The show looked like one big hot mess but that tends to attract viewers looking for check their brain at the door material to watch on TV. The Masked Singer, a reality singing show that has “celebrities” in disguises singing before a panel of “celebrity” judges who have to guess who they are based on clues, had the best-unscripted series launch on any network in the last seven years.
Although the premiere aired against mostly repeat competition, the premiere numbers are still solid with the new series drawing a 3.0 demo rating & 9.362 million viewers. It’s the top series debut of this TV season in the demo – and it marks the highest rating for an unscripted telecast on any broadcast network, going back two seasons. The last big unscripted launch took place with The X-Factor on FOX, the network that also airs The Masked Singer.
The Masked Singer also built greatly on its lead-in, Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell and Back premiere (1.2, 4.139 million viewers). Making the ratings win even more impressive was that Tribune’s Fox affiliates in Milwaukee, Cleveland, Greensboro, Kansas City, San Diego, and St. Louis went dark due to Charter ceasing carriage.
Whether The Masked Singer will continue its ratings win streak when the winter premieres start up again remains to be seen but, for today, FOX has some series bragging rights.
