Anemic Opening Overnights for ‘Rush Hour’ on CBS

THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2016

Household Rating/Share
Fox: 6.4 rating/10 share. ABC: 5.0/ 8, CBS: 4.8/ 8, NBC: 2.5/ 4, CW: 1.1/ 2

Percent Change from the Year-Ago Evening:
Fox: +146, CW: +57, ABC: no change, CBS: -19, NBC: -36

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Ratings Breakdown:
Two-hours of “American Idol,” which officially concludes after 15-seasons next Thursday, lifted Fox to Thursday overnight victory with a 6.4 rating/10 share from 8-10 p.m. The peak half-hour was 8:30 p.m. at a 6.6/11, and the hefty 146 percent increase for the network was a reflection of “Bones” and short-lived drama “Backstrom” airing on the year-ago evening.

In series-premiere news, one-hour action-comedy “Rush Hour” was left at the starting gate on CBS with a third-place 3.1/ 5 at 10 p.m. Comparably, this trailed already modest “Elementary” on the year-ago evening (4.9/ 9 on 4/01/15) by 37 percent. It trailed competing “The Catch” on ABC (#1: 4.0/ 7) and the freshman season-finale of “Shades of Blue” on NBC (#2: 3.9/ 7) by 22 percent and 21 percent, respectively. And this was 18 percent below lead-in “2 Broke Girls” (#3: 3.8/ 6 at 9:30 p.m.), which was not worthy of its recent renewal.

Considering that most new shows drip 10 to 20 percent in week two, I would not get too used to “Rush Hour.”

Circling back to ABC’s “The Catch,” the 4.0/ 7 last night was 13 percent below the modest 4.6/ 8 opener last Thursday, which translated into 5.85 million viewers and a 1.2 rating.4 share in adults 18-49 (based on the Live + Same Day data). And the household overnight retention out of lead-in “Scandal” (#2: 5.0/ 8 from 9-10 p.m.) was 80 percent. This is not a positive for ABC.

Earlier in the evening on ABC was always reliable “Grey’s Anatomy” at a second-place 6.0/10 from 8-9 p.m.

In season-finale news, the first of two episodes of CBS sitcom “Life in Pieces,” which is expected back next season, scored a 5.0/ 8 (#3) out of a 9.6/16 for lead-in “The Big Bang Theory” at 8 p.m. (#1 for the night). Comparably, that put the overnight retention for “Life in Pieces” at a modest 52 percent. The second episode, and season-ender, slipped to a 4.4/ 7 at 9 p.m. (#1), which is about 15 percent below regularly scheduled time period occupant “Mom.” While CBS would like you to believe “Life in Pieces” is a big hit, this is just not so.

In series-finale news, NBC’s “You, Me and the Apocalypse” exited with a whimper at a distant fourth-place 1.9/ 3 from 8-9 p.m. Next was an encore of “The Blacklist” at an identical 1.9/ 3 from 9-10 p.m., followed by the aforementioned “Shades of Blue” season-ender at a 3.9/ 7. Comparably, “Shades of Blue” increased by 105 percent out of “The Blacklist” encore.

The CW capped off this final night in March with the combination of “D.C.’s Legends of Tomorrow” (#5: 1.4/ 2) and “The 100” (#5: 0.8/ 1), which slipped by 43 percent and is not worthy of the second season pick-up.

Source: Nielsen Media Research