While some series started premiering last week, yesterday kicked off the official start of the fall TV season and it looks like we may already have a couple of early winners.
Young Sheldon put up a big 3.7 rating in adults 18-49 and 16.57 million viewers on CBS, retaining nearly all of its lead-in from The Big Bang Theory (3.9, 16.97 million). Big Bang was up a tenth of a point vs. last year’s premiere. The news was a bit of a mixed bag for the rest of their lineup for the night. Kevin Can Wait (2.3 demo rating and 10.10 million viewers) had its best outing since week 2 of last season (it was off 0.3 vs. the series premiere), and new comedy Me, Myself & I debuted to a decent 1.7 demo rating (7.39 million viewers) although it was a bit down from its lead-in. Scorpion, however, tied a series low with at 1.0 demo rating (5.73 million viewers) which is troubling for the once popular series.
On ABC, The Good Doctor drew a very solid 2.4 18-49 demo scored and 11.82 million viewers, pending updates. It may come down a bit in the finals due to a Monday Night Football pre-emption on the network’s Dallas affiliate but should still be in the 2.0-2.2 range, which would be a massive improvement on last season. The 10 PM timeslot has been troubling for ABC since Castle left the air so they have to be happy with this result. It also improved on its Dancing With The Stars lead-in which hit a 1.5 demo rating and 9.07 million viewers, which is its lowest showing in quite some time.
The news was not as good over at NBC. The Voice (2.6 demo rating and 10.37 million viewers) had its lowest-rated premiere ever, and the series premiere of The Brave only managed a 1.4 demo rating and 6.17 million viewers. The series debuted to lower numbers than either Timeless (1.8) or Taken (1.6) last season.
Check back next Monday to see if your favorite returning or new shows are still holding strong in week 2.
*Note* – Total viewers factor very little into renewals or cancellations. The 18-49 demo tends to determine a shows fate. Since we are just starting this segment, I will do my best to explain which demo scores are strong or a sign for concern.
