Tuesday Overnights: Sluggish Starts for ‘Mixed-ish’ and ‘Emergence’ on ABC

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Household Rating/Share
CBS: 6.3/11, NBC: 5.8/10, ABC: 3.2/ 6, Fox: 3.1/ 5, CW: 0.4/ 1

Percent Change From Year-Ago Evening:
Fox: +35, CW: no change, CBS: -11, NBC: -13, ABC: -18

Ratings Breakdown:
CBS topped this first Tuesday of the new TV season in the household overnights, while NBC will lead in adults 18-49. Veteran “NCIS” opened season 17 with an 8.6 rating/15 share in households at 8 p.m., which led into the season-opening installments of “FBI” (#2: 6.0/10 at 9 p.m.) and “NCIS: New Orleans” (#1: 4.4/ 8 at 10 p.m.). Comparably, “NCIS: New Orleans” was tied in households with the season two premiere of NBC’s “New Amsterdam,” and the two dramas bested the series premiere of ABC thriller “Emergence” (#3: 3.1/ 6) by 42 percent.

The night’s other new series premiere was ABC sitcom “Mixed-ish,” the prequel to “Black-ish,” which scored a distant third-place 3.1/ 5 in the 9 p.m. half-hour. The sixth season premiere of “Black-ish,” now at 9:30 p.m., followed with a 2.7/ 5 (#4).

Considering that most new series drop 10 to 20 percent in week two, consider both “Mixed-ish” and “Emergence” most starts for ABC.

Earlier in the evening on ABC were the season-opening episodes of two sophomore comedies: “The Conners” (#3: 4.3/ 8 at 8 p.m.) and “Bless This Mess” (#4: 2.9/ 5 at 8:30 p.m.). Last fall, of course, there was considerable curiosity about “The Conners” minus Roseanne Barr.

Elsewhere, Fox featured the season-opening episodes of dramas “The Resident” (#4: 3.4/ 6 at 8 p.m.) and “Empire” (#4: 2.8/ 5 at 9 p.m.). “Empire” concludes this season. “The Voice” kicked off the evening for NBC with a solid 6.1/11 in the household overnights in the 8 p.m. hour. That led into a dominant 6.2/11 for the fourth season premiere of NBC’s “This Is Us,” which perked up to a 7.1/13 in the last eight minutes (from 10 to 10:08 p.m.). And The CW, which is not rolling out any of its new or returning shows this week, aired sci-fi drama “Pandora” (#5: 0.4/ 1 at 8 p.m.) into “Mysteries Decoded” (#5: 0.4/ 1).

What follows is the overnight results for this first Tuesday of the new TV season by half-hour and by show:

8:00 p.m.
ABC – “The Conners” (season premiere): 4.3/ 8 (#3)
CBS – “NCIS” (season premiere): 8.5/15 (#1)
NBC – “The Voice”: 5.8/10 (#2)
Fox – “The Resident” (season premiere): 3.4/ 6 (#4)
CW – “Pandora”: 0.4/ 1 (#5)

8:30 p.m.
ABC – “Bless This Mess” (season premiere): 2.9/ 5 (#4)
CBS – “NCIS” (season premiere): 8.6/15 (#1)
NBC – “The Voice”: 6.4/11 (#2)
Fox – “The Resident” (season premiere): 3.4/ 6 (#4)
CW – “Pandora”: 0.3/ 1 (#5)

9:00 p.m.
ABC – “Mixed-ish” (series premiere): 3.1/ 5 (#3)
CBS – “FBI” (season premiere): 6.1/10 (#2)
NBC – “This Is Us” (season premiere): 6.4/11 (#1)
Fox – “Empire” (season premiere): 2.8/ 5 (#4)
CW – “Mysteries Decoded”: 0.4/ 1 (#5)

9:30 p.m.
ABC – “Black-ish” (season premiere): 2.7/ 5 (#3)
CBS – “FBI” (season premiere): 5.8/10 (#2)
NBC – “This Is Us” (season premiere): 5.9/10 (#1)
Fox – “Empire” (season premiere): 2.8/ 5 (#4)
CW – “Mysteries Decoded”: 0.4/ 1 (#5)

10:00 p.m.
ABC – “Emergence” (series premiere): 3.1/ 6 (#3)
CBS – “NCIS: New Orleans” (season premiere): 4.5/ 8 (#1t)
NBC – “New Amsterdam” (season premiere): 4.5/ 8 (#1t)

10:30 p.m.
ABC – “Emergence” (series premiere): 3.1/ 6 (#3)
CBS – “NCIS: New Orleans” (season premiere): 4.3/ 8 (#1t)
NBC – “New Amsterdam” (season premiere): 4.3/ 9 (#1t)

Source: Nielsen Media Research