CBS Tops Tuesday Overnights, But ‘Limitless’ is Slowing the Network Down

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2016

Household Rating/Share
CBS: 7.4 rating/12 share, NBC: 4.2/ 7, ABC: 2.0/ 3, Fox and CW: 1.8/ 3 each

Percent Change from the Year-Ago Week:
NBC: +62, CW: -14, CBS: -19, Fox: -31, ABC: -41

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-Winners:
“NCIS” (CBS), “The Flash” (CW), “NCIS: New Orleans” (CBS), “Chicago Med” (NBC), “Chicago Fire” (NBC)

-Losers:
“The Muppets” (ABC), “New Girl” (Fox), “Grandfathered” (Fox), “Marvel’s Agent Carter” (ABC), “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” (Fox), “The Grinder” (Fox), “iZombie” (CW), “What Would You Do?” (ABC), “Limitless” (CBS)

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Ratings Breakdown:
It was an easy Tuesday overnight victory for CBS, but not a clean sweep over improved second-place NBC. “NCIS” topped the night, as always, with a 10.4 rating/16 share in the household overnights from 8-9 p.m. And that led into a 7.7/12 for also dominant spin-off “NCIS: New Orleans” from 9-10 p.m. But freshman “Limitless,” which is not worthy of a second season renewal in this writer’s opinion, trailed competing “Chicago Fire” on NBC by 21 percent (4.1/ 7 vs. 5.3/ 9). One year earlier, former CBS Tuesday 10 p.m. occupant scored a 6.2/10 in the hour (which is all the more reason to put benchwarmer “Person of Interest” back in the time period). Comparably, retention for “Limitless” out of the 9:30 p.m. portion of “NCIS: New Orleans” (7.5/12) was only 55 percent.

Earlier in the evening on NBC was “Hollywood Game Night,” hosted by Jane Lynch, at a 2.8/ 4 from 8-9 p.m. (#2), which was 40 percent on average above two episodes of sitcom “Parks and Recreation” on the year-ago evening (2.0/ 3 on 2/10/15). Next was already renewed “Chicago Med” at a second-place 4.8/ 7 from 9-10 p.m., which built from the 8:30 p.m. portion of “Hollywood Game Night” by a hefty 71 percent.

Elsewhere, the results were slim. Freshman “The Muppets” on ABC is waiting for the pink slip to arrive at this point, with a 1.9/ 3 (#3) in the household overnights at 8:30 p.m. out of a 3.2/ 5 (#2) for sophomore “Fresh off the Boat” at 8 p.m. Also sophomore “Marvel’s Agent Carter” (#3: 1.9/ 3) is not doing a very good job temporarily filling in for “Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD” at 9 p.m. And recent returnee “What Would You Do?” remained a significant flop at a 1.6/ 3 at 10 p.m. (#3).

Fox could not compete with its slim combination of 8-10 p.m. sitcoms “New Girl” (#4: 2.2/ 3), “Grandfathered” (#4: 1.8/ 3), “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” (#4: 1.7/ 3) and “The Grinder” (#4: 1.5/ 2). And sophomore drama “iZombie” on The CW (#5: 1.0/ 1 at 9 p.m.) dropped by an extensive 62 percent from solid lead-in “The Flash” (#5: 2.6/ 4 at 8 p.m.). One year earlier, former Tuesday 9 p.m. CW occupant scored a 1.4/ 2 in the overnights in the hour.

Source: Nielsen Media Research