Tuesday Overnights: CBS Leads; NBC Poised for Victory in the Key Demos

THE REBRANDING OF MEGYN KELLY RINGS FALSE ON NBC’s “TODAY”: Click here

CBS topped this third Tuesday of the new TV season in the household overnights, besting No. 2 NBC by 22 percent. But it was not a clean sweep as sophomore “This Is Us” was tops at 9 p.m., with a 7.3 rating/12 share in households. And a comfortable 7.2/12 (#2) for “The Voice” in the 8 p.m. hour makes NBC a lock for leadership for the night in adults 18-49 (and all the key young adult demographics).

Also on NBC was “Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Brothers” at a second-place 3.2/ 6 at 10 p.m., which trailed CBS’ competing “NCIS: New Orleans” (#1: 6.1/11) by 48 percent.

Earlier in the evening on CBS was the compatible combination of “NCIS” (#1 for the night: 8.6/14 at 8 p.m.) and “Bull” (#2: 7.0/11 at 9 p.m.), which slipped by 7 and 14 percent, respectively, from the year-ago evening.

In season-premiere news was The CW’s pairing of “The Flash” (#5: 2.0/ 3 at 8 p.m.), which remains the network’s most-watched series, and “D.C.’s Legends of Tomorrow” (#5: 1.3/ 2). Particularly positive for “D.C.’s Legends of Tomorrow” was household overnight growth over year-ago time period occupant “No Tomorrow” (0.6/ 1 on 10/11/16) of 117 percent.

Elsewhere, ABC finished a very distant third overall with its combination of “The Middle” (#3: 3.9/ 7), “Fresh Off the Boat” (#4: 2.7/ 4), “black-ish” (#3: 3.2/ 5), week two of sitcom “The Mayor” (#3: 2.4/ 4) and drama “Kevin (Probably) Saves the World” (#3: 2.5/ 4). As I always say, most new shows drop by 10 to 20 percent in the household overnights in week two. With that in mind, “The Mayor” and “Kevin (Probably) Saved the world” slipped by 20 percent and 14 percent, respectively, from their debuts last week.

On Fox, relocated sophomore “Lethal Weapon” at a 2.8/ 4 (#4) is a stronger alternative in the Tuesday 8 p.m. hour than year-ago occupants “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” (1.5/ 3) and “New Girl” (1.4/ 2 on 10/11/16). Next were sitcoms “The Mick” (#5: 1.3/ 2) and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” (#4: 1.3/ 2), which were modest but still an improvement from “Scream Queens” one year earlier (1.1/ 2).