ABC’s ‘Designated Survivor’ Best Competing ‘Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders’ on CBS

What follows are the metered market (overnight) results in households by network and by half-hour for Wednesday, March 8, 2017:

Household Rating/Share
CBS: 4.2/ 7, ABC: 3.9/ 7, Fox: 3.3/ 6, NBC: 2.7/ 5, CW: 0.5/ 1

Percent Change from the Year-Ago Evening:
ABC: +30, Fox: +22, CBS: + 8, CW: -29, NBC: -45

-Ratings Breakdown:
CBS topped this second Wednesday in March care of the two-hour (two-episode) season premiere of “Survivor,” which is themed “Game Changers.” The expanded telecast averaged a 4.6 rating/8 share in the household overnights from 8-10 p.m., peaking in the 8 p.m. half-hour with a 5.0/ 9. While dominance is certainly a positive, a one-hour edition of “Survivor” on the year-ago evening averaged a stronger 5.6/ 9 from 8-9 p.m.

In season-premiere news, “Survivor” Game Changers” led into a second-place 3.3/ 6 for “Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders” at 10 p.m. Comparably, that trailed the return of “Designated Survivor” on ABC (#1: 4.3/ 8) by 23 percent in the household overnights. And competing “Chicago PD” on NBC (#3: 2.6/ 5) was a repeat. “Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders” was also 17 percent below failed “CSI: Cyber” on the year-ago evening (4.0/ 7 on 3/09/16). In other words, all these generic crime solvers on CBS are beginning to lose steam.

Earlier in the evening on ABC was the 8-10 p.m. sitcom rotation of “The Goldbergs” (#3: 3.7/ 6), “Speechless” (#3: 3.2/ 5), “Modern Family” (#1: 4.6/ 8) and “black-ish” (#2: 3.6/ 6) at typical overnight levels. NBC populated the block last night with two repeat episodes of “Law & Order: SVU” (8 p.m. #4: 2.7/ 5; 9 p.m.: #3: 2.9/ 5).

Elsewhere, Fox’s already renewed combination of “Lethal Weapon” (#3: 3.9/ 7) and “Star” (#4: 2.7/ 5) was also at typical overnight levels. “Star” would benefit next season if Fox moved “Empire” up one hour into the drama, which are both from Lee Daniels. And The CW featured encore telecasts of “The Flash” (#5: 0.7/ 1) and “The 100” (#5: 0.4/ 1).

What follows are the household overnight results for March 8 by half-hour:

8:00 p.m.
ABC – “The Goldbergs”: 3.7/ 6 (#3)
CBS – “Survivor: Game Changers” (season premiere): 5.0/ 9 (#1)
NBC – “Law & Order: SVU” (R): 2.6/ 5 (#4)
Fox – “Lethal Weapon”: 3.9/ 7 (#2)
CW – “Arrow”(R): 0.7/ 1 (#5)

8:30 p.m.
ABC – “Speechless”: 3.2/ 5 (#3)
CBS – “Survivor: Game Changers” (season premiere): 4.7/ 8 (#1)
NBC – “Law & Order: SVU” (R): 2.8/ 5 (#4)
Fox – “Lethal Weapon”: 3.9/ 6 (#2)
CW – “Arrow”(R): 0.6/ 1 (#5)

9:00 p.m.
ABC – “Modern Family”: 4.6/ 8 (#1)
CBS – “Survivor: Game Changers” (season premiere): 4.4/ 7 (#2)
NBC – “Law & Order: SVU” (R): 2.8/ 5 (#3)
Fox – “Star”: 2.7/ 5 (#4)
CW – “The 100” (R): 0.4/ 1 (#5)

9:30 p.m.
ABC – “black-ish”:3.6/ 6 (#2)
CBS – “Survivor: Game Changers” (season premiere): 4.4/ 7 (#2)
NBC – “Law & Order: SVU” (R): 3.0/ 5 (#3)
Fox – “Star”: 2.7/ 4 (#4)
CW – “The 100” (R): 0.4/ 1 (#5)

10:00 p.m.
ABC – “Designated Survivor” (return): 4.4/ 8 (#1)
CBS – “Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders” (season premiere): 3.4/ 6 (#2)
NBC – “Chicago PD” (R): 2.7/ 5 (#3)

10:30 p.m.
ABC – “Designated Survivor” (return): 4.1/ 8 (#1)
CBS – “Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders” (season premiere): 3.2/ 6 (#2)
NBC – “Chicago PD” (R): 2.5/ 5 (#3)

Source: Nielsen Media Research