Mixed-ish Scores A Slight Win On Tuesday Night For ABC As More Declines Plagued Premiere Week

Premiere week continued last night with Tuesday season and series premieres and while it fared a bit better than Monday night, year-to-year declines continue to be a thorn in network TV’s side.

ABC scored a slight victory with the series premiere of Mixed-ish. While it didn’t set the ratings on fire, it did rise from its lead-in. Mixed-ish scored a 0.9 in the 18-49 demo and 4.01 million viewers, up from its lead-in Bless This Mess, which kicked off its second season with a 0.8 demo score and 4 million viewers. In the case of Bless This Mess, the premiere was down from its first season premiere’s 0.9 demo rating but up from its season 1 finale’s 0.6 and 2.84 million viewer audience. The main reason the comedy was up from its finale numbers was that it had a healthier lead-in with the second season premiere of The Conners, which scored a 1.3 demo rating and 5.68 million viewers. The Conners itself was down as well from its series premiere’s 2.4 rating and 10.56 million viewer audience last year. Black-ish followed its spinoff Mixed-ish but came down a tenth from its lead-ins demo audience to a 0.8 and 3.52 million viewers. The good news was that the series was steady with its performance from last year. The series premiere of Emergence ended the night for ABC with a 0.8 demo score and 4.11 million viewers. The premiere was on par with The Rookie’s averages in the same timeslot last year and while total viewers aren’t as important as the demo, the premiere did rise from the total viewers of Black-ish (3.52 million viewers vs. 4.11 million viewers).

NBC led all three of the night’s primetime hours in the adults 18-49 demo, starting with The Voice, which topped the 8 PM hour with a 1.5 rating and 8.24 million viewers. Like most returning shows this season, The Voice is noticeably down from its Tuesday debut last fall when it scored a 2.1 demo score with 9.9 million viewers. This Is Us won the night with its season 4 premiere which scored a 1.8 demo rating and 7.67 million viewers. Despite a strong showing, the premiere was down from its season 3 premiere’s 3.0 rating a year ago. The season 2 premiere of New Amsterdam ended the night for NBC with a 1.1 demo rating and 6.27 million viewers, down from its 2018 premiere’s 1.8 rating.

CBS’ premiere night fared a bit better than their Monday launches. Despite all three of their shows being down from their previous season premieres, they were on par with their overall 2018-19 season averages. NCIS started the night with a 1.3 demo rating and 12.27 million viewers while the season 2 premiere of FBI scored a 0.9 demo rating and 8.76 million viewers. NCIS: New Orleans ended the night for CBS with a 0.7 demo score and 6.74 million viewers.

The downward trends continued at FOX with the final season of Empire kicking off with a 1.0 demo rating and 3.35 million viewers. The demo score and total viewers represent a series low for the drama. The Resident followed with its third season premiere hitting a 0.8 demo rating and 3.99 million viewers, down from both its second season’s premiere numbers (1.1, 4.88 million viewers) and its overall averages (0.9, 5.02 million viewers).