FRESH OFF THE BOAT got off to a fair start, even airing against FOX’s new monster hit.
DEMOGRAPHIC DETAIL: For each broadcast program (or hour segment), the chart below displays preliminary key advertiser demographics (adult 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54 ratings), audience skews (women 18-49, men 18-49 and adults 50+ shares) and total viewership (thousands of people over the age of 2).
Ratings analysis and comparisons follow the chart.
ABC: FRESH OFF THE BOAT launched with 2.5 at 8:30PM, and 2.4 for its 9:30PM run. That latter number wasn’t close to the 3.1 BLACK-ISH had when it premiered in that slot last fall, but BLACK-ISH didn’t have to contend with the same level of competition back then, and BOAT scored half a point better than BLACK-ISH did 2 weeks ago. Elsewhere on the night, THE MIDDLE was steady at 2.2, and MODERN FAMILY rose 0.4 to 3.4. NASHVILLE fell 0.2 to 1.3 in its midseason return.
FOX: What can one say at this point about EMPIRE? It’s clearly become the zeitgeist show of the season, gaining another 0.3 to hit a new high 4.6, making it the biggest drama hit on broadcast TV (and possibly the biggest scripted hit, depending on where THE BIG BANG THEORY ends up). AMERICAN IDOL was up 0.1 from last week to 3.0, still almost a point below last year’s 3.9 for the parallel night.
NBC: The conclusion of a crossover CHICAGO FIRE/PD sweeps special put CHICAGO PD up 0.1 to 1.6. THE MYSTERIES OF LAURA and SVU, though, tied their series lows (and last new episodes) at 1.0/1.3.
CBS: The whole line-up was down: THE MENTALIST by 0.1 to 1.2, CRIMINAL MINDS by 0.1 to 2.0 (tying its series low), and STALKER by 0.2 to 1.3 (a new low).
CW: ARROW and THE 100 were each up 0.1, to 1.2/0.6.
So… are you ready to rumble? Because NBC and ABC are. This is the night ratings watchers have been waiting for since last May, when NBC announced its intention to move its biggest scripted show THE BLACKLIST into direct competition with ABC’s biggest drama SCANDAL. History suggests that there’s plenty of room for both shows to thrive, but the franchises are so critical to each of the networks that even small declines may have ripple effects. Meanwhile, CBS has yanked THE MCCARTHYS off the schedule in favor of BIG BANG THEORY reruns, more or less confirming the show’s death warrant. FOX, with its new and already fading BACKSTROM, will attempt to hold on for dear life.
COMPARISONS TO SIMILAR NIGHTS: Preliminary adult 18-49 ratings versus the same night last year and same night last week.
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