The Horse Race: Three Days into the New Season

• Tweet
• Email

• Tweet
• Email

With three nights of official national ratings counted, CBS is in front with a 2.99 Adult 18-49 rating, down a dizzying 30% from the first three nights last fall (when CBS was a towering #1 at a 4.28 rating).  Remember, The Eye pulled a 10.7 rating for the season premiere of Two and a Half Men (the first Ashton Kutcher episode) and a 7.1 for the preview of 2 Broke Girls, admittedly tough acts to follow.  But up and down the line, shows are consistently down year to year all over the schedule.

NBC is a close second with a 2.92 rating Monday-Wednesday, up a whopping 50% thanks mostly to two nights of The Voice.  Last year at this time, NBC was averaging a 1.95 in distant fourth place.

FOX is in third with a 2.58 over the first three nights, down 30% from a second-place 3.66 last year.

And ABC is in fourth place currently with a 2.44 rating, down a similar 29% from a third-place 3.44 last year.

Remember this is only the first part of the first week of a 52-week marathon.  But aside from The Voice, there is a sizable initial rush to the exits from the traditional broadcasters.  A surprise hit or two (yet to premiere) could be lurking in the next several days, but it is going to take a big turnaround to create some momentum for this broadcast season.