Wednesday Overnights: Modest Start for ‘Life Sentence’ on The CW

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2018

Note: The New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Hartford-New Haven markets are excluded from the following averages.

Household Rating/Share
CBS and NBC: 4.2/ 7 each, Fox: 3.3/ 5, ABC: 3.0/ 5, CW: 0.8/ 1

-Percent Change from the Year-Ago Evening:
CW: +60, NBC: +56, CBS and Fox: no change, ABC: -23

Ratings Breakdown:
Based on 52 out of the 56-metered markets, CBS and NBC tied in the overnight households on this first Wednesday in March. Tops for the night was the Eye net’s ageless – and always addictive – “Survivor” at a 5.1 rating/8 share in the 8 p.m. hour. That led into freshman “SEAL Team” at a third-place 3.8/ 6 in households at 9 p.m., which trailed competing “9-1-1” on Fox (#1: 4.1/ 7) and veteran “Law & Order: SVU” on NBC (#2: 3.9/ 6) by seven percent and three percent, respectively.

NBC moved into the overnight winner’s circle at 10 p.m. care of “Chicago PD” at a 4.5/ 9 in the household overnights, which built from lead-in “Law & Order: SVU” 15 percent and outdelivered competing “Criminal Minds” on CBS (#2: 3.5/ 7) and “Designated Survivor” on ABC (#3: 2.6/ 5) by 29 percent and 73 percent, respectively. At 13 seasons, it might be time for “Criminal Minds” to call it quits.

Earlier in the evening on NBC was “The Blacklist” at a second-place 4.1/ 7.

In series-premiere news, CW drama “Life Sentence,” starring “Pretty Little Liar’s” Lucy Hale, was left at the overnight starting gate at a modest 0.6/ 1 in the 9 p.m. hour. Comparably, this was only equal to an encore telecast of “Penn & Teller: Fool Us” one week earlier, and it dipped from lead-in “Riverdale” (#5: 0.9/ 2 at 8 p.m.) by 33 percent. Since most new series normally drop 10 to 20 percent in week two, consider this a poor start for “Life Sentence.”

On ABC, the 8-10 p.m. sitcom rotation – “The Goldbergs” (#3: 3.6/ 6), “Speechless”
(#3: 2.8/ 5), “Modern Family” (#4: 3.6/ 6) and “American Housewife” (#4: 2.8/ 5) – was at typical overnight levels. And Fox opened the evening with “The X-Files” at a modest 2.4/ 4 (#4) in the 8 p.m. hour.

What follows are the household overnight ratings for Wednesday, March 7 broken out by half-hour:

8:00 p.m.
ABC – “The Goldbergs”: 3.6/ 6 (#3)
CBS – “Survivor”: 5.3/ 9 (#1)
NBC – “The Blacklist”: 4.1/ 7 (#2)
Fox – “The X-Files”: 2.4/ 4 (#4)
CW – “Riverdale”: 1.0/ 2 (#5)

8:30 p.m.
ABC – “Speechless”: 2.8/ 5 (#3)
CBS – “Survivor”: 5.0/ 8 (#1)
NBC – “The Blacklist”: 4.1/ 7 (#2)
Fox – “The X-Files”: 2.5/ 4 (#4)
CW – “Riverdale”: 0.9/ 1 (#5)

9:00 p.m.
ABC – “Modern Family”: 3.6/ 6 (#4)
CBS – “SEAL Team”: 3.9/ 6 (#1t)
NBC – “Law & Order: SVU”: 3.9/ 6 (#2t)
Fox – “9-1-1”: 4.1/ 7 (#1)
CW – “Life Sentence” (series premiere): 0.6/ 1 (#5)

9:30 p.m.
ABC – “American Housewife”: 2.8/ 5 (#4)
CBS – “SEAL Team”: 3.8/ 6 (#3)
NBC – “Law & Order: SVU”: 3.9/ 7 (#2)
Fox – “9-1-1”: 4.2/ 7 (#1)
CW – “Life Sentence” (series premiere): 0.5/ 1 (#5)

10:00 p.m.
ABC – “Designated Survivor”: 2.7/ 5 (#3)
CBS – “Criminal Minds”: 3.5/ 6 (#2)
NBC – “Chicago PD”: 4.6/ 8 (#1)

10:30 p.m.
ABC – “Designated Survivor”: 2.5/ 5 (#3)
CBS – “Criminal Minds”: 3.5/ 7 (#2)
NBC – “Chicago PD”: 4.5/ 9 (#1)

Source: Nielsen Media Research