‘Doubt’ Left at the Starting Gate on CBS

What follows are the metered market (overnight) results in households by network and by half-hour for Wednesday, February 15, 2017:

Household Rating/Share
CBS: 3.9/ 7, NBC: 3.7/ 6, Fox: 3.6/ 6, ABC: 3.5/ 6, CW: 0.9/ 1

Percent Change from the Year-Ago Evening:
ABC: -10, CBS: -11, Fox: -18, NBC: -24, CW: -40

-Ratings Breakdown:
Only four-tenths of an overnight household rating point separated the Big 4 networks, with CBS leading on this third Wednesday in February. But the debut of 10 p.m. legal drama “Doubt,” starring Katherine Heigl, was left at the starting gate with a second place 3.6 rating/7 share in households. Comparably, this was 10 percent below both the week-ago and year-ago performance for former time period occupant “Code Black,” which translated last week into 6.07 million viewers and a 0.9 rating/3 share in adults 18-49, based on the Live + Same Day data. “Doubt” trailed NBC’s competing “Chicago PD” (#1: 4.3/ 7) by 16 percent. And the overnight retention out of lead-in “Criminal Minds” (#1: 4.8/ 8 from 9-10 p.m.) was just 75 percent.

Considering most new series drop 10 to 20 percent in the second week overnights, consider this a particularly weak opening for “Doubt.”

Earlier in the evening on CBS was Wednesday 8 p.m. time period filler “Hunted” at a third-place 3.3/ 6 in the hour. Tops in the 8 p.m. hour was freshman “Lethal Weapon” on Fox (4.2/ 7), which is a shoo-in for a second season renewal, followed by ABC comedies “The Goldbergs” (4.2/ 7) and freshman “Speechless” (3.5/ 6).

The remainder of ABC’s evening – “Modern Family” (#2: 4.7/ 8), “black-ish” (#3: 3.5/ 6) and “The Match Game” (#3: 2.5/ 4) from 9-11 p.m. – was on par with recent household overnight levels. “The Match Game” is better suited for the summer, no doubt, than in midseason.

Elsewhere, NBC had nothing unusual to report with dramas “Blindside” (#4: 2.8/ 5), “Law & Order: SVU” (#2t: 4.1/ 7) and aforementioned “Chicago PD” (#1: 4.3/ 8). “Star” on Fox (#4: 3.0/ 5 at 9 p.m.) cannot compared to the regularly scheduled “Empire,” which returns on March 22. And The CW was below average with its pairing of “The Flash” (#5: 1.2/ 2) and recent return “The 100” (#5: 0.7/ 1), which is not worthy of another season.
What follows are the household overnight results for Wednesday, Feb. 15 by half-hour:

8:00 p.m.
ABC – “The Goldbergs”: 4.2/ 7 (#1t)
CBS – “Hunted”: 3.4/ 6 (#3)
NBC – “Blindspot”: 2.9/ 5 (#4)
Fox – “Lethal Weapon”: 4.2/ 7 (#1t)
CW – “Arrow”: 1.2/ 2 (#5)

8:30 p.m.
ABC – “Speechless”: 3.5/ 6 (#2)
CBS – “Hunted”: 3.2/ 5 (#3)
NBC – “Blindspot”: 2.6/ 4 (#4)
Fox – “Lethal Weapon”: 4.3/ 7 (#1)
CW – “Arrow”: 1.1/ 2 (#5)

9:00 p.m.
ABC – “Modern Family”: 4.7/ 8 (#2)
CBS – “Criminal Minds”: 4.8/ 8 (#1)
NBC – “Law & Order: SVU”: 3.9/ 6 (#3)
Fox – “Star”: 3.0/ 5 (#4)
CW – “The 100”: 0.7/ 1 (#5)

9:30 p.m.
ABC – “black-ish”: 3.5/ 6 (#3)
CBS – “Criminal Minds”: 4.8/ 8 (#1)
NBC – “Law & Order: SVU”: 4.3/ 7 (#2)
Fox – “Star”: 2.9/ 5 (#4)
CW – “The 100”: 0.6/ 1 (#5)

10:00 p.m.
ABC – “The Match Game”: 2.6/ 4 (#3)
CBS – “Doubt” (series premiere): 3.8/ 7 (#2)
NBC – “Chicago PD”: 4.3/ 7 (#1)

10:30 p.m.
ABC – “The Match Game”: 2.4/ 4 (#3)
CBS – “Doubt” (series premiere): 3.4/ 6 (#2)
NBC – “Chicago PD”: 4.2/ 8 (#1)

Source: Nielsen Media Research