The CW jumped into the fall television season last night with the series premiere of Batwoman and the new Arrowverse series is off to a good start.
Batwoman scored a 0.5 rating in adults 18-49 with 1.80 million viewers. That makes it the CW’s most-watched series premiere since Black Lightning’s debut in January 2018. The season 5 premiere of Supergirl followed it with a 0.4 demo rating and 1.3 million viewers, on par with its 2018-19 season averages. Remember, The CW began running Sunday programming again last season after abandoning the night for several years. The fact that these shows are making the night viable for the network has to be considered a win.
On ABC, the Tiffany Haddish-hosted Kids Say the Darndest Things also got off to a good start, with its premiere pulling in a 0.9 demo rating and 5.4 million viewers. It was ABC’s highest-rated broadcast of the night, as America’s Funniest Home Videos (0.6, 4.15 million viewers) and The Rookie (0.6, 3.76 million viewers) each ticked down one-tenth week-to-week. Shark Tank, however, matched its premiere’s 0.7 demo rating and 3.90 million viewers from a week ago
CBS didn’t have last Sunday’s NFL assist so 60 Minutes (0.9, 8.38 million viewers) and God Friended Me (0.7, 6.49 million viewers) both ticked down a bit from their ratings a week ago. NCIS: Los Angeles also slipped from its premiere’s 0.8 to a 0.7 demo score, but rose in total viewers from 6.44 million to 6.56 million viewers. At 10:00 PM, Madam Secretary kicked off its final season with a low 0.4 demo rating and 4.91 million viewers.
On Fox, The Simpsons (2.6, 6.98 million viewers), Bless the Harts (1.3, 3.18 million viewers), Bob’s Burgers (1.1, 2.45 million viewers), and Family Guy (0.9, 2.23 million viewers) were all boosted by a late-afternoon NFL overrun, and as a result, were predictably up from their premiere ratings last week. There will likely be adjustments for all shows once the overrun is factored out.
Recapping Sunday ratings, it’s good to see The CW enter the game and so far the Sunday ladies’ night pairing of Batwoman and Supergirl appears to have worked in their first week out. ABC looks to also have another winner with Kids Say the Darndest Things which is likely cheap to produce and could even drop a couple of tenths and still be a viable hit for the network.
| Time | Show | Network | Adults 18-49 rating/share | Viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8:00 PM | Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time | ABC | 2.3/12 | 14.82 |
| 8:00 PM | Chicago Med | NBC | 1.1/6 | 7.41 |
| 8:00 PM | Undercover Boss | CBS | 0.7/3 | 4.23 |
| 8:00 PM | Flirty Dancing | FOX | 0.3/2 | 1.42 |
| 9:00 PM | Modern Family | ABC | 1.5/7 | 6.40 |
| 9:00PM | Chicago Fire | NBC | 1.1/6 | 7.91 |
| 9:00 PM | Criminal Minds (9-11 p.m.) | CBS | 0.7/4 | 4.66 |
| 9:00 PM | Almost Family | FOX | 0.3/2 | 1.01 |
| 9:30 PM | Single Parents | ABC | 0.9/5 | 3.40 |
| 10:00 PM | Chicago P.D. | NBC | 1.0/6 | 7.03 |
| 10:00 PM | Stumptown | ABC | 0.5/3 | 2.73 |
