shed close to a quarter of its demo rating from two weeks ago. This single week-to-week drop wouldn't have looked so severe if Johnny Galecki hadn't been on the episode two weeks ago, but the show is now in a territory where we can't completely rule out it falling out of 300 A18-49+ territory for the season (though it would need more steep drops to come).
Later in the night, The Middle (1.5) took a similar drop (in its case compared with three weeks ago). Black-ish (1.2) and Splitting Up Together (1.1) were actually up from the Alex, Inc. night two weeks ago, and down just a tenth from when they led out of The Middle three weeks ago. And For the People clawed its way back up to 0.6 at 10/9c.
CBS' dramas (1.2/1.1/0.9) were also back from a week off and basically matched two weeks ago, but things got really ugly for Fox's Lethal Weapon (0.7), LA to Vegas (0.5) and New Girl (0.5), as well as The Voice (1.2) on NBC. Rise stayed at 0.7 and Chicago Med (0.9) inched down.
On the CW, The Flash matched last week's 0.6, while The 100 will be hoping to hang onto a second straight 0.4 in finals.
Welcome to Upfront Renewology!
This is the SHOW-centric half of the upfront preview, digging into the
merits of individual shows by network. The next round will be Upfront Questions,
the SCHEDULE-centric look ahead to upfront week. The following week, the schedules come out,
and with them come the Upfront Answers.
Dancing with the Stars (1.2/1.1) made a much later than usual appearance on the spring scene, opening up a four-week May sweeps event. Based on the premiere ratings, that reduction was warranted; it was barely over half of last spring's 2.1 premiere. Maybe that comparison is a bit unfair since that premiere was late March rather than the end of April, but it's still way down in Plus from the 1.6ish it was doing at this time a year ago.
It also dealt a seeming death blow to genre lead-out The Crossing (0.5), which had been holding up OK after Idol but collapsed by two precious tenths this week.
DWTS' arrival was seemingly a good thing for The Voice (1.6), which was up at least a tenth from last week, while the Good Girls season finale (0.9) preliminarily matched last week.
But it was a mostly down night for the scripted options elsewhere. CBS' Kevin Can Wait (0.8) and Superior Donuts (0.7) are eyeing new lows, sandwiching an even Man with a Plan (0.8). Elementary (0.6) took over for a mostly-summer run in the 10/9c hour and was a notch below Scorpion's season low.
Fox's Lucifer (0.6) and The Resident (0.8) were also down a tenth, though CW's Supergirl (0.5) bucked the trend and eked out an uptick.
Welcome to Upfront Renewology!
This is the SHOW-centric half of the upfront preview, digging into the
merits of individual shows by network. The next round will be Upfront Questions,
the SCHEDULE-centric look ahead to upfront week. The following week, the schedules come out,
and with them come the Upfront Answers.
