These numbers are current through Monday, October 23.
WHAT MATTERS:
- The Walking Dead (5.03) returned for what looks like another year as the biggest entertainment program on TV. It'll take a few weeks to really get a gauge on how fast this show is bleeding, because it was never going to to live up to the show's most impressive performance ever, the 8.36 at the start of last fall. While it was actually pretty close to the Plus of its 2014 and 2015 season premieres, it was also just the second Dead premiere to come in lower than the previous season finale.
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).
These numbers are current through Sunday, September 10.
WHAT MATTERS:
- FX's American Horror Story (2.02) returned to top the cable world on Tuesday, but the -27% was easily the show's steepest year-to-year decline for a premiere in series history. But it's a series that has been famous for its huge declines in the post-premiere weeks, so there is room to make up ground if it settles more smoothly this time.
These numbers are current through Monday, August 28.
WHAT MATTERS:
- Game of Thrones packed on nearly a point for its season finale, ending its penultimate run with its third new series high of the season at 5.70. This was the year it officially became a worthy peer to The Walking Dead; though it still trails a bit in season average, its finale outrated the last Dead episode by 0.28 points. Since Dead will probably have aired at least another 1.5 seasons by the next time we see Thrones, you have to like Thrones' chances to outrate it when they are next compared.
These numbers are current through Monday, August 21.
WHAT MATTERS:
- TNT veteran The Last Ship (0.34/0.30) was back on the Sunday scene, about two months later than it usually premieres due to production delays. This was only a slight Plus decline from its last premiere (a 0.41/0.39 doubleheader in June 2016). While that may seem acceptable, it is worth noting that Last Ship took a big post-premiere surge last year, to 0.57 in week two and settling around 0.5 for most of the season. So the show will have a high bar to clear if it wants to stay close to these trends going forward.
These numbers are current through Monday, August 14.
WHAT MATTERS:
- Game of Thrones exploded to another new series high 4.98 on Sunday. As I said on here a few weeks ago, new series highs are nothing new for GoT, but this is the first time in three years that it has hit multiple series highs within the same season. With the finale still ahead, it seems likely that at least one more is coming.
These numbers are current through Monday, August 7.
WHAT MATTERS:
- USA's short-order Jessica Biel series The Sinner opened with a 0.42 on Wednesday, building on its lead-in from Suits (0.36). At least on premiere night, that puts it ahead of the rest of the USA pack from last week.
These numbers are current through Monday, July 31.
WHAT MATTERS:
- Two years after its last premiere, Adult Swim cartoon Rick and Morty (1.48) returned with a breakout performance on Sunday, exploding to 44% above its 2015 premiere and 32% above its series high (which was a 1.12 in the second episode of last season). 1.48 is great, but like all things Adult Swim, it is far more impressive in the even younger adult demos; it averaged a 1.94 in A18-34, which is well within megahit territory by broadcast standards.
These numbers are current through Monday, July 24.
WHAT MATTERS:
- Game of Thrones (4.33) took an 8% drop in its second week back on the air, exactly mimicking the week two drop from a year ago. So that kept its year-to-year trends as a blistering +18% in raw numbers.
These numbers are current through Monday, July 17.
WHAT MATTERS:
- Game of Thrones took over the summer with a whooping 4.71 for its season seven premiere. You have to add up the next ten highest-rated shows on this table combined before passing a 4.71.
- This marks the 20th different episode of Thrones (including the series premiere) to hit a new series high in raw numbers. Out of everything in my records, nothing else has pulled that off. The current broadcast record-holder is House, which hit 17 new series highs. Thrones has hit a raw series high in each of its seven seasons to date, including at least three new highs in each of the first four seasons. Last year's series high didn't come till the finale, so maybe this can be another season with multiple highs.
These numbers are current through Monday, July 10.
WHAT MATTERS:
- FX's new drama Snowfall launched to a 0.58 demo on Wednesday, with a very young and male skew. Among the network's 2017 launches, that put it just a bit behind Legion (0.69) and Taboo (0.63) but a little ahead of Feud: Bette and Joan (0.52). Kinda crazy how close all those premieres were!
These numbers are current through Monday, June 26.
WHAT MATTERS:
- AMC paired its sophomore drama Preacher (0.58) with Fear the Walking Dead (0.96) for a one-time preview on Sunday, then moved the show to its regular Monday timeslot with a 0.43. That 0.43 is barely half of where Preacher started its "regular" run a year ago, but still managed to match the low point from season one. That number was actually achieved early last season, before it grew to 0.5 and eventually a bunch of 0.6's late last season.
These numbers are current through Monday, June 12.
WHAT MATTERS:
- TNT and USA each premiered female-led (and relatively female-skewing) dramas late last week. For TNT, it was newbie Claws (0.44), which started on exactly the same demo rating as season two of Animal Kingdom. And USA had sophomore Queen of the South (0.40), which was within a league average drop from its year-ago series premiere. Even better for QotS is that it didn't have a WWE lead-in this year. It looks like that difference might lead to the show skewing more female this season. (Its 0.50 W18-49 tied the highest rating from season one, but the 0.30 M18-49 was below the season one average.)
These numbers are current through Monday, June 5.
WHAT MATTERS:
- The Walking Dead's spin-off Fear the Walking Dead returned for what looks like another year of disappointment in the making, with a 1.18/1.04 for its two-hour season premiere. Both those hours were well less than half of the the first two hours of last season (3.08/2.53, which premiered in April 2016). And it was even a significant notch below the mid-1's it was usually getting when we last saw it in early fall 2016. Of course, it should be noted that it is still at over double the rating of everything else on this table...
These numbers are current through Monday, May 1.
WHAT MATTERS:
- American Gods, the latest from Bryan Fuller, premiered on Starz to a 0.36, in a dead heat with The Leftovers for the premium. Power it is not, but that was close to the last Outlander premiere (0.39) from about a year ago.
These numbers are current through Monday, April 24.
WHAT MATTERS:
- Like Veep last Sunday, Silicon Valley took a big hit in the absence of the Game of Thrones halo, down 58% year-to-year in its season four premiere. Still, 0.44 left it as the highest-rated original in this new HBO lineup, building on The Leftovers (which was down to 0.34 but is still having a big growth season overall). Veep held last week's 0.27.
These numbers are current through Monday, April 17.
WHAT MATTERS:
- HBO will have to wait longer than usual for its Game of Thrones return, which would usually come about this time of year. But the network got some good news on a much smaller scale as the return of acclaimed drama The Leftovers (0.39) was up by six hundredths from its last premiere back in October 2015.
These numbers are current through Monday, April 10.
WHAT MATTERS:
- AMC's Better Call Saul (0.70) returned on Monday and clearly remains a part of the cable elite. But like the season two premiere, it opened on a new series low; it was nearly a tenth below last season's low point and 34% behind last season's opener.
These numbers are current through Monday, April 3.
WHAT MATTERS:
- HBO's Big Little Lies finished out its The Night Of-like trajectory with a new series high at 0.66, over a tenth above its previous peak. Both of the HBO minis shook off an early stinker result, slowly inched up during the mid-section of the season, and ended on three consecutive new series highs.
These numbers are current through Monday, March 27.
WHAT MATTERS:
- Big Little Lies (0.54) rose to another new series high on Sunday, up by a full tenth from last week. AMC also had a nice Sunday with The Walking Dead (4.88) and week two of Into the Badlands (1.49) both on the upswing.
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