Monday Overnights: Modest Results for Quartet on New Network Series

FALL TV PREVIEW – CLICK HERE

Household Rating/Share
NBC: 5.3/ 9, ABC: 4.9/ 9, CBS: 4.5/ 8, Fox: 4.2/ 7, CW: 0.6/ 1

Percent Change From the Year-Ago Week:
CW: no change, Fox: – 2, ABC: – 9, NBC: -20, CBS: -29

Ratings Breakdown:
As always, these are the household overnights and only a first look at the initial rating results. There are many additional factors to consider. But what is immediately concerning is the year-to-year erosion for each of the four broadcasters – ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox.

NBC won this first night of the new TV season on the strength of “The Voice,” which led with a 6.3/10 in households from 8-10 p.m. ET. Comparably, “The Voice” bested “Dancing With the Stars” on ABC (#2: 5.0/ 8) by 26 percent. But the lead-in support was wasted on the debut of legal drama “Bluff City Law,” starring Jimmy Smits, which opened third in the Monday 10 p.m. hour with a 3.4/ 7 in the overnight households. Comparably, this was 51 percent below the debut of “Manifest” on the year-ago evening (6.9/12 on 9/24/18). And it trailed the season premiere episodes of competing “The Good Doctor” on ABC (#1: 4.8/ 9) and “Bull” on CBS (#2: 4.7/ 9) by 29 percent and 28 percent, respectively.

Keep in mind that most new series decline by 10 to 20 percent in week two.

There were two series debuts on CBS: sitcom “Bob Hearts Abishola” and legal drama “All Rise.” “Bob Hearts Abishola,” from Chuck Lorre, opened with a third-place 4.4/ 7 at 8:30 p.m., which was seven percent above the second season premiere of lead-in “The Neighborhood” (#3: 4.1/ 7 at 8 p.m.). Consider that a positive.

“All Rise,” which is expected to skew older, was sampled with a third-place 4.5/ 8 in the 9 p.m. hour. On an immediate positive was no erosion in the second half-hour, but this was still 20 percent below the series-premiere of “Magnum, P.I.” in the time period on the year-ago evening (5.6/ 9). Of note, however, was CBS using “The Big Bang Theory” at 8 p.m. last year to ignite the entire evening. The network does not have that luxury anymore.

Also launching last night was Fox drama “Prodigal Son” (#4: 3.0/ 5 at 9 p.m.), which slipped by the season-premiere of lead-in “9-1-1” (#3: 5.4/ 9 at 8 p.m.) by a considerable 44 percent. Comparably, “Prodigal Son” was also 40 percent below a year-ago telecast of “9-1-1” (5.0/ 8).

Here is the breakdown by half-hour:

8:00 p.m.
ABC – “Dancing With the Stars”: 5.2/ 9 (#2)
CBS – “The Neighborhood” (season premiere): 4.1/ 7 (#4)
NBC – “The Voice” (season premiere): 6.1/11 (#1)
Fox – “9-1-1” (season premiere): 5.4/ 9 (#3)
CW – “Penn & Teller: Fool Us”: 0.7/ 1 (#5)

8:30 p.m.
ABC – “Dancing With the Stars”: 4.9/ 8 (#2)
CBS – “Bob Loves Abishola” (series premiere): 4.4/ 7 (#4)
NBC – “The Voice” (season premiere): 6.3/10 (#1)
Fox – “9-1-1” (season premiere): 5.3/ 9 (#3)
CW – “Penn & Teller: Fool Us”: 0.6/ 1 (#5)

9:00 p.m.
ABC – “Dancing With the Stars”: 4.9/ 8 (#2)
CBS – “All Rise” (series premiere): 4.5/ 7 (#3)
NBC – “The Voice” (season premiere): 6.4/10 (#1)
Fox – “Prodigal Son” (series premiere): 3.1/ 5 (#4)
CW – “Whose Line is it Anyway?: 0.5/ 1 (#5)

9:30 p.m.
ABC – “Dancing With the Stars”: 5.0/ 8 (#2)
CBS – “All Rise” (series premiere): 4.5/ 8 (#3)
NBC – “The Voice” (season premiere): 6.3/10 (#1)
Fox – “Prodigal Son” (series premiere): 2.9/ 5 (#4)
CW – “Whose Line is it Anyway? (R): 0.4/ 1 (#5)

10:00 p.m.
ABC – “The Good Doctor” (season premiere): 5.0/ 9 (#1)
CBS – “Bull” (season premiere): 4.8/ 9 (#2)
NBC – “Bluff City Law” (series premiere): 3.6/ 7 (#3)

10:30 p.m.
ABC – “The Good Doctor” (season premiere): 4.6/ 9 (#1)
CBS – “Bull” (season premiere): 4.5/ 9 (#2)
NBC – “Bluff City Law” (series premiere): 3.1/ 6 (#3)

Source: Nielsen Media Research