Spotted Ratings, Friday 9/22/17

WHAT MATTERS:

• Numbers coming shortly.

Spotted Ratings, Thursday 9/21/17

FINALS UPDATE: The Big Bang Theory (R) (1.2) adjusted up while American Ninja Warrior (R) (0.8) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Fox got a jump on the busy Thursday landscape by debuting its duo of Gotham (1.0) and The Orville (1.1) a week before the start of the regular season. Though there will be a lot more competition next week, it looks like a passable start; Gotham matched the first half of last year's finale and was down three tenths from the year-ago premiere, while Orville tied the year-ago premiere of Pitch in this timeslot. In Plus, they are a better pair than anything Rosewood and Pitch did on this night last fall, at least for now.

• The only big four summer original still airing on the summer's final Thursday was Zoo (0.5), which had its typical number despite a lower lead-in from comedy repeats (1.2/1.0/1.1/0.9). Beware of Thursday Night Football preemptions in the early part of primetime on the West Coast. (It looks particularly evident with NBC's American Ninja Warrior repeat (1.1/0.8).)

Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 9/20/17

FINALS UPDATE: Big Brother (2.2) and America's Got Talent (3.0) adjusted up while Salvation (0.5) and The Good Place (1.3) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• As the summer ended for many a reality staple, NBC's comedy The Good Place (1.4) kicked off its second season in the 10/9c hour, leading out of a huge finale from America's Got Talent (2.7/3.0). Good Place dropped heavily from 1.7 to 1.2 at the half, and the 10:30 raw number represented a pretty typical Thursday delivery for the show last season. Talent will either match or beat its 2.8 finale from a year ago.

• On CBS, Big Brother (2.2/2.1) was very impressive as well, topping its year-ago finale (which was on premiere Wednesday). If it can eke out a 2.2 after finals, it would be a new multi-season high for the series. It led into the finale of Salvation (0.6) in the 10/9c hour, which would actually be its highest rating in a couple months if it holds on.

• MasterChef (1.0/1.2) was the one lost in the shuffle, actually declining by a couple tenths week-to-week (and three tenths year-to-year) in both hours.

Renewology: A Look Back at the First Season

A new season is nearly upon us, so it's time to revisit last year's new feature Renewology. This post will be a hopefully candid look back at how it did last year, while there will be another post very soon detailing what is coming up for the new season. Check out the intro to Renewology, explanation of the process, and the daily Renewology posts by network (ABC | CBS | NBC | Fox | CW) which will be heavily referenced below.

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 9/19/17

FINALS UPDATE: America's Got Talent (3.0) adjusted up while The Paley Center Salutes The Best of Will and Grace (1.1) and The Orville (R) (0.4) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• America's Got Talent (2.9) had a monster final Tuesday of the season, rising to what would be a new season high against virtually no competition from the other broadcasters. However, there was only tepid interest in Talent's last Tuesday lead-out, a Will & Grace-themed Paley Center special (1.2).

Cablemetrics: South Park, American Horror Story, Vice Principals, Better Things

These numbers are current through Monday, September 18.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Comedy Central's veterans South Park (0.96) and Broad City (0.51) teamed up on Wednesday, with South Park still near the top of the cable rankings but giving back all of its big premiere night growth from last year. It did give a nice boost to Broad City, which was +11% from last year's premiere (when it didn't have such a lead-in).

Spotted Ratings, Monday 9/18/17

FINALS UPDATE: Dancing with the Stars (1.6), To Tell the Truth (0.7), Supergirl (R) (0.2), Whose Line Is It Anyway? (R) (0.2) and Whose Line Is It Anyway? (R) (0.2) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• It was a bit of a sluggish start by Dancing with the Stars (1.6) standards, as the fall staple returned at 24% behind both the fall and spring premieres in 2016-17. It barely eked out a head-to-head win against American Ninja Warrior (1.5) on NBC, a head-to-head that DWTS won more convincingly on the year-ago evening (2.1 to 1.7). And it helped bump To Tell the Truth (0.7) back to the high end of its modest summer results.

• NOTE: For the next four weeks, the one year/two year etc. links below (as well as the Ty2y numbers in full tables) will be comparing with fifty-three weeks ago, in order to line up the last week of summer and the first three weeks of the regular season with when those things happened last year. Once we get a few weeks into the season, those 'what week of the season' distinctions become less important, so we will switch back to the usual fifty-two week comparisons. (Also, it seems like holidays, midseason and the end of the regular season in 2018 will all line up on a 52-week basis, so it makes sense to drop it pretty quickly.)

A18-49+: 2016-17 Season Recap

The A18-49+ season recaps combine all of a season's updates in the A18-49+ theme posts.

A18-49+: 2015-16 Season Recap

The A18-49+ season recaps combine all of a season's updates in the A18-49+ theme posts.

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 9/17/17

FINALS UPDATE: Primetime Emmy Awards (2.5) and Sunday Night Football (7.1) adjusted up while 60 Minutes (0.9), The Orville (2.2), The Simpsons (R) (1.0) and Family Guy (R) (0.7) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• A weather delay in Denver bumped Fox's late afternoon NFL window deep into primetime, with preview #2 for The Orville starting well after 8:30 on the East Coast. Fox averaged a preliminary 3.5/1.7 in the half-hours that should cover most of the ET airing, but stay tuned for finals.

• Meanwhile, CBS went with the Primetime Emmy Awards (2.2/2.3/2.0), in a rare turn a full week before the start of the TV regular season. It will need a sizable upward adjustment to avoid a fourth consecutive double-digit decline in the demo. Last year's ceremony had a 2.5 prelim and adjusted up to a 2.8 final.

• After a couple weeks off, Steve Harvey's Funderdome (0.6) and The $100,000 Pyramid (0.5) were lost in the shuffle upon their return, and had little help from a repeat of Celebrity Family Feud (0.6) as a lead-in.

• And it was the second Sunday game for Sunday Night Football. Its low-6 prelim means it is going to be well below last Sunday's Cowboys-boosted affair.