The Breakdown: Fox Sunday in 2024-25 (The Simpsons, The Great North, Krapopolis and more!)

It's time for a journey through the Fox Sunday schedule in 2024-25...

The Breakdown: Fox Sunday in 2023-24 (The Simpsons, Krapopolis, The Great North and more!)

It's time for a journey through the Fox Sunday schedule in 2023-24...

The Breakdown: Fox Sunday in 2022-23 (The Simpsons, The Great North, Bob's Burgers and more!)

It's time for a journey through the Fox Sunday schedule in 2022-23...

The Breakdown: Fox Sunday in 2021-22 (The Simpsons, The Great North, Bob's Burgers and more!)

It's time for a journey through the Fox Sunday schedule in 2021-22...

The Breakdown: Fox Sunday in 2020-21 (Bless the Harts, The Simpsons, Bob's Burgers, Family Guy and more!)

It's time for a journey through the Fox Sunday schedule in 2020-21...

The Breakdown: Fox Sunday in 2019-20 (The Simpsons, Bob's Burgers, Family Guy and more!)

It's time for a journey through the Fox Sunday schedule in 2019-20...

The Breakdown: Fox Sunday in 2018-19 (The Simpsons, Bob's Burgers, Family Guy and more!)

It's time for a journey through the Fox Sunday schedule in 2018-19...

SpotVault - Bob's Burgers (Fox) - 2018-19 Ratings

The Breakdown: Fox Sunday in 2017-18 (Bob's Burgers, The Simpsons, Family Guy and more!)

It's time for a journey through the Fox Sunday schedule in 2017-18...

SpotVault - Bob's Burgers (Fox) - 2017-18 Ratings

The Breakdown: Fox Sunday in 2016-17 (Bob's Burgers, The Simpsons, Family Guy and more!)

It's time for a journey through the Fox Sunday schedule in 2016-17...

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 9/25/16

FINALS UPDATE: Once Upon a Time (1.3) and Sunday Night Football (7.6) adjusted up while everything on Fox adjusted down: Family Guy (R) (0.8), Bob's Burgers (1.1), The Simpsons (1.4), Son of Zorn (1.1), Family Guy (1.3) adjusted down.

After these adjustments, it seems even clearer that there is an issue with how a new component in the True formula is counting the sports competition for the Fox shows. In particular, Bob's and Simpsons should clearly be higher, even if Bob's wasn't renewed already. I went ahead and posted this table but I may be doing some kind of emergency fix for this situation. I'll work on this and get into it a bit more in the True formula update article later this week.

WHAT MATTERS:

• It looks like a rough season is ahead for ABC's Sunday drama approach, and it started with Once Upon a Time (1.2) and Quantico (1.0) each returning to tie their spring finales. However, these were predictably hefty declines from their 1.8/1.9 openers a year ago. In the middle was the return of Secrets and Lies (1.0) after a 16 month hiatus. On a historical-adjusted basis, this was a little worse than its 1.5 premiere from that season, and about on par with the show's 1.3 low point. But it's clear that S&L's late-season heat from spring 2015 is long gone.

• In the prelims, Fox's animated staples got off to a solid start, with Bob's Burgers (1.3) and The Simpsons (1.6) each preliminarily up a tenth from last year's openers, while Family Guy (1.4) was down just a tenth. But the live action offerings at the bottoms of the hours were less impressive; Son of Zorn (1.2) was 20% below the year-ago Brooklyn Nine-Nine (which had full retention on premiere Sunday a year ago), while The Last Man on Earth (0.9) took a disturbing dip from its year-ago 1.4 opener. These shows could get a bit adjusted due to local NFL overruns (which are probably included in the 1.1 Family Guy (R) at 7:00).

• On CBS, the national NFL overrun led into 60 Minutes (2.3 from 8:00 to 9:00) and the two-hour premiere of NCIS: Los Angeles on a new night (1.4 from 9:00 to 11:00). These shows actually started at 7:51 and 8:51 on the East Coast, so expect adjustments.

• NBC had a dominant Sunday Night Football; more after finals.

The Breakdown: Fox Sunday in 2015-16 (The Simpsons, Family Guy, The Last Man on Earth, Bob's Burgers and more!)

It's time for a journey through the Fox Sunday schedule in 2015-16...

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 5/22/16

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: The Billboard Music Awards adjusted up to 3.2, down 16% from last year. It couldn't top Game of Thrones (3.96) for top program of the night and very nearly lost to the NBA game on TNT (3.11).
• On AMC, it was a narrowly down midseason finale for Fear the Walking Dead (1.88), leading into the pilot of Preacher (0.90) at 10/9c. Preacher can be a long-term AMC player if it holds anywhere close to that, of course, though it is worth noting that Into the Badlands had very similar retention of a much larger lead-in (3.15 out of 6.51) back in the fall.

• ABC beat the combined big four competition on the last Sunday of the season with the Billboard Music Awards (2.9). This show has historically not adjusted much in finals due to the West Coast edition being tape-delayed, but this year it aired live in all time zones so it may go up more. But it still looks like the show will decline year-to-year (vs. last year's 3.8) for the first time since its resurrection on ABC in 2012.

• It was a low-end finale night for Fox's animated comedies, with Bordertown (0.5) wrapping its run in the 7/6c hour while The Simpsons (1.0) and Family Guy (1.2) each tied season lows. And a double dose of Bob's Burgers averaged 1.0 at 8:30 and 0.9 at 9:30. Overall, these shows were not that much worse than last year's 1.3/1.1/1.3/1.1 finale night, though.

•  The Billboard effect seemed more pronounced on the other networks, as CBS went even lower with another double dose of 60 Minutes (0.8/0.8) leading into a couple more weak originals of Undercover Boss (0.8/0.7). At this point, it seems we can lump the Boss in with other emergency late-season spackle like Beyond the Tank and Hollywood Game Night, which seemed to get much weaker in their second runs of the season.

• And it was even more brutal on NBC, as the comedies The Carmichael Show (0.5) and Crowded (0.4) got absolutely slaughtered. These shows were down by three more tenths from the already low results last week! Both Undercover Boss and Carmichael will actually be back next week with originals on the first Sunday of the summer, when there will be less competition but also much less overall viewing due to Memorial Day weekend.

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 5/15/16

WHAT MATTERS:

• ABC's unconventional 7:00-9:00 Once Upon a Time finale (1.2) ended up working out OK, with the 7:00 hour at a surprisingly stout 1.3 leading into a 1.1 at 8:00. It clearly got an assist from ABC's late afternoon NBA playoff game, which ended about 40 minutes before the start of East Coast primetime. Then The Family (0.8) and Quantico (1.0) inched up on their finale nights.

• CBS featured the rather quiet return of Undercover Boss (0.9), temporarily back to do some very late-season filler duty on Sundays and Fridays. It had never gone lower than 1.1 in its eight episodes earlier this season. It was sandwiched by two hours of 60 Minutes (1.0) and a 10/9c repeat of NCIS (0.6).

• The Fox and NBC comedies will be back again next week and were mostly status quo this time, with The Carmichael Show (0.8) inching up on the heels of its renewal and Crowded staying at 0.7. Fox's The Simpsons (1.2) was up a tick, with Bob's Burgers (1.0), Family Guy (1.3) and The Last Man on Earth (Fox's only season finale of the night at 0.9) all flat.

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 5/8/16

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: The Good Wife (1.3) adjusted up to its outright second-best rating of the season. Once Upon a Time (1.1) and The Carmichael Show (0.7) adjusted down.

• CBS wrapped up the seven-year run of ratings-challenged, critically-adored The Good Wife (1.2). It couldn't quite get to the 1.4 season high, which had NFL playoff help, but it tied for the second-biggest rating of the season and was up two tenths from its usual late-spring ratings. (It also tied last season's 1.2 finale.) But the TGW heat didn't extend to the other CBS season finales; Madam Secretary was stuck at 1.0 yet again, while Elementary which was actually back down to 0.7 at 10/9c.

• If there was ever any chance for The Family to make a meaningful final pre-upfront impression, it didn't: instead, the show was back down to 0.7 in its penultimate week, while its lead-in Once Upon a Time stayed at 1.2 yet again. Quantico (0.9) also inched downward at 10/9c.

• NBC tried to squeeze another original-worthy rating out of Little Big Shots with "season finale" promotion for what was essentially a clip show (1.3). But it was closer to the repeat rating from two weeks ago than to any of the actual original ratings. And that meant another weak night for lead-out comedies The Carmichael Show (0.8) and Crowded (0.7).
• Surrounding the entertainment programming was Dateline, with a low-rated new edition called "On Assignment" at 7/6c (0.5). But the Dateline proper (1.0) continued to do well at 10/9c.

• And the Fox comedies were back from a week off and mostly down a tenth from last time: Bordertown (0.4), The Simpsons (R) (0.6), The Simpsons (1.1), Bob's Burgers (1.0), Family Guy (1.3) and The Last Man on Earth (0.9).

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 4/24/16

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: The return of Game of Thrones dominated Sunday night with a 3.98 A18-49 rating. It's the first ever down year-to-year Thrones premiere, but the decline was a very healthy 5% from last year's 4.19 opener. Leading out were comedies Silicon Valley (1.04, down 17% y2y) and Veep (0.52, down 5%).
• Competing with GoT head-to-head for the first time was AMC's Fear the Walking Dead (2.12), which took another double-digit hit.

• NBC's Little Big Shots has a pretty short order, so it threw in a pre-sweeps repeat in the 8:00 hour (1.1) on this Sunday. That was bad news for the lead-out comedies The Carmichael Show (0.7) and Crowded (0.7), which both plummeted into new low territory. This helps to illustrate that these shows aren't really that different from each other, and neither one has any real strength.

• On Fox, The Last Man on Earth (0.9) and a repeat of Family Guy (1.0) both took a hit in the 9:00 hour, as the M18-34 competition presumably ramped up big-time with the return of Game of Thrones on HBO. At 8:00, The Simpsons (1.2) and Bob's Burgers (1.1) were much steadier, matching two weeks ago when Simpsons was last original.
• Simpsons got a slight lead-in improvement from a Simpsons repeat (0.6) replacing Cooper Barrett's Guide at 7:30... but Bordertown (0.4) remained a drag on the night at 7:00.

• ABC was even across the drama board with Once Upon a Time (1.2), The Family (0.8) and Quantico (1.0), while America's Funniest Home Videos (1.2) got a boost at 7:00 (perhaps from the afternoon NBA playoff game).

• And on CBS, Madam Secretary (1.0) inched up from last week's low, but Elementary (0.7) did not. In the middle was The Good Wife, posting another 1.0 as it's now two weeks from the series finale.

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 4/17/16

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: Weird set of adjustments: lowly Bordertown (0.5) went up while night-topping Little Big Shots (1.7) went down. Once Upon a Time (1.2), The Good Wife (1.0) and America's Funniest Home Videos (1.0) also ticked up, while both episodes of Crowded (1.1/0.9) lost a tenth.
• AMC's Fear the Walking Dead (2.53) won another Sunday night, but it may be the last time it can say that for awhile. It was down 18% from last week's premiere, and once again was down by 38% from the corresponding season one episode. And that's before Game of Thrones even comes back as head-to-head competition. That looms next week.

• Fox's Family Guy (1.4) was finally back in originals after over a month off , tying its last original and beating some of the ratings it posted earlier in the winter. The Last Man on Earth (1.1) was even at 9:30. Earlier in the night, Bordertown (0.4) and Cooper Barrett's Guide (0.4) were each down, while The Simpsons (0.9) went into repeats and Bob's Burgers (1.0) lost a tenth.

• ABC's Once Upon a Time (1.1) and Quantico (1.0) each gave back last week's upticks, but look like they could be close to adjusting up again. The Family posted another 0.8 at 9/8c.

• NBC took a look at Crowded (1.2/1.0) with the direct Little Big Shots (1.8) lead-in. Compared with last week's finals, Crowded improved by a tenth week-to-week in each half-hour (beating what The Carmichael Show did last week). But these comedies have always been adjust-down candidates, so there may be no difference by the finals. Dateline (1.2) remained a rather strong option at 10/9c.

• CBS' regular lineup had a rough night, with Madam Secretary (0.9) preliminarily going fractional for the first time and Elementary (0.7) posting a new low of its own. The Good Wife (0.9) merely tied its low.

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 4/10/16

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: Once Upon a Time (1.2) and Quantico (1.1) joined in on the up-week-to-week fun with upticks in finals, and The Simpsons (1.2) plus the 10:30 Elementary added another tenth as well. NBC's The Carmichael Show (1.1) and Crowded (0.9) adjusted down.
• The Walking Dead universe showed at least a little mortality as Fear the Walking Dead opened season two with a 3.08 in the 9/8c hour. It's still a massive number, but down 38% from its series premiere late last summer, and 0.24 points behind its previous series low.

• Finally free from Easter, The Walking Dead and big awards shows, the broadcasters mostly had a rebound Sunday. On NBC, that meant a return to the twos for Little Big Shots (2.0), and its lead-out comedies The Carmichael Show (1.2) and Crowded (1.0) were also on the upswing, as was Dateline (1.1) at 10/9c.

• Fox was also up across the board, with a particular spike for The Last Man on Earth (1.1) leading out of a repeat of Family Guy (1.2) in the now TWD-free 9:00 hour. Earlier in the night, Bordertown (0.5), Cooper Barrett's Guide (0.5), The Simpsons (1.1) and Bob's Burgers (1.1) were all up by a tenth from last week.

• ABC's Once Upon a Time (1.1) and Quantico (1.0) were even, sandwiching The Family (0.8) which inched up for a second straight week.

• And CBS was delayed by about 30 minutes due to the end of The Masters (preliminary 2.5 in the 7:00 half-hour). In the prelims, 60 Minutes (1.6/1.5) got a big boost, Madam Secretary (1.1) was slightly up and two hours of Elementary (0.8/0.9/0.8) were about even.

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 4/3/16

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: The Walking Dead (6.92) hit its highest rating of the half-season for the season finale. It was down 15% from last year's 8.16 finale, about in line with the year-to-year trend all season.
• The iHeartRadio Music Awards seemingly weren't that much of a factor: they averaged 0.42 (TBS)/0.36 (TNT)/0.10 (TruTV). Even combining the three got to barely half of last year's 18-49 rating on NBC (a 1.7 on 3/29/15).

• CBS took Sunday with the Academy of Country Music Awards, but its preliminary 2.0/2.4/2.3 would be down roughly forty percent from last year's finals. It was in the uncommon (and apparently unfortunate) position of having to compete head-to-head with another awards show, the iHeartRadio Music Awards simulcast on the big Turner channels. It certainly appears that show siphoned some younger viewership off of this one, but we'll see how it looks in the finals.

• The awards competition and AMC's The Walking Dead finale probably helped limit ABC and NBC's ability to bounce back from depressed Easter results. All three ABC dramas Once Upon a Time (1.1), The Family (0.7) and Quantico (1.0) got back the tenth they lost last week, while NBC was basically stuck at its Easter levels with Little Big Shots (1.8), The Carmichael Show (1.0) and Crowded (0.8).
• Last week, NBC quietly yanked Hollywood Game Night from the 10/9c slot, and they saw a slight improvement in that hour with Dateline (0.8).

• On Fox, it was a brutal return for the comedy night, derailed by rotten ratings from Bordertown (0.4) and Cooper Barrett's Guide (0.4) in the lead-off hour. The Simpsons (1.0) and The Last Man on Earth (0.9) each plummeted to new lows, and Bob's Burgers seemed the steadiest in its double-dose of originals at 8:30 (1.0) and 9:00 (0.9).