Live ratings don’t always show the whole picture and that becomes even truer when delayed viewing is factored into the numbers. Several shows made substantial gains in newly released Live+3 ratings.
After three days of playback, Manifests’ L+SD viewership increased by a whopping +5.7 million viewers (from 10.4 million to 16.1 million, +55%). That is the third largest absolute gain for a broadcast series premiere ever, behind ABC’s Roseanne (+6.586 million, 3/27/2018) & How To Get Away with Murder (+5.9 million on 9/25/14)
The Good Doctor, whose Season 2 opener faced the Manifest debut at 10 PM, pushing it down to an L+SD viewership and demo series lows, rebounded in a big way in delayed viewing. The medical drama had the highest % lifts on Monday, 95% in 18-49 (1.23 rating) and 68% in total viewers (5.1 million). Growing to 12.4 million viewers and a 2.5 18-49 rating in L+3, The Good Doctor moved from #6 for the night in 18-49 in Live+SD to #3 in the demo, behind The Big Bang Theory and Manifest, and #4 in total viewers, behind The Big Bang Theory, Manifest and Young Sheldon.
The Tuesday premieres also saw some gains once delayed viewing was factored in. This Is Us led the pack with the largest absolute L+3 lifts: +1.28 rating points in 18-49 (3.0 to 4.3) and +4.0 million viewers overall (10.6 million to 14.6 million). The family drama widened its lead over CBS’ The Big Bang Theory (3.7 18-49 rating in L+3) for the No.1 non-sports program of the week honors in adults 18-49. (Long-time leader BBT is in a tight race for No.2 in the demo and No. 1 in total viewers with NBC’s Manifest.
The news was even better for Lethal Weapon whose live ratings appeared to be soft when Tuesday numbers were released last week. The series posted the highest percentage gains on Tuesday, +59% in 18-49 (0.8 to 1.3) and 63% in total viewers (3.4 million to 5.6 million). This is a series high demo % L3 lift for Lethal Weapon whose Season 3 premiere is now running ahead of the Season 2 finale by +8% in 18-49.
