Modest Sampling for ‘Heartbeat’ Debut on NBC

TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 2016

Household Rating/Share
CBS: 7.5 rating/12 share, NBC: 4.6/ 8, ABC: 2.2/ 4, Fox: 1.2/ 2, CW: 1.5/ 2

Percent Change from the Year-Ago Evening:
NBC: + 2, CBS: – 7, CW: -17, ABC: -21, Fox: -40

Ratings Breakdown:
CBS stood well above No. 2 NBC in the Tuesday household overnights, with an advantage of 63 percent. But the home of “The Voice” could still be the network to beat in adults 18-49 (and all the key young adult demographics).

In series-premiere news, NBC medical drama “Heartbeat” had some sampling with a second-place 4.1 rating/ 7 share in households from 9-10 p.m. But it was 60 percent below the 8:30 p.m. portion of lead-in “The Voice” (10.2/16). It slipped by 16 percent in the second half-hour (4.4/ 7 to 3.7/ 6). And it was seven percent below for the most recent original episode of regularly scheduled “Chicago Med” (4.4/ 7 on Feb. 23). In other words, do not expect much tonight in the series regularly scheduled Wednesday 8 p.m. hour.

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“Heartbeat” led into a second-place 2.7/ 4 for a repeat of “Chicago Fire” at 10 p.m. Earlier in the evening was aforementioned “The Voice” at a 7.1/12 from 8-9 p.m., which trailed competing “NCIS” on CBS (#1 for the night: 10.0/16) by 29 percent. “The Voice,” of course, is a lock for all young adult demo leadership.

In time period premiere news, “Beyond the Tank” could not reverse ABC’s perennial woes in the hour, with a mere 1.6/ 3 in the household overnights at 10 p.m. Comparably, that slipped from modest lead-in “Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD” (#3: 2.1/ 3) by 24 percent.

Opening the night for ABC were sitcoms “Fresh Off the Boat” (#3: 3.1/ 5) and recently introduced “The Real O’Neals” (#3: 2.5/ 4) from 8-9 p.m., which were at typical overnight levels. On CBS, both “NCIS: New Orleans” (#1: 8.3/13) and freshman “Limitless” (#1: 4.3/ 7) were above average from 9-11 p.m.

Elsewhere, only sitcom “New Girl” on Fox was original, with a last-place 1.7/ 3 at 8 p.m. And it led into encore telecasts of “”Grandfathered” (#5: 0.9/ 2), “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” (#4: 1.1/ 2) and “The Grinder” (#4: 1.0/ 2) from 8:30-10 p.m. And The CW scored a 2.1/ 3 (#4) for “The Flash” at 8 p.m. into a 0.9/ 1 for “iZombie” at 9 p.m., which slipped by 59 percent.

Source: Nielsen Media Research