Snapshot: New series premieres: Timeless (1.9 in 18-49), Conviction (1.0); Returning series premiere: Scorpion (1.8, -18%), CBS’ ratings may undergo adjustments because of football preemption.
ABC
O Castle, where art thou? In May, ABC surprised many when it moved in to cancel the veteran procedural after sibling ABC Studios had gone through great pains to reign in costs and re-sign cast (sans female lead Stana Katic for a dash of controversy). Castle had been on a decline but was fully owned by ABC and still making money for the company via off-network and international sales. It was replaced by new procedural Conviction, which debuted last night with a 1.0 adults 18-49 Live+ same rating, tied with Fox’s Exorcist as the lowest-rated L+SD broadcast premiere so far this fall and the lowest on any network outside of Friday. Conviction‘s opener was down -17% from the Castle season premiere last fall and also down from the Castle final season average (1.1). Dancing with the Stars (1.7) was even with its last two-hour episode two weeks ago.
NBC
New NBC drama Timeless got to a decent start with a 1.9 rating in adults 18-49 following The Voice (2.9), which was down -12% from its previous two-hour episode, the season opener two weeks ago. This was the lowest drama premiere in the post-Voice Monday berth, below Revolution (4.1), The Blacklist (3.8), Blindspot (3,1) and State of Affairs (2.2). There has been erosion in The Voice ratings over time, though comedy The Good Place managed a 2.3 premiere in the 10 PM hour two weeks ago with a little stronger Voice lead-in (3.3), and NBC put some serious marketing muscle behind Timeless.
Timeless did edge the second hour of the Scorpion season premiere on CBS (1.9 vs. 1.7) and dominated ABC’s lackluster Conviction debut. But while Scorpion held steady in the hour, both Timeless and Conviction slipped -0.3 demo rating from the first to the second half-hour.
The fast-national ratings for CBS may be slightly inflated by a local football preemption. Scorpion is currently logging a 1.9 at 9 PM and 1.7 at 10 PM, with the average 1.8 down from last fall’s premiere (2.2) but up from the spring finale (1.6).
After that rare Week 2 gain for Kevin Can Wait (2.7 in 18-49 L+SD, up from 2.6 for the premiere), there will be a Week 3 correction. The new comedy is currently at a 2.4 demo rating. The Big Bang Theory (3.4) is currently running off by a -0.1 from last Monday.
Fox’s comic book dramas Gotham (1.0) and Lucifer (1.1) both fell -0.2 from their most recent originals. It is a new L+SD series low for Gotham and a tie for an all time low for Lucifer. Both shows get significant DVR/VOD lifts.
NBC won Monday night in 18-49 with a 2.6 rating. The network is currently edging CBS in total viewers in a close race (10.28 million vs. 10.00 million).
