The Breakdown: NBC Monday in 2016-17 (The Voice, Timeless, Taken and more!)

It's time for a journey through the NBC Monday schedule in 2016-17...

Spotted Ratings, Monday 2/13/17

FINALS UPDATE: The Bachelor (2.4) adjusted up while Quantico (0.6) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• It was a mixed at best week two for the new Fox drama lineup, as 24: Legacy (1.2) took a typical-ish week two drop at 8/7c while APB (1.0) tumbled much more. At this point, 24 has the same rating as a high-end Gotham, while APB is a below-average Lucifer, and it's only week two.

• On CBS, things were mostly steady, which was good news for the second Monday edition of Superior Donuts (1.4). 

• ABC's Quantico (0.7) gets to sweat out finals once again, with another preliminary breakdown of 0.8/0.5. The Bachelor inched down but outrated the year ago evening (which was against the Grammys, to be fair).

• On NBC, Timeless (0.7) mercifully rose after last week's collapse, but was still a long way from the 0.9's it was posting in January. And a disappointing season of Celebrity Apprentice (0.9) ended in anti-climactic fashion, with a mere one-hour finale that couldn't even build from its The Wall repeat lead-in.

• And the CW was preliminarily on the upswing with Supergirl (0.8) and Jane the Virgin (0.4).

Spotted Ratings, Monday 2/6/17

FINALS UPDATE: The Bachelor (2.4) and Superior Donuts (1.4) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Just 20 hours after it finished airing its Super Bowl episode on the East Coast, 24: Legacy made its timeslot premiere with an underwhelming 6.2 million viewers and 1.5 demo rating. It's still well within acceptable territory by Fox standards, but it's really only one typical drop away from being at the same level as the evicted Gotham and Lucifer. If there was a silver lining for Fox, it was that newbie APB did exactly the same 1.5 at 9/8c. For a show with seemingly much less brand awareness than its lead-in, it's a surprisingly decent start.

• On CBS, it was the timeslot premiere for Superior Donuts (1.3), which fit in OK among a generally down night for comedies Kevin Can Wait (1.5), Man with a Plan (1.4) and 2 Broke Girls (1.3). At 10/9c, Scorpion (1.2) inched down as well.

• Things got even more miserable on NBC, where Celebrity Apprentice (0.9/0.8) continued going in the wrong direction despite making some news this week, and Timeless (0.6) suddenly and completely melted down after several weeks at 0.9.

• On ABC, The Bachelor held at a dominant 2.3, but with a 0.8 -> 0.5 breakdown, Quantico (0.7) will have to sweat out a potential adjustment into even more embarrassing territory.

• And the CW was even with Supergirl (0.7) and Jane the Virgin (0.3).

Spotted Ratings, Monday 1/30/17

FINALS UPDATE: Quantico (0.7) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• The Quantico Monday experiment took an even darker turn in week two, with the show dropping to a 0.7 and retaining only about a third of its lead-in from The Bachelor (2.3).

•  CBS said a likely permanent farewell to The Odd Couple, which averaged 1.1/0.9 for its one-hour finale with repeats on both sides.

• Fox sent Gotham (down a tenth to 1.1) and Lucifer (1.2) off to a lengthy hiatus, while NBC's Celebrity Apprentice was down to 1.0 and couldn't get an upward adjustment this time. 

• On the CW, Supergirl (0.7) and Jane the Virgin (0.3) both shed a tenth in their second episodes of the winter. It was just the second dip to 0.3 this season for Jane.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 1/23/17

FINALS UPDATE: Celebrity Apprentice (1.1) adjusted up while Quantico (0.8) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• A new timeslot after The Bachelor (2.4) gave Quantico (0.9) a boost, but not a particularly encouraging one. It certainly doesn't look any stronger than the show that aired on Sunday in the fall, with half-hours that exactly matched the two-week run of Big Fan (1.0 -> 0.7) (and also may put it in some danger of adjusting down after finals).

• CBS had a big night, as Man with a Plan (1.6) and 2 Broke Girls (1.7) rose to tie their season highs leading out of another 1.7 from Kevin Can Wait. A repeat of The Big Bang Theory (1.6) significantly livened up the 9:30 half-hour compared with usual occupant The Odd Couple, and helped Scorpion (1.3) to tick up at 10/9c.

• In the second week of the brief return for the Fox dramas, Lucifer (1.2) ticked up to match its Gotham lead-in (1.2).

• It was a brutal night for NBC's Celebrity Apprentice (1.0), which tanked to a new low, while Timeless clung to last week's 0.9.

• And the CW was finally back in business after a long winter hiatus, with Supergirl (0.8) a bit below its fall average and Jane the Virgin posting its usual 0.4.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 1/16/17

FINALS UPDATE: Howie Mandel All-Star Comedy Gala (0.3) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• NBC featured the return of Timeless (0.9) for a winter run following Celebrity Apprentice (1.2). While a raw series low, this 0.9 was not really any weaker in True than some of its later post-Voice episodes... but that's not a compliment.

• The CBS comedy lineup (1.7/1.5/1.5/1.1), finally free of football competition, had notable surges on Monday. It was also a huge night for ABC's The Bachelor (2.3), which set off on its usual post-premiere growth trajectory.

• On Fox, Gotham (1.2) and Lucifer (1.1) came back for what will be just a three-week stint.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 1/9/17

WHAT MATTERS:

• ESPN dominated Monday night with college football's national championship game, but ABC's female-skewing The Bachelor (2.1) was completely unfazed, holding up even better than usual against the big game. It led into two episodes new game show Big Fan (1.0/0.7), which is very temporary filler in the 10/9c hour leading up to the return of Quantico in two weeks.

• NBC's Celebrity Apprentice (1.1/1.0) did not hold up so well in week two, dipping from last week's already disappointing 1.3 premiere. A repeat of The Wall (0.8) followed at 10/9c.

• It was mostly repeats elsewhere. The CBS comedy lineup (1.6/1.2/1.0/1.0) basically had the same average as last week's all-original block, led by a repeat of The Big Bang Theory at 8/7c. The Odd Couple (1.0) at 9:30 was the only original. Fox had a repeat of December special Showtime at the Apollo (0.7/0.6) while the CW went with Supergirl (0.3) and Penn and Teller: Fool Us (0.3).

Spotted Ratings, Monday 1/2/17

FINALS UPDATE: Jimmy Kimmel Live Special (1.0) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• On the first Monday of the new year, ABC stood tallest with The Bachelor (2.1) just about matching last year's 2.2 premiere. At 10/9c, the network had a Bachelor-themed Jimmy Kimmel Live special (1.1).

• NBC brought back Celebrity Apprentice (1.3) with new host Arnold Schwarzenegger in fairly underwhelming fashion; its last premiere notched a 2.4 two years ago. It looks like Apprentice could still be an improvement on the Monday The Voice reality filler from last year, The Biggest Loser, but it may not be by a huge margin. It led into a second preview of game show The Wall (1.2), which will take up its regular Tuesday 8/7c slot starting tonight.

• CBS was back to Monday originals with Kevin Can Wait (1.4), Man with a Plan (1.2), 2 Broke Girls (1.3), The Odd Couple (1.0) and Scorpion (1.2), but mostly did not enjoy the usual bounces we see at the start of a new year. Perhaps it didn't help that ESPN's Rose Bowl game ran much deeper into East Coast primetime than expected.

• Fox and the CW are both ducking the college football competition on the first couple Mondays of the new year; Fox went with a MasterChef special (0.9) while the CW repeated its iHeartRadio Music Festival (0.3/0.2).

SpotVault - Celebrity Apprentice (NBC) - Winter 2017 Ratings

Celebrity Apprentice

Mondays, 8/7c, NBC

War of 18-49 Update, Celebrity Apprentice (2014-15)

Let's take a look at the 2014-15 season (the seventh celebrity season) of Celebrity Apprentice on NBC.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 2/16/15

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: +0.1 for the The Bachelor (2.6) and Celebrity Apprentice (1.7).

• After some major bleeding over the last few weeks, Fox's genre dramas finally had a bounce-back night. A much-teased Joker appearance on Gotham (2.1) saw the show surge by three tenths, and the penultimate Sleepy Hollow (1.4) was up by two.

• On NBC, it was finale night for Celebrity Apprentice (1.6), which posted its lowest number of the season aside from the one-hour episode last week. Though this season marked a very significant resurgence for the franchise, the last couple weeks came back to earth a touch. But this still edged the 1.5 finale from the last cycle in 2013. State of Affairs also signed off with its usual 1.0.

• CBS had steady comedies 2 Broke Girls (2.2) and Mike and Molly (2.2) leading into a somewhat weaker final two hours with a Stevie Wonder special (1.4), while ABC's The Bachelor (2.5) dropped a bit from last Monday. The CW's The Originals (0.6) rebounded a bit and Jane the Virgin remained at 0.6.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 2/9/15

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: CBS shows Mike and Molly (2.2), Scorpion (2.3) and NCIS: LA (1.7) all adjusted up. AMC got a very good Monday start out of Better Call Saul (1.63). Though down just over half from its post-The Walking Dead preview, it was extremely competitive with NCIS: LA and Castle in the 10/9c hour and it topped all of Monday cable.

• Fox's Monday lineup can't seem to stop the bleeding; Gotham (1.8) hit its third consecutive new series low, while Sleepy Hollow (1.2) also hit a new one this week.

• The penultimate Monday for a very good season of Celebrity Apprentice was seemingly scheduled ill-advisedly, as an 8/7c clip show (1.2) appeared to noticeably damage the new material at 9/8c (1.4). 

• ABC's The Bachelor (2.7) was up yet again, and this point was the first of the season to go up year-to-year (albeit vs. the first 2014 ep to face the Olympics). For once, it seemed to help Castle (1.6) somewhat, as that show hit its best number since the end of Dancing with the Stars.

• CBS was very slightly down across the board with 2 Broke Girls (2.3), Mike and Molly (2.1), Scorpion (2.2) and NCIS: Los Angeles (1.6).

• And on the CW, it was a noteworthy evening for Jane the Virgin (0.6), growing from its low-end The Originals (0.5) lead-in in 18-49 for the first time. Jane also had another W18-34 series high (1.0).

Spotted Ratings, Monday 2/2/15

WHAT MATTERS:

• There wasn't a premiere connected with the previous night's Super Bowl promotion, but it was still a Super Monday on three networks.
• Despite not being a priority during the big game, NBC's Celebrity Apprentice (2.1) had a sizable bounce, all the way up to above its timeslot premiere from four weeks ago. Worth remembering that the last season two years never went higher than 1.8!
• ABC had a new season high from The Bachelor (2.5), now down just a tenth year-to-year. The year-to-year trends should continue to improve in the coming weeks since no Olympics are on the horizon. But Castle (1.4) still didn't benefit remotely.
• And CBS also tied season highs with comedies 2 Broke Girls (2.4) and Mike and Molly (2.2), while NCIS: Los Angeles (1.7) was a little above average despite a repeat Scorpion (1.5) lead-in.

• The only bad news of note came on Fox, where the struggles of Gotham (1.9) continued. It hit its third season low (and second new season low) in as many weeks.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 1/26/15

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: The Bachelor (2.3) adjusted up to a new season high, while Sleepy Hollow (1.5) was also up. That put both shows up two tenths from last week.

• On the final Monday before February sweeps, CBS sat out its regular lineup. But it still had pretty normal numbers in the 8/7c hour thanks to the Super Bowl's Greatest Commercials special (2.1). This was the best number for the special since 2010 (it's hit either 1.9 or 2.0 each of the last four years).

• All of the night's originals changed by exactly one tenth from last week:
• Fox preliminarily saw Gotham (2.1) inch down to a new low and Sleepy Hollow (1.4) inch up from last week's low. 
• NBC's Celebrity Apprentice (1.8) and State of Affairs (1.0) were each down a tenth, with State unable to benefit from both competing dramas going into repeats.
• ABC had minor growth from The Bachelor (2.2), back to a tie with its season premiere.
• And the CW upticked with The Originals (0.7) and Jane the Virgin (0.6), both of which would tie season highs if they hold in finals.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 1/19/15

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: Scorpion (2.3) adjusted up to take the night's outright top rating, while Celebrity Apprentice (1.9) and Castle (1.5) were also up a tick.

• After Monday broadcast primetime largely took a week off due to the football game, almost everything came back at slightly below the results from the last normal Monday two weeks ago. Fox was hardest hit, with both shows down three tenths; that meant Gotham (2.2) dropped into a tie for its series low and Sleepy Hollow (1.3) hit a new one.

• The CBS drops for 2 Broke Girls (2.2), Mike and Molly (2.1), Scorpion (2.2) and NCIS: Los Angeles (1.5) were more modest, but it certainly indicated that Scorpion got no help from its Sunday post-football sampling.

• ABC and NBC, which aired originals against the game last week, were on the upswing vs. those results. But ABC's The Bachelor (2.1) and NBC's Celebrity Apprentice (1.8) were down a bit from their timeslot premieres two weeks ago. ABC saw only a minimal increase for struggling Castle (1.4), while NBC's State of Affairs (1.1) had a much more substantial rebound, to its best rating since it lost The Voice as a lead-in (though that's not saying much).

• The CW finally began airing its big guns in 2015 with an even The Originals (0.6) and Jane the Virgin (0.5), though Jane seems to have fared better than usual in the younger demos (including a series high 0.9 W18-34).

Spotted Ratings, Monday 1/12/15

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: An uptick for The Bachelor (1.8) put it narrowly ahead of Celebrity Apprentice. Things got even uglier in the 10/9c hour as Castle (1.3) and State of Affairs (0.7) each adjusted down to a new low.

• Opposite a record-setting college football national championship game on ESPN, things got ugly for round two of The Bachelor (1.7) vs. Celebrity Apprentice (1.7). A half-point drop for The Bachelor is particularly alarming given its audience should be pretty much the opposite of the ESPN game skew-wise; after all, it premiered at a very good 2.7 vs. the big game last year.

• Leading out of these were Castle (1.4), which tied the series low from its last episode after The Great Christmas Light Fight, and another new depth for State of Affairs (0.8). (It's hard to imagine that Light Fight on December 8 and last night's The Bachelor actually had the same rating!)

• Like during the holidays, Mike and Molly (2.1) was the broadcast night's most impressive show amid a sea of CBS repeats. Repeats of note included an Empire pilot encore (0.8) and the first two episodes of Jane the Virgin (0.3/0.3), on the heels of its big night at the Golden Globes.

• UPDATE: The first college football national championship game averaged 33.395 million viewers, about 30% above last year and easily a new record for cable TV. It was slightly behind the CFB record, 35.6 million in 2006 (though that was on ABC).

Spotted Ratings, Monday 1/5/15

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: NCIS: Los Angeles (2.0) adjusted up to a new season high. Celebrity Apprentice (2.0) went down a tick, which (coupled with the Apprentice uptick on Sunday) made its post-premiere hold look less impressive.

• The first reality showdown between The Bachelor (2.2) and Celebrity Apprentice (2.1) was a virtual dead heat, with NBC's Apprentice holding almost all of its surprising Sunday rating and The Bachelor dropping nearly 20% from last winter's premiere. The Bachelor shook it up a bit in actually airing a full three hours on this night, but that didn't seem to hurt ratings-wise; it was actually at its highest in the 10/9c hour (2.4) with less competition.

• Meanwhile, there were a lot of CBS and Fox scripted winners on the first fully original Monday with no competition from Dancing with the Stars, The Voice or football. CBS saw 2 Broke Girls (2.4) and NCIS: Los Angeles (1.9) each tie their premiere season highs, while Mike and Molly (2.2) followed up a couple impressive originals during the holidays by setting a new season high. And the returns of new dramas Scorpion (2.4) and Gotham (2.5) were each up noticeably, hitting their highest ratings since October. The only problem for these shows is that they all go back into repeats against the college football national championship next week.

• The only major loser was NBC's State of Affairs (1.0), which could only tie its low from two weeks ago despite getting very good lead-in support from Apprentice.

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 1/4/15

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: The Simpsons (4.7) and Brooklyn Nine-Nine (3.0), putting both series on the very narrow year-to-year upside in their respective slots. Celebrity Apprentice (2.4), Bob's Burgers (2.0), Madam Secretary (1.5) and CSI (1.3) also upticked.

• ABC had a promising start out of its four-week newbie Galavant (2.1 at 8:00, 1.9 at 8:30), which built big on its lead-in from America's Funniest Home Videos (1.3). A drop from 2.1 to 1.9 is typically not a good sign in the 8:00 hour, but the overall viewing dynamics were likely a bit irregular on this night with a huge NFL playoff game wrapping up just before 8:00. While it may have benefited from high overall viewing, the lead-out dramas Resurrection (1.0) and Revenge (0.9) most certainly did not, so clearly there was some real interest in Galavant.

• NBC also made a significant opening Sunday splash with the return of Celebrity Apprentice (2.3). It's definitely reminiscent of The Biggest Loser's explosive return at 3.0 on this night a couple years ago, but this one is arguably even more impressive; this CA premiere was up a whooping 35% from its last premiere, and that last premiere was almost two full years ago! The Bachelor on Monday will not be an easy opponent for this show, but this start should position Apprentice as a more than adequate piece of The Voice filler.

• Fox had the enormous NFL playoff lead-in and got its usual big bounce for the comedy lineup. The Simpsons (4.6) tied its rating on this night last year, while Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2.9) tied the year-ago episode of Bob's Burgers. The lineup was a bit down year-to-year in the 9:00 hour with Family Guy (2.8) and Bob's Burgers (1.9), but everything except Family Guy hit a new season high.

• CBS was left behind in all the shuffle with Madam Secretary (1.4), The Good Wife (1.3) and CSI (1.2) all only managing to tie their lows from the fall.

SpotVault - Celebrity Apprentice (NBC) - 2014-15 Ratings

Celebrity Apprentice

Mondays, 8/7c, NBC

Best Case/Worst Case, January 2015: Galavant, Agent Carter, Empire and More!

Welcome to the Best Case/Worst Case for broadcast television's January premieres! I couldn't come up with a good way of splitting up these 11 shows into multiple posts, so I'm knocking out the whole month now.