Sunday Overnights: Solid Sampling for CBS Drama ‘Instinct;’ Modest ‘Genius Junior’ on NBC

SUNDAY, MARCH 18, 2018

Household Rating/Share
CBS: 6.5/11, ABC: 3.8/ 7, NBC: 3.3/ 6, Fox: 1.2/ 2

-Percent Change from the Year-Ago Evening:
ABC: +100, CBS: + 5, Fox: – 8, NBC: -11

Ratings Breakdown:
Note: The ongoing NCAA Basketball Tournament on CBS bled into primetime by 37-minutes. All program results for the Eye net, therefore, are estimated.

There were two series premieres last night: CBS crime solver “Instinct,” starring Alan Cumming; and NBC game show “Genius Junior,” hosted by Neil Patrick Harris. Airing out of “60 Minutes,” “Instinct” will, of course, skew older. But with an approximate 6.3 rating/10 share in the metered market (overnight) households from 8:37-9:37 p.m. ET, “Instinct” was definitely sampled. Household retention out of “60 Minutes” (7.5/12 from 7:37-8:37 p.m. ET) was solid at 84 percent, and this was an improvement over fall time period occupant “Wisdom of the Crowd.” Overall, consider this a positive start for “Instinct” based on the household overnights.

“Genius Junior,” meanwhile, debuted with a third-place 3.0/ 5 in the 9 p.m. hour, which held 67 percent of the its “Little Big Shots” lead-in (#2: 4.5/ 7 from 8-9 p.m.). And this was 17 percent below short-lived “Chicago Justice” on the year-ago evening (3.6/ 6 on 3/20/17), but the young adult ratings are expected to be an improvement. Since most new series drop 10 to 20 percent in week two, consider this a modest start for “Genius Junior.”

Earlier in the evening on NBC was the third season premiere of “Little Big Shots,” which finished second in the 7 p.m. hour with a 3.8/ 7. Comparably, that beat competing “America’s Funniest Home Videos” on ABC (#3: 3.1/ 6) by 23 percent. Opposite “American Idol” on ABC, the aforementioned regularly scheduled telecast of “Little Big Shots” at 8 p.m. was down by 21 percent year-to year.

At 10 p.m. on NBC was week two of the sophomore season of NBC drama “Timeless,” which matched last week’s modest return at a distant third-place 2.0/ 3 in households. Comparably, this was 29 percent below crime solver “Shades of Blue” on the year-ago evening (2.8/ 5 on 3/20/17).

On ABC, aforementioned “American Idol” scored a 4.8/ 8 in the 8-10 p.m. block, which was down by a noticeable 24 percent from the 6.3/10 season-opener one week earlier. Since that 6.3 overnight household rating translated into 10.3 million viewers (based on the Live+Same Day data from Nielsen), do the math and you can expect in the vicinity of 8-million viewers for “Idol.” Comparably, this is still a vast improvement over year-ago time period occupants “Once Upon a Time” and “Time After Time.”

In week two news on ABC was Sunday 10 p.m. drama “Deception” at a second-place 2.6/ 5, which was 30 percent below the 3.7/ 7 for the opener one week earlier. While “Deception” is an improvement over year-ago time period occupant “American Crime,” it was also 47 percent below the 4.9/ 9 for the 9:30 p.m. portion of lead-in “American Idol”

Elsewhere, Fox finished a distant fourth in each half-hour with its Sunday line-up of two episodes of animated “Bob’s Burgers” (7 p.m. – repeat: 0.8/ 1; 7:30 p.m.: 1.1/ 2), “The Simpsons” (1.4/ 2 at 8 p.m.), “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” (1.3/ 2 at 8:30 p.m.), “Family Guy” (1.5/ 2 at 9 p.m.) and “Last Man on Earth” (1.2/ 2 at 9:30 p.m.). And CBS featured “NCIS: Los Angeles” and “Madam Secretary” following the debut of “Instinct.”

What follows are the household overnight ratings for Sunday, March 18 broken out by half-hour:

7:00 p.m.
ABC – “America’s Funniest Home Videos”: 3.1/ 6 (#3)
CBS – 2018 NCAA Basketball Tournament: 8.5/15 (#1)
NBC – “Little Big Shots” (season premiere): 3.6 7 (#2)
Fox – “Bob’s Burgers” (R): 0.8/ 1 (#4)

7:30 p.m.
ABC – “America’s Funniest Home Videos”: 3.2/ 6 (#3)
CBS – 2018 NCAA Basketball Tournament / 60 Minutes: 7.5/13 (#1)
NBC – “Little Big Shots” (season premiere): 3.9/ 7 (#2)
Fox – “Bob’s Burgers”: 1.1/ 2 (#4)

8:00 p.m.
ABC – “American Idol”: 4.5/ 7 (#2)
CBS – “60 Minutes”: 7.5.12 (#1)
NBC – “Little Big Shots”: 4.4/ 7 (#3)
Fox – “The Simpsons”: 1.4/ 2 (#4)

8:30 p.m.
ABC – “American Idol”: 4.5/ 7 (#2)
CBS – “60 Minutes”: 7.5.12 (#1)
NBC – “Little Big Shots”: 4.4/ 7 (#3)
Fox – “The Simpsons”: 1.4/ 2 (#4)

9:00 p.m.
ABC – “American Idol”: 4.9/ 8 (#2)
CBS – “Instinct” (series premiere)”: 6.3/10 (#1)
NBC – “Genius Junior” (series premiere): 3.2/ 5 (#3)
Fox – “Family Guy”: 1.5/ 2 (#4)

9:30 p.m.
ABC – “American Idol”: 4.9/ 8 (#2)
CBS – “Instinct” (series premiere) / “NCIS: Los Angeles”: 5.9/10 (#1)
NBC – “Genius Junior” (series premiere): 2.8/ 4 (#3)
Fox – “Last Man on Earth”: 1.2/ 2 (#4)

10:00 p.m.
ABC – “Deception”: 2.8/ 5 (#3)
CBS – “NCIS: Los Angeles”: 5.2/ 9 (#1)
NBC – “Timeless”: 2.0/ 3 (#3)

10:30 p.m.
ABC – “Deception”: 2.5/ 5 (#3)
CBS – “NCIS: Los Angeles”: 4.6/ 8 (#1)
NBC – “Timeless”: 1.9/ 4 (#3)

Source: Nielsen Media Research