ABC’s Abbott Elementary ended its freshman year with 2.8 million total viewers and a 0.6 rating, ticking up on both counts and matching its demo high.
‘Masked Dancer’ Opens Solid On Fox
The premiere of The Masked Dancer on Fox Sunday put up the best 18-49 rating for a series debut so far this season. NBC’s Sunday Night Football also looks to be headed for its biggest audience in more than a month.
‘Big Brother’ Dominates Thursday
CBS’ supersized, thrice-evicting Big Brother drew 4.2 million total viewers and a 1.1 demo rating, holding steady week-to-week and dominating Thursday in the demo. Leading out of that, Star Trek: Discovery (1.7 million/0.3) ticked up a tenth from last week’s Season 1 premiere encore.
NBC’s ’30 Rock’ Special Slumps
The 30 Rock reunion/NBC upfront presentation that aired on NBC Thursday night didn’t draw much of an audience. ABC’s game shows were down as well, although the finale of Fox’s Labor of Love ticked up a little. The 30 Rock special, which doubled as a pitch to advertisers about NBCUniversal’s portfolio — including the just-launched Peacock streaming platform — drew a 0.4 rating among adults 18-49 and about 2.5 million viewers in the fast national ratings. Those numbers may come down in the final ratings, as a number of NBC affiliates opted not to air the special.
The finale averaged a 1.6 rating among adults 18-49 and just under 8 million total viewers, which represents the best numbers for a Survivor finale in five seasons, as well as being well above the averaged 7.2 million viewers who tuned in across the 40th edition. CBS managed to win the night overall, beating Fox on the night of the Masked Singer semi-final.
‘Survivor’ Ties All-Time Low
Survivor tied an all-time low among adults 18-49 Wednesday, yet it still led the night’s primetime ratings. The CBS stalwart averaged a 1.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic for a two-hour installment, matching a series low set twice during its fall 2018 run. On a soft night across the board, however, Survivorwas good enough to lead ABC’s The Goldbergs (1.2) for the evening’s top demo rating.
Exclusives
‘New Amsterdam,’ ‘FBI’ Stay Solid Tuesday
Both shows retain most of their premiere audiences in week two; This Is Us slips some but remains No. 1 in the 18-49 demo.
The season finale of ABC’s The Bachelor hit a season high on Monday, but it wasn’t able to match last year’s season ender. Bachelor posted a 2.7 rating among viewers 18-49 from 8 to 10 p.m., down 16% from a 3.2 for last season’s finale on the same night a year ago. ABC did have tough timeslot competition from NBC’s The Voice, which had the night’s top rating with a 3.6 in the demo, off just slightly from a 3.7 on the same night last year.
CBS Dominates A Slow Broadcast Tuesday
Last night broadcast was all about the procedurals. CBS’s crime drama lineup dominated the night, averaging a 2.1 adults 18-49 rating and 7 share, 50% ahead of ABC and Fox, which tied for second with a 1.4/4 apiece. NCIS was easily the night’s top show, posting a 2.6 at 8 p.m., off 7% from its most recent episode three weeks ago. NCIS: New Orleans, which aired at 9, was the only other program on broadcast to post better than a 2.0, averaging a 2.2, down a tenth from its last episode.
‘Castle’ Builds To A 14-Week High In Finale
The show averaged a 2.0 adults 18-49 rating at 10 p.m., up 20% over last week. It finished second in its timeslot, as usual, behind NBC’s The Blacklist, which also aired its season finale, posting a 2.6. Castle capped a night of gains for ABC, whose Dancing with the Stars was up 16% from last week to a 2.2 for the show’s semifinals episode. NBC once again won the night, as well as every half hour on the night, with the potent combination of The Voice and Blacklist.
CBS Takes Friday With Steady Lineup
ABC had the top-rated show of the night, and Fox got a promising premiere for a new spinoff. But CBS’s consistency throughout primetime boosted the network to a win on the first Friday of the new TV season. CBS averaged a 1.6 adults 18-49 rating and 5 share in primetime, just edging No. 2 ABC at 1.4/5. It was the second straight nightly win for CBS, which also took Thursday evening.
Fox tied for first on a down night for broadcast with Hell’s Kitchen tying CBS’s The Big Bang Theory as the night’s top show. Both programs averaged a 2.0 adults 18-49 rating, airing in the same 8 p.m. timeslot. Kitchen was even to last week in the demo, as was lead-out Does Someone Have To Go?, which averaged a 0.9 in its season, and likely series, finale. ABC was the only other Big Four network to air originals last night, and all three of its programs fell to season lows following a three-week hiatus for the NBA Finals.
NBC Stomps To Another Sunday Night Win
As usual, NBC dominated Sunday night with Sunday Night Football, more than doubling the average for the No. 2 network of the evening, Fox. That was certainly no surprise, as SNF is off to one of its strongest starts ever, and yesterday’s Green Bay Packers-Houston Texans matchup was up over the previous week and the same time last year. Elsewhere last night, ABC and CBS saw two of their scripted dramas continue to struggle.
Football Boots NBC To Sunday Night Win
A preseason NFL game lifted NBC to an easy victory last night. The network averaged a 2.6 adults 18-49 rating and 8 share in primetime, nearly double the evening’s No. 2 finisher, Fox, which drew a 1.4/4. It marked the third time in the past four nights that preseason football has lifted a network to first place.
‘Voice’ Finale Hits A Six-Week High Note
The season finale of NBC’s hit singing show The Voice jumped to a six-week high and improved on the season-one ender on a night when Fox’s New Girl finale also saw big gains. Voice averaged a 4.3 adults 18-49 rating from 9 to 11 p.m., its best rating since March 25.
ABC Gets Boost From The Return Of ‘Stars’
ABC got a big lift from last night’s return of Dancing with the Stars Results, which was up slightly over last fall’s debut. The network placed second to CBS on the night paced by Stars‘ 3.0 adults 18-49 rating at 9 p.m. That was up from a 2.9 for its premiere last fall, though it was down sharply from a 4.3 for last spring’s debut.
NBC Scores Sunday Win With ‘SNF’
NBC took ownership of Sunday night yesterday with the first Sunday Night Football preseason game. Don’t expect the network to relinquish that ownership for months. SNF averaged a 3.3 adults 18-49 rating from 8:30 p.m. to 11 p.m., down 11% from the same night last year but tying with CBS’s Big Brother for the night’s highest-rated show.
Fox Dances Past CBS For Wednesday Win
The first part of the season finale of So You Think You Can Dance was even to last year, and that was good enough to push Fox to a narrow win over CBS, NBC and Univision last night, its third straight nightly victory. Fox averaged a 1.9 adults 18-49 rating and 6 share in primetime with the two-hour Dance, outdrawing CBS with a 1.8/5 and NBC and Univision tied for third with a 1.7/5.
Fox Nips NBC With Its Best Tuesday Yet
Fox is giving NBC some competition on Tuesday night, an evening the latter has dominated much of the summer. Last night Fox just edged NBC for first place among adults 18-49, with Fox’s Gordon Ramsay reality shows growing over the previous week as NBC’s hit America’s Got Talent fell. Both networks averaged a 2.5 rating in primetime, but Fox had a higher share, 8 to NBC’s 7.
NBC Wins A Slow Wednesday Night
President Obama’s 15-minute address to the nation at 8 p.m. yesterday made for a rather confusing night ratings-wise for the networks. That pushed back the start time for NBC’s The Voice and Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance, two of the summer’s highest-rated shows, and muddled the Nielsen picture, as fast nationals measure half-hour timeslots and cannot break out ratings for 15-minute increments. Nonetheless, one thing remained clear: NBC was an easy winner on the evening with a 3.3/10 adults 18-49 rating.
Fox Racks Up Another Win With ‘Dance’
So You Think You Can Dance continued its strong start to the season with its first Wednesday episode last night. Dance averaged a 3.0 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 10 p.m., up 7% over its Wednesday premiere last year. That follows Thursday’s season premiere, which grew 7% over last year to a 3.2. Last night’s show also jumped 14% in total viewers compared to last year, to 8.4 million.
Solid Debut For ‘Makeover: Weight Loss’
The summer’s new shows have begun to debut, and it looks as though ABC already has a mild hit in Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition. The latest in the long-running franchise averaged a 2.3 adults 18-49 rating in the 10 p.m. timeslot in its premiere last night, becoming ABC’s best new summer debut since August 2009. Weight was the No. 1 show on broadcast last night, and it even grew from its lead-in, the long-established reality show The Bachelorette, which averaged a 2.1 from 8 to 10 p.m.
‘Survivor’ Finale Muscles Out ‘Housewives’
The two-hour Survivor finale averaged a 4.0 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 10 p.m., down 2% from last fall’s finale, which averaged a 4.1. The Survivor reunion show that followed averaged a 3.5, up slightly from a 3.4 for last fall’s reunion special. It propelled CBS to an easy victory on the night opposite the seventh-season finale of ABC’s Desperate Housewives, which slid 25% from last year, from a 4.0 to a 3.0.
Big Start For March Madness Games
Parsing the performance of the NCAA tournament this year, with three networks carrying games in addition to CBS, will be complicated. Ratings for CBS, the sole carrier of the games for years, were down versus 2010. But measured collectively, the four networks carrying March Madness saw big gains over last year. In fact, they delivered the biggest start to the tournament in 20 years. CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV averaged a collective 5.7 household rating for more than 12 hours of game coverage yesterday, up 24% from a 4.6 last year, when only CBS had the games.
