CBS Wins Opening Tuesday; NBC to Net to Beat in Adults 18-49

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What follows are the metered market (overnight) results in households by network and by half-hour for Tuesday, September 20:

Household Rating/Share
CBS: 8.8/15, NBC: 7.3/12, ABC: 4.9/ 8, Fox: 1.6/ 3, CW: 0.5/ 1

-Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening:
NBC: + 9, CBS: + 5,ABC: -18, CW: -44, Fox: -45

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-Winners:
“NCIS” (CBS), “The Voice” (NBC), “Bull” (CBS), “This Is Us” (NBC)

-Honorable Mention:
“Dancing With the Stars” (ABC)

-Losers (excluding repeats):
“Brooklyn Nine-Nine: (Fox), “New Girl” (Fox), “Scream Queens” (Fox), “Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD” (ABC)

—–

–Ratings Analysis:
Two nights into the new television season and the immediate observation is the state of network television, which…based on the Big 3…is alive and well.

CBS led the Tuesday overnight households, with a clean sweep in the six half-hours care of the season-premiere of “NCIS” (9.8 rating/16 share), the series-premiere of drama “Bull” (9.7/15) and the season-premiere of “NCIS: New Orleans” (7.1/13). But NBC is a lock for victory in adults 18-49 thanks to two-hours of “The Voice” (#2: 7.7/13 from 8-10 p.m.) and the series-premiere of “This Is Us” (#2: 6.5/11), which will remain in the Tuesday 10 p.m. hour until Oct. 4th. Effective Oct. 11, it moves to 9 p.m. into the season-premiere of “Chicago Fire.”

More specifically, the 9.8 overnight household rating for “NCIS” was nine percent below the 10.8/18 season-opener on the year-ago evening, and that translated into 18.19 million viewers and a 2.5 rating/9 share in adults 18-49, based on the Live + Same Day data. The 9.7 overnight rating for “Bull” was 26 percent above the 7.7/12 for the season-premiere of former time period occupant “NCIS: New Orleans” one year earlier, with full overnight retention out of “NCIS.” I’ll call this a spectacular start for “Bull.” And the 7.1 overnight rating for “NCIS: New Orleans,” now at 10 p.m., was 15 percent above the year-ago series premiere of short-lived drama “Limitless” (6.7/12 on 9/22/15).

“This is Us” on NBC, already a critical favorite, opened 68 percent above the 3.8/ 7 for year-ago Tuesday 10 p.m. occupant “The Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris.” And the overnight retention for “This Is Us” out of the 9:30 p.m. portion of “The Voice” (8.1/13) was acceptable at 79 percent.

Over at ABC, the live two-hour “Dancing With the Stars” was certainly respectable at a 6.1/10 in the household overnights from 8-10 p.m. But the season-premiere of “Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD,” like all shows in this genre, was just not an overnight draw at a very distant third-place 2.4/ 4 at 10 p.m. Comparably, the household retention out of the 9:30 p.m. portion of “Dancing With the Stars” (6.2/10) was only 39 percent. As always, it will have to be about social media for “Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD.”

Fox, meanwhile, was basically off the overnight charts, as expected, with its season-opening combination of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” (#4: 1.8/ 6), “New Girl” (#4: 1.8/ 3) and season two of “Scream Queens” (#4: 1.5/ 2), which owes its renewal to social media. Those diehard fans had better be tweeting!

The CW ducked the competition care of a repeat of “The Flash” (#5: 0.6/ 1) and “MADtv” (#5: 0.5/ 1).

What follows are the half-hour results:

8:00 p.m.
ABC – “Dancing With the Stars”: 6.2/10 (#3)
CBS – “NCIS” (season premiere): 9.7/16 (#1)
NBC – “The Voice”: 7.0/12 (#2)
Fox – “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” (season premiere): 1.8/ 3 (#4)
CW – “The Flash” (R): 0.6/ 1 (#5)

8:30 p.m.
ABC – “Dancing With the Stars”: 6.0/10 (#3)
CBS – “NCIS” (season premiere): 9.8/16 (#1)
NBC – “The Voice”: 7.7/13 (#2)
Fox – “New Girl” (season premiere): 1.8/ 3 (#4)
CW – “The Flash” (R): 0.6/ 1 (#5)

9:00 p.m.
ABC – “Dancing With the Stars”: 6.1/10 (#3)
CBS – “Bull” (series premiere): 9.7/15 (#1)
NBC – “The Voice”: 8.1/13 (#2)
Fox – “Scream Queens” (season premiere): 1.5/ 2 (#4)
CW – “MADtv”: 0.5/ 1 (#5)

9:30 p.m.
ABC – “Dancing With the Stars”: 6.2/10 (#3)
CBS – “Bull” (series premiere): 9.7/15 (#1)
NBC – “The Voice”: 8.1/13 (#2)
Fox – “Scream Queens” (season premiere): 1.4/ 2 (#4)
CW – “MADtv”: 0.4/ 1 (#5)

10:00 p.m.
ABC – “Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD” (season premiere): 2.7/ 4 (#3)
CBS – “NCIS: New Orleans” (season premiere): 7.2/12 (#1)
NBC – “This is Us” (series premiere): 6.7/11 (#2)

10:30 p.m.
ABC – “Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD” (season premiere): 2.1/ 4 (#3)
CBS – “NCIS: New Orleans” (season premiere): 6.9/13 (#1)
NBC – “This is Us” (series premiere): 6.2/11 (#2)

Source: Nielsen Media Research