Wednesday night has always been a crowed night for television and this year proves to be no different. A lot of sampling took place and most shows came out fairly well while some were a bit down versus last season.
On Fox, Empire opened its fourth season about where it ended its third (and was down a hefty amount from its third-season premiere). But the show still showed it has some strength, leading primetime in adults 18-49 and giving Star a significant boost over its season 1 numbers. Empire delivered a 2.4 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 6.94 million viewers, on par with the 2.5 for its finale and down from its Season 3 average of 2.8 (it opened to 4.2 last season). Star scored a 1.8 demo rating and 5.48 million viewers, its highest number since its first episode — which not coincidentally also had an Empire lead-in. It averaged 1.4 last season.
The night’s only new show, SEAL Team, drew an OK 1.5 demo rating & 9.70 million viewers for its premiere on CBS. It held onto most of its 18-49 lead-in from Survivor (1.7, 8.09 million viewers, off from last fall’s 1.9 average) and had the most viewers of any show last night. Criminal Minds debuted to a 1.3 demo rating and 7.03 million viewers, vs. the 1.9 for last season’s premiere and an 2016-17 average of 1.6.
ABC’s comedies all opened more or less in line with their 2016-17 averages. The Goldbergs scored a 1.8 demo score and 6.07 million viewers (1.7 average last season, 2.0 for its premiere), Speechless hit a 1.4 demo rating & 5.01 million viewers (1.6, 2.0), Modern Family 2.1 demo rating & 6.90 million viewers (2.1, 2.6) and American Housewife was still strong with a 1.6 demo score & 5.63 million viewers.(1.4, 1.9). Designated Survivor’s 1.1 demo rating & 5.47 million viewers was off 0.2 from its season average and down 50% from its series premiere last year but still more on the decent side for a 10 PM show airing on Wednesday night.
On NBC, The Blacklist (1.1 demo rating, 6.20 million viewers) was off 0.2 from last season’s debut but up a tenth over its season average. Law & Order: SVU (1.4 demo score, 5.67 million viewers) fell 0.4 from its 2016 premiere and a tick ahead of its season-long number. Chicago PD’s 1.3 demo rating & 6.04 million viewers came down three tenths from last season’s premiere and a tenth from its season average.
Even though most shows were in line with their last season averages, it should be noted that premiere ratings for Wednesday were down 30% year to year.
Check back next Wednesday to see how your Wednesday shows hold up in week 2!
