Fox Remains the Network to Beat in Midweek

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What follows are the metered market (overnight) results in households by network and by half-hour for Wednesday, October 12:

Household Rating/Share
Fox: 5.4/ 9, CBS: 4.8/ 9, ABC: 4.7/ 8, NBC: 4.0/ 7, CW: 1.1/ 2

Percent Change from the Year-Ago Evening:
ABC: +12, CBS: – 4, NBC: – 9, Fox: -14, CW: -27

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-Winners:
“Survivor” (CBS), “Empire” (Fox), “Modern Family” (ABC), “Designated Survivor” (ABC)

-Honorable Mention:
“Lethal Weapon” (Fox), “The Goldbergs” (ABC), “Speechless” (ABC)

-Sluggish:
“Blindspot” (NBC), “Law & Order: SVU” (NBC), “Arrow” (CW)

-Losers:
“Frequency” (CW), “Code Black” (CBS)

—–

Ratings Breakdown:
It was overnight business as usual on this fourth Wednesday of the new television season with the home of “Empire,” Fox, the network to beat. “Empire” led the night with a 6.2 rating/10 share in households from 9-10 p.m., which built from just renewed lead-in “Lethal Weapon” (#2: 4.6/ 8 at 8 p.m.) by 35 percent. But the disadvantage of exploding out of the gate like “Empire” did on Jan. 7, 2015 was having only one place to go…down. Year-to-year, “Empire” dipped by 27 percent in the household overnights (versus a 8.5/13 on 10/14/15). “Lethal Weapon,” in contrast, increased from year-ago occupant “Rosewood” (4.0/ 7) by 15 percent.

Tops in the 8 p.m. hour, as usual, was CBS’ veteran “Survivor” at a 5.4/ 9 in the overnights at 8 p.m. Spoiler Alert: Skip to the next paragraph if you don’t want to know what happens next week. But, considering the theme of this edition is “Millennials vs. Gen X,” why already mix up the tribes next week? Personally, I was just getting into this dynamic.

Next on the Eye net was also veteran “Criminal Minds” at a second-place 5.1/ 8 at 9 p.m., which was close to the 5.4/ 9 one year earlier, followed by sophomore “Code Black” at a third-place 3.9/ 7. Comparably, although that trailed NBC’s second-place “Chicago PD” (4.0/ 7) by one-tenth of a rating point the disadvantage among adults 18-49 will be greater.

First in the 10 p.m. hour remained episode four of ABC’s “Designated Survivor” (5.1/ 9), which outdelivered year-ago occupant “Nashville” (3.3/ 6 on 10/14/15) by 55 percent and increased from lead-in ‘black-ish” (#4: 4.0/ 6 at 9:30 p.m.) by 27 percent.

Earlier in the evening on ABC, episode four of full season-renewed sitcom “Speechless” scored a third-place 4.2/ 7 at 8:30 p.m., which was a compatible fit out of relocated lead-in “The Goldbergs” (#2: 4.4/ 7 at 8 p.m.). “Modern Family” at 9 p.m. finished second with a 5.2/ 8 in the household overnights, which was seven percent below the 5.6/ 9 on the year-ago evening.

In episode two news, CW drama “Frequency” dropped to a 0.8/ 1 (#5) at 9 p.m., which was 20 percent below the already anemic 1.0/ 2 in the overnights for its series debut one week earlier. And that 1.0 household rating translated into just 1.35 million viewers and a 0.4 rating/1 share in adults 18-49, based on the Live + Same Day data.

Earlier in the evening on NBC was the combination of relocated “Blindspot” (#4: 3.9/ 6) and veteran “Law & Order: SVU” (#4: 4.1/ 7) from 8-10 p.m. Although year-ago Wednesday 8 p.m. occupant “The Mysteries of Laura” was stronger at a 4.6/ 8 in the household overnights, “Blindspot” is performing better in the young adult demos.

Source: Nielsen Media Research
What follows is the half-hour breakdown:

8:00 p.m.
ABC – “The Goldbergs”: 4.4/ 7 (#2)
CBS – “Survivor”: 5.4/ 9 (#1)
NBC – “Blindspot”: 3.9/ 7 (#4)
Fox – “Lethal Weapon”: 4.3/ 7 (#3)
CW – “Arrow”: 1.4/ 2 (#2)

8:30 p.m.
ABC – “Speechless”: 4.2/ 7 (#3)
CBS – “Survivor”: 5.4/ 9 (#1)
NBC – “Blindspot”: 3.8/ 6 (#4)
Fox – “Lethal Weapon”: 4.9/ 8 (#2)
CW – “Arrow”: 1.3/ 2 (#5)

9:00 p.m.
ABC – “Modern Family”: 5.2/ 8 (#2)
CBS – “Criminal Minds”: 5.1/ 8 (#3)
NBC – “Law & Order: SVU”: 4.0/ 6 (#4)
Fox – “Empire”: 6.1/10 (#1)
CW – “Frequency”: 0.8/ 1 (#5)

9:30 p.m.
ABC – “black-ish”: 4.0/ 6 (#4)
CBS – “Criminal Minds”: 5.1/ 8 (#2)
NBC – “Law & Order: SVU”: 4.2/ 7 (#3)
Fox – “Empire”: 6.2/10 (#1)
CW – “Frequency”: 0.7/ 1 (#5)

10:00 p.m.
ABC – “Designated Survivor”: 5.2/ 9 (#1)
CBS – “Code Black”: 4.0/ 7 (#3)
NBC – “Chicago PD”: 4.1/ 7 (#2)

10:30 p.m.
ABC – “Designated Survivor”: 5.0/ 9 (#1)
CBS – “Code Black”: 3.9/ 7 (#2t)
NBC – “Chicago PD”: 3.9/ 7 (#2t)

Source: Nielsen Media Research