Saturday, July 30, 2022

Spotted Ratings, Friday 7/29/22


FINALS UPDATE: Blue Bloods (R) (0.2), Dateline (R) (0.3) and WWE SmackDown! (0.5) adjusted up while World's Funniest Animals (R) (0.0) and World's Funniest Animals (R) (0.0) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:
  • Numbers posted.

Friday, July 29, 2022

Spotted Ratings, Thursday 7/28/22


FINALS UPDATE: Press Your Luck (0.5) and Big Brother (0.8) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:
  • Numbers posted.

The War of 18-49, Legacies


The Second Vampire Diaries Spin-Off

Two years after The Vampire Diaries signed off as the most successful drama of the pre-superhero years on the CW, and a year after the final season of its first spin-off (The Originals), the TVD universe stayed alive on the network with the premiere of Legacies. It may not have had the mothership as a lead-in, but it did have a still potent Supernatural, and Legacies held onto a pretty solid chunk of that audience. The series premiere was underwhelming at 0.29, but it leapt up to 0.37 the next week and spent most of the rest of the season somewhere in the 0.3's (while Supernatural was usually hitting 0.4's at 8/7c).

The pairing returned for season two, with Legacies arguably looking even more impressive. Its fall ratings were almost even year-to-year in Plus while Supernatural took a noticeable dip.

Thursday Falls Apart

But that last dose of Supernatural in fall 2019 proved to be the high water mark for Legacies. It started in winter 2020 when Legacies had to air after the disastrous Riverdale spin-off Katy Keene. That took a chunk out of Legacies' ratings, but it still held up admirably, building big on Katy and posting massive DVR gains to boot.

Then the show didn't air again for 10 months due to COVID-19 production delays. When it came back in January 2021, it actually had a lead-in that was every bit as strong as Supernatural in the new drama Walker. But it was attracting a far older audience and was never really a good fit. Legacies had an even worse Plus after the early Walker eps than it did following Katy Keene. Then Walker fell off hard and fast, and Legacies pretty much followed suit. It was down to 0.1's for good in the spring and summer of that season. By the second half of season four, with Walker still down 40% or more year-to-year, Legacies was struggling to even hang onto 0.1's. That left Legacies as a casualty in an uncommon flurry of CW cancellations after the 2021-22 season, a harrowing result for a show that had shown so much potential in the first two seasons.

Adults 18-49 info by season:

SeasYearSlotAvgy2yLoHiResultsGrade
12018-19Thursday 9:000.310.20.4detailB-
22019-200.23-24%0.20.3detailB+
320210.12-47%0.10.2detailC-
42021-220.08-38%0.00.1detailD+

Historical-adjusted ratings by season:

SeasYearA18-49+LabelNow22y2yLoHiPremiereFinale
12018-1932marginal(CW)0.1722.09413131
22019-2028marginal(CW)0.15-12%20.75353526
3202119flop0.10-33%10.86282619
42021-2215flop0.08-21%7.84241218

AVERAGE:24flop


The War of 18-49 chronicles the ratings history of veteran primetime series. For more, see the Index.

Wednesday, July 27, 2022

Tuesday, July 26, 2022

Spotted Ratings, Monday 7/25/22


FINALS UPDATE: The Bachelorette (0.7), Don't Forget the Lyrics! (R) (0.3) and Beat Shazam (R) (0.3) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:
  • Numbers posted.

Monday, July 25, 2022

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 7/24/22


FINALS UPDATE: America's Funniest Home Videos (R) (0.4), Celebrity Family Feud (0.5), The Final Straw (0.4), Big Brother (0.7), Weakest Link (R) (0.3), Beat Shazam (R) (0.2) and The Simpsons (R) (0.2) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:
  • Numbers posted.

The Breakdown: CBS Thursday in 2021-22 (Young Sheldon, United States of Al, Ghosts and more!)




It's time for a journey through the CBS Thursday schedule in 2021-22...

Saturday, July 23, 2022

Spotted Ratings, Friday 7/22/22


FINALS UPDATE: No adjustments.

WHAT MATTERS:
  • Numbers posted.

Spotted Ratings, Thursday 7/21/22


FINALS UPDATE: No adjustments.

WHAT MATTERS:
  • Numbers posted. ABC, CBS and NBC simulcast the January 6th Committee hearing.

SpotVault - The Final Straw (ABC) - Summer 2022 Ratings





The Final Straw
Sundays, 10/9c, ABC







SpotVault - The Challenge: USA (CBS) - Summer 2022 Ratings





The Challenge: USA
Wednesdays, 9/8c, CBS







SpotVault - The Bachelorette (ABC) - Summer 2022 Ratings





The Bachelorette
Mondays, 8/7c, ABC







SpotVault - The $100,000 Pyramid (ABC) - Summer 2022 Ratings





The $100,000 Pyramid
Sundays, 9/8c, ABC







SpotVault - Press Your Luck (ABC) - Summer 2022 Ratings





Press Your Luck
Thursdays, 8/7c, ABC







SpotVault - Generation Gap (ABC) - Summer 2022 Ratings





Generation Gap
Thursdays, 9/8c, ABC







SpotVault - Claim to Fame (ABC) - Summer 2022 Ratings





Claim to Fame
Mondays, 10/9c, ABC







SpotVault - Celebrity Family Feud (ABC) - Summer 2022 Ratings





Celebrity Family Feud
Sundays, 8/7c, ABC







SpotVault - Big Brother (CBS) - Summer 2022 Ratings





Big Brother
Sundays, 8/7c, CBS







Friday, July 22, 2022

The War of 18-49, Magnum P.I.


An Underwhelming Monday Rookie

Just two years after returning to its traditional two hours of Monday comedy, in fall 2018 CBS gave up on the plan once again and returned to drama programming at 9/8c. But newbie Magnum P.I. immediately looked like a much weaker option than the last drama they used for this role (Scorpion in fall 2014). With help from The Big Bang Theory (2.5) and Young Sheldon (1.7) on Premiere Monday, Magnum mustered up a 1.1 demo, and it fell to a 0.9 the next week when the regular Monday comedy hour took over. It mostly pulled 0.8's going forward that season, even hitting some 0.7's down the stretch. And while Scorpion had usually built from the comedy hour at 9/8c, Magnum generally matched it at best, and was often down a bit. Magnum ended up only barely improving on a very weak comedy hour from the previous season, and didn't seem to be the answer for the Monday 9/8c hour.

New Life on Friday 

But it got renewed and sent off to Friday, where it would have to fit in on a night that already had three established properties in MacGyver, Hawaii Five-0 and Blue Bloods. For fall 2019, Magnum aired at 9/8c while Hawaii moved to 8/7c. While Magnum still wasn't anything special, and usually lost a little bit of Hawaii's demo, it was at least more competitive with the standard historically. And it looked better following a winter hiatus, matching and sometimes outrating its MacGyver lead-in during the spring.

With Hawaii Five-0's cancellation coming into the 2020-21 season, CBS had a much clearer trio of Friday dramas, and they were consistently steady year-to-year in Plus. That included Magnum continuing to match or edge MacGyver, and it actually tied what Hawaii Five-0 had done at 9/8c during Magnum's winter hiatus the previous season. The cancellation of MacGyver gave Magnum a much more volatile lead-in situation in season four, but it looked solid for the fall/winter (after S.W.A.T. and Undercover Boss) before falling off a bit when CBS premiered the flop reality series Come Dance with Me.

But for a third straight year, CBS swung the axe on a solid Friday night performer, and this time it was Magnum P.I. that got cancelled. As well as this lineup has seemed to stack up with CBS Fridays of the past, it seems pretty clear at this point that it's not good enough for CBS to keep intact. Perhaps CBS just doesn't want to overspend on veteran dramas when so many shows have proven capable of big numbers here (including shows that struggled on weeknights like Magnum and S.W.A.T.). This fall, CBS will replace Magnum with the new firefighter drama Fire Country. But unlike MacGyver, Magnum was able to find a second home, and has been picked up for two short seasons at NBC.

Adults 18-49 info by season:

SeasYearSlotAvgy2yLoHiResultsGrade
12018-19Monday 9:000.850.72.4detailC
22019-20Friday 9:000.65-24%0.50.8detailB
32020-210.52-21%0.40.6detailB
42021-220.42-19%0.30.5detailB
5Winter Spring 2023Sunday 9:000.27-35%0.20.4detailC

Historical-adjusted ratings by season:

SeasYearA18-49+LabelNow23y2yLoHiPremiereFinale
12018-1990marginal0.386925412272
22019-2079hit(Fri)0.34-12%671047073
32020-2180hit(Fri)0.34+1%64937864
42021-2282hit(Fri)0.35+2%61987667
5Winter Spring 202364flop0.27-22%47848459

AVERAGE:79hit(Fri)
CAREER:395utility


The War of 18-49 chronicles the ratings history of veteran primetime series. For more, see the Index.

Thursday, July 21, 2022

Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 7/20/22


FINALS UPDATE: Big Brother (0.7), Chicago Med (R) (0.3) and MasterChef (0.5) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:
  • Numbers posted. The ESPY Awards were back on a weeknight after averaging just a 0.24 on a Saturday last year.

Wednesday, July 20, 2022

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 7/19/22


FINALS UPDATE: MLB All-Star Game (1.6, +0.4) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:
  • Numbers posted. The MLB All-Star Game aired on Fox. Last year's edition averaged a 1.4 prelim/1.84 final

The Breakdown: ABC Thursday in 2021-22 (Station 19, Grey's Anatomy, Big Sky)




It's time for a journey through the ABC Thursday schedule in 2021-22...

Saturday, July 16, 2022

Friday, July 15, 2022

Spotted Ratings, Thursday 7/14/22


FINALS UPDATE: Big Brother (0.7) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:
  • Numbers posted.

The War of 18-49, The Rookie


Nathan Fillion Returns

Three years after the ABC crime drama Castle ended its eight-season run, its lead actor Nathan Fillion launched a new ABC procedural called The Rookie in the Tuesday 10/9c hour. It looked pretty decent, opening to a 1.0 demo and building by a tick on its lead-in, another new series premiere (comedy Splitting Up Together). It dropped to 0.8 in week two and mostly pulled 0.6's and 0.7's during season one, but on average it continued to outrate Splitting by a little bit. So The Rookie ended up with a Plus more like the weakest Castle seasons (the first and last) than the heyday, but it also had a lot less support than Castle, which largely aired out of Dancing with the Stars and The Bachelor.

Surviving Sunday

For season two, The Rookie got moved to the Sunday 10/9c hour. It came with the promise of a big American Idol lead-in like what Castle always got, and in those episodes The Rookie has been able to perk up to Castle-like ratings on its best days. But the downside is that it also has to endure the always perilous fall period when Idol isn't around. The fall 9/8c lead-ins have been pretty bad generally, sometimes making it an even worse situation than it had on Tuesday.

In the end, these factors have largely ended up being a wash for the seasonal ratings; it picked up a teeny bit in season two, dropped back to the season one Plus for season three, and then dropped a bit more to a new low in season four.

The Tuesday Breakout

Season five started abnormally well for The Rookie, as its Celebrity Wheel of Fortune proved a better lead-in than the show had often seen in the fall. But even better days were ahead with a midseason move to the Tuesday 8/7c hour, where the show exploded into legitimate hit territory with a high 0.6 in its first January episode. It stayed in the 0.5 range for most of the rest of the way, bringing the season average all the way above the league average in 2022-23.

Adults 18-49 info by season:

SeasYearSlotAvgy2yLoHiResultsGrade
12018-19Tuesday 10:000.720.61.0detailB
22019-20Sunday 10:000.64-10%0.50.8detailB+
320210.49-24%0.40.6detailB-
42021-220.36-27%0.30.5detailB-
52022-23Sun 10:00, Tue 8:000.43+20%0.30.6detailA

Historical-adjusted ratings by season:

SeasYearA18-49+LabelNow23y2yLoHiPremiereFinale
12018-1976marginal0.326110310372
22019-2079marginal0.33+4%62998176
3202176marginal0.32-3%60967679
42021-2270marginal0.30-7%551007171
52022-23101solid0.43+44%6315073120

AVERAGE:80marginal
CAREER:402utility


The War of 18-49 chronicles the ratings history of veteran primetime series. For more, see the Index.

Thursday, July 14, 2022

Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 7/13/22


FINALS UPDATE: Shark Beach with Chris Hemsworth (0.3), Shark Tank (R) (0.3), Big Brother (0.7) and The Challenge: USA (0.4) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:
  • Numbers posted.

Tuesday, July 12, 2022

Spotted Ratings, Monday 7/11/22


FINALS UPDATE: The Bachelorette (0.7), Claim to Fame (0.4) and American Ninja Warrior (0.4) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:
  • Numbers posted. ABC's The Bachelorette returned, leading into new competition series Claim to Fame.

Monday, July 11, 2022

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 7/10/22


FINALS UPDATE: America's Funniest Home Videos (R) (0.5), Celebrity Family Feud (0.7) and Bob's Burgers (R) (0.2) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:
  • Numbers posted. ABC's game show Sunday lineup returned with 9/8c newbie The Final Straw sandwiched by veterans Celebrity Family Feud and The $100,000 Pyramid. NBC revived reality series Who Do You Think You Are? in the 7/6c hour, following three seasons on NBC and seven on TLC in the 2010s.

The Breakdown: NBC Wednesday in 2021-22 (Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, Chicago PD)




It's time for a journey through the NBC Wednesday schedule in 2021-22...

Sunday, July 10, 2022

Spotted Ratings, Friday 7/8/22


FINALS UPDATE: S.W.A.T. (R) (0.3) and WWE SmackDown! (0.5) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:
  • Numbers posted.

Friday, July 8, 2022

Spotted Ratings, Thursday 7/7/22


WHAT MATTERS:
  • Numbers posted. ABC featured the return of Press Your Luck into a pair of newbies, game show Generation Gap and docu-series The Fatal Flaw.

The War of 18-49, New Amsterdam


The Most Common This Is Us Lead-out

In its first two years, the huge lead-in from megahit drama This Is Us was mostly used on familiar franchises, from Chicago Fire in season one to Law and Order True Crime and Chicago Med in season two. Season three was NBC's first big push to try something new, and the medical drama New Amsterdam showed some real promise. It premiered to a 1.8 following This Is Us' 3.0, actually beating the raw numbers of L&O True Crime (1.6 out of a 3.9). And though it had dropped to 1.0ish by the back half of This Is Us' season, New Amsterdam still retained more than 50% of the lead-in every week (something True Crime had never done). It was not that different from what Chicago Med had done in the hour the previous year, and with big DVR gains to boot.

By the 2019-20 season, it was clear that This Is Us was past its peak, and New Amsterdam was pretty much following it downward in lockstep. It kept doing a little better than 50% retention, but it was certainly not looking like another big Chicago-esque franchise in the live ratings.

Still, NBC famously gave it a three-season renewal in January 2020, and continued to ride it out in the Tuesday 10/9c hour. They were not really rewarded for their efforts. The show took another large hit in the 2020-21 season, in part because the COVID-19 pandemic delayed its premiere to March 2021. The retention out of This Is Us still never got that much worse, but This Is Us was now diminished enough that retaining 50% of it made New Amsterdam a pretty iffy player in the Live+SD ratings. In season four, it returned to the fall, but it aired after the much weaker La Brea because This Is Us was delayed till midseason. But airing earlier and then reuniting with a strong final season of This Is Us helped New Amsterdam to stop the bleeding and rebound a touch in Plus. Perhaps that makes it a bit less painful for NBC to see out the last year of the three-season renewal, but NBC has confirmed it will also be the last of the series.

Adults 18-49 info by season:

SeasYearSlotAvgy2yLoHiResultsGrade
12018-19Tuesday 10:001.060.61.8detailB+
22019-200.77-28%0.61.0detailC+
3Spring 20210.46-40%0.40.6detailC-
42021-220.37-19%0.30.5detailC+
52022-230.31-16%0.20.4detailB-

Historical-adjusted ratings by season:

SeasYearA18-49+LabelNow23y2yLoHiPremiereFinale
12018-19112solid0.486319419491
22019-2094marginal0.40-16%76121121115
3Spring 202171marginal0.30-24%56959382
42021-2273marginal0.31+2%5110610692
52022-2373marginal0.31+0%56919177

AVERAGE:85marginal
CAREER:423utility


The War of 18-49 chronicles the ratings history of veteran primetime series. For more, see the Index.

Wednesday, July 6, 2022

Monday, July 4, 2022

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 7/3/22


FINALS UPDATE: America's Funniest Home Videos (R) (0.3), Celebrity Family Feud (R) (0.3), Celebrity Family Feud (R) (0.4), 60 Minutes (0.3) and NCIS: Los Angeles (R) (0.2) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:
  • Numbers posted.

Spotted Ratings, Friday 7/1/22


FINALS UPDATE: Shark Tank (R) (0.4) and WWE SmackDown! (0.5) adjusted up while Penn and Teller: Fool Us (R) (0.0) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:
  • Numbers posted.

Friday, July 1, 2022

Spotted Ratings, Thursday 6/30/22


FINALS UPDATE: Press Your Luck (R) (0.4) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:
  • Numbers posted.

The War of 18-49, The Neighborhood


CBS Resets Monday Comedy

Coming off one of its weakest Monday nights historically, CBS cancelled the expensive sophomore anchor Kevin Can Wait and most of the other comedies that made up the two-hour block. They reverted to a single multi-camera comedy hour with newbies The Neighborhood and Happy Together. While Happy Together was a disappointment, The Neighborhood showed some promise. It started at a 1.3, fell to 1.1 in week two, and stayed right around there for most of the rest of the season, perking up a bit in the winter and falling off a bit in the spring. CBS found itself with a comedy anchor that did not hit the early heights of Kevin Can Wait, but ended up outrating its disappointing second season in Plus.

Season two brought a pairing with Chuck Lorre newbie Bob Hearts Abishola, which helped to shore up the 8:30 timeslot. However, The Neighborhood had a slow start to the season, premiering on a new series low 0.9. It didn't get much worse from there, but it started in enough of a hole that it finished the season down in Plus.

Season three was a step in the right direction, with a healthier premiere (0.83) and a nice bounce in the winter (including a couple 1.0's in late January/early February). That put it back on its season one Plus, and then The Neighborhood eked out a new high in season four. That season didn't have as flashy a winter bounce, but was very consistent and even held onto mostly 0.6's deep into the spring. Now The Neighborhood is starting to look like one of CBS' stronger 8/7c comedy anchors in the Plus era. (The only show that did significantly better was How I Met Your Mother in its later seasons.) The network may not have the horses to go with a two-hour comedy lineup as they did during the Everybody Loves Raymond/Two and a Half Men days, but this show is keeping that Monday beachhead alive.

Adults 18-49 info by season:

SeasYearSlotAvgy2yLoHiResultsGrade
12018-191.121.01.4detailA-
22019-200.90-20%0.71.1detailB-
32020-210.76-15%0.61.0detailA-
42021-220.61-19%0.50.7detailB
52022-230.52-16%0.40.7detailB

Historical-adjusted ratings by season:

SeasYearA18-49+LabelNow23y2yLoHiPremiereFinale
12018-19118solid0.50104144138107
22019-20109solid0.47-7%92134112105
32020-21118solid0.51+8%93155129118
42021-22121solid0.51+2%106141123110
52022-23121solid0.52+1%94155117113

AVERAGE:117solid
CAREER:587staple


The War of 18-49 chronicles the ratings history of veteran primetime series. For more, see the Index.

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