Premiere week ratings are in: NBC and CBS have reasons to celebrate while Fox’s numbers are far from utopian.
NBC led the first week of the 2014-15 broadcast season by a wide margin in the key adults 18-49 demo, while CBS was tops among total viewers. Though NBC’s demo victory is more enviable from an advertiser perspective, CBS has the important bragging point of being the only network to show a gain among 18-49 compared to last fall—CBS was up 9 percent in the demo, while NBC, ABC and Fox were down between 3 and 9 percent each (full charts below). Three of the four networks managed to post year-over-year gains among total viewers.
NBC was powered by Sunday Night Football, the return of The Voice and strong 10 p.m. dramas like The Blacklist. NBC has now won fall premiere week three years in a row (guess how many years The Voice has aired in the fall?). Even critically trounced drama Mysteries of Laura did better than expected. On the soft side, NBC’s veteran reality series The Biggest Loser is no longer pulling its weight.
CBS had victories from NFL coverage, double pumping The Big Bang Theory, and from new drama Scorpion. On the other hand, CBS’ Friday block — including The Amazing Race, moved to a new night—was weak out of the gate. Plus new drama Madam Secretary softened for its second episode.
ABC had a spectacular streak on Thursday thanks to its Shonda Rhimes-produced triple header including new drama How to Get Away with Murder. The return of Modern Family and Once Upon a Time also performed well. But ABC lacked the sports boost of its rivals, and weak spots included the return of Revenge and new drama Forever.
As for Fox, its Animation Domination block had a big night on Sunday thanks to a crossover between The Simpsons and Family Guy, and new drama Gotham got off to a good start. But airing struggling new reality show Utopia twice a week has created some Nielsen pits of despair. Also, new hospital drama Red Band Society has underperformed and Tuesday comedies The Mindy Project and New Girl returned low.
Here’s a network comparison chart.
WEEK 1: Adults 18-49
Net 2013-14… 2014-15…Diff
NBC…3.1…3.0…Down 3%
CBS…2.2…2.4… Up 9%
ABC…2.3…2.2… Down 4%
Fox…2.2…2.0… Down 9%
WEEK 1: Total Viewers
Net… 2013-14… 2014-15…Diff
CBS…10.377 million…10.863 million…Up 5%
NBC…9.713 million …10.032 million…Up 3%
ABC…7.993 million …8.265 million …Up 3%
Fox….6.030 million …5.241 million…Down 13%
Now here’s a dizzying series ranker chart among adults 18-49. Note: These totals only include DVR viewing for the same night each show aired. More complete DVR data is starting to come in with significant bumps for many shows:
SHOW / NETWORK / DAY OF WEEK / 18-49 RATING
| NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL-09/28/2014 | NBC | ……S | 8.7 |
| CBS+NFLN THU NT FOOTBALL-09/25/2014 | CBS | …T… | 6.0 |
| BIG BANG THEORY, THE:SP-09/22/2014 | CBS | M…… | 5.4 |
| BIG BANG THEORY, THE-09/22/2014 | CBS | M…… | 5.4 |
| FOOTBALL NT AMERICA PT 3-09/28/2014 | NBC | ……S | 4.6 |
| FAMILY GUY-09/28/2014 | FOX | ……S | 4.5 |
| VOICE-TUE-09/23/2014 | NBC | .T….. | 4.1 |
| HOW TO GET AWAY W/MURDER-09/25/2014 | ABC | …T… | 3.9 |
| VOICE-09/22/2014 | NBC | M…… | 3.9 |
| SCANDAL-09/25/2014 | ABC | …T… | 3.9 |
| MODERN FAMILY-09/24/2014 | ABC | ..W…. | 3.9 |
| SIMPSONS-09/28/2014 | FOX | ……S | 3.9 |
| ONCE UPON A TIME-09/28/2014 | ABC | ……S | 3.7 |
| BLACKLIST-09/22/2014 | NBC | M…… | 3.4 |
| BLACK-ISH-09/24/2014 | ABC | ..W…. | 3.3 |
| SCORPION-09/22/2014 | CBS | M…… | 3.2 |
| GOTHAM-09/22/2014 | FOX | M…… | 3.2 |
| GREY’S ANATOMY-09/25/2014 | ABC | …T… | 3.1 |
| NCIS-09/23/2014 | CBS | .T….. | 2.9 |
| SURVIVOR-09/24/2014 | CBS | ..W…. | 2.7 |
| CHICAGO FIRE-09/23/2014 | NBC | .T….. | 2.6 |
| BIG BROTHER-WED-09/24/2014 | CBS | ..W…. | 2.6 |
| BROOKLYN NINE-NINE-09/28/2014 | FOX | ……S | 2.6 |
| NCIS: NEW ORLEANS-09/23/2014 | CBS | .T….. | 2.5 |
| RESURRECTION-09/28/2014 | ABC | ……S | 2.5 |
| GOLDBERGS, THE-09/24/2014 | ABC | ..W…. | 2.4 |
| DANCING WITH THE STARS-09/22/2014 | ABC | M…… | 2.2 |
| LAW AND ORDER:SVU-09/24/2014 | NBC | ..W…. | 2.2 |
| MIDDLE, THE-09/24/2014 | ABC | ..W…. | 2.2 |
| MARVEL AGENTS S.H.I.E.L.D-09/23/2014 | ABC | .T….. | 2.1 |
| SLEEPY HOLLOW-09/22/2014 | FOX | M…… | 2.0 |
| CHICAGO PD-09/24/2014 | NBC | ..W…. | 1.9 |
| SHARK TANK-09/26/2014 | ABC | ….F.. | 1.9 |
| UNDER THE DOME-09/22/2014 | CBS | M…… | 1.8 |
| FOREVER-09/23/2014 | ABC | .T….. | 1.8 |
| PERSON OF INTEREST-09/23/2014 | CBS | .T….. | 1.7 |
| DANCING W/STARS:RESULTS-09/23/2014 | ABC | .T….. | 1.7 |
| FOREVER SP-9/22-09/22/2014 | ABC | M…… | 1.7 |
| 20/20-FRI-09/26/2014 | ABC | ….F.. | 1.6 |
| BONES-09/25/2014 | FOX | …T… | 1.6 |
| ONCE UPON A TIME:STRYBROK-09/28/2014 | ABC | ……S | 1.6 |
| MYSTERIES OF LAURA-09/24/2014 | NBC | ..W…. | 1.5 |
| NASHVILLE-09/24/2014 | ABC | ..W…. | 1.5 |
| REVENGE-09/28/2014 | ABC | ……S | 1.5 |
| MADAM SECRETARY-09/28/2014 | CBS | ……S | 1.4 |
| DATELINE FRI-09/26/2014 | NBC | ….F.. | 1.4 |
| PARENTHOOD-09/25/2014 | NBC | …T… | 1.4 |
| GOOD WIFE, THE-09/28/2014 | CBS | ……S | 1.3 |
| CSI-09/28/2014 | CBS | ……S | 1.3 |
| BIGGEST LOSER 16-09/25/2014 | NBC | …T… | 1.3 |
| HELL’S KITCHEN-09/24/2014 | FOX | ..W…. | 1.3 |
| NEW GIRL-09/23/2014 | FOX | .T….. | 1.3 |
| BLUE BLOODS-09/26/2014 | CBS | ….F.. | 1.2 |
| HAWAII FIVE-0-09/26/2014 | CBS | ….F.. | 1.2 |
| SATURDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL-09/27/2014 | ABC | …..S. | 1.2 |
| FOOTBALL NT AMERICA PT 2-09/28/2014 | NBC | ……S | 1.2 |
| 60 MINUTES-09/28/2014 | CBS | ……S | 1.1 |
| AMAZING RACE-09/26/2014 | CBS | ….F.. | 1.1 |
| RED BAND SOCIETY-09/24/2014 | FOX | ..W…. | 1.1 |
| 48 HOURS-09/27/2014 | CBS | …..S. | 1.0 |
| MINDY PROJECT-09/23/2014 | FOX | .T….. | 1.0 |
| SNL PRIME-SAT-09/27/2014 | NBC | …..S. | 0.9 |
| UTOPIA-09/23/2014 | FOX | .T….. | 0.8 |
| MYSTERIES OF LAURA 9/26-09/26/2014 | NBC | ….F.. | 0.7 |
| CRIMETIME SATURDAY-09/27/2014 | CBS | …..S. | 0.7 |
| GOTHAM-FRI-09/26/2014 | FOX | ….F.. | 0.7 |
| UTOPIA-FRI-09/26/2014 | FOX | ….F.. | 0.7 |
| VOICE 9/27-09/27/2014 | NBC | …..S. | 0.6 |
| SLEEPY HOLLOW-SP 9/25 9P-09/25/2014 | FOX | …T… | 0.6 |
| MADAM SECRETARY-ENCORE-09/27/2014 | CBS | …..S. | 0.5 |
| PENN & TELLER:FOOL US-09/24/2014 | CW | ..W…. | 0.5 |
| PENN & TELLER-9/24-09/24/2014 | CW | ..W…. | 0.4 |
| FOX COLLEGE FOOTBALL-09/27/2014 | FOX | …..S. | 0.4 |
| MASTERS OF ILLUSION-09/26/2014 | CW | ….F.. | 0.3 |
| WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY-2-09/26/2014 | CW | ….F.. | 0.3 |
| AMERICA’S TOP MODEL-15-09/22/2014 | CW | M…… | 0.3 |
| SUPERNATURAL-09/23/2014 | CW | .T….. | 0.3 |
| ARROW-TUE-09/23/2014 | CW | .T….. | 0.3 |
| WHOSE LINE IS IT-ENC-09/22/2014 | CW | M…… | 0.2 |
| WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY-09/22/2014 | CW | M…… | 0.2 |
| VAMPIRE DIARIES-09/25/2014 | CW | …T… | 0.2 |
| AMERICA’S TOP MOD-15-ENC-09/26/2014 | CW | ….F.. | 0.2 |
| ORIGINALS-THU-09/25/2014 | CW | …T… | 0.2 |
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