FINALS UPDATE: BattleBots (0.9) adjusted up while
Beauty and the Beast (R)
(0.2) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- On the eve of the Rio Olympics, ABC's Greatest Hits (0.9) and Fox's Home Free (0.6) both signed off for the summer with two-hour finales. It was a big bounce for Hits, which had been deteriorating as low as 0.6 since its decent 1.1 premiere, and the show actually pulled back ahead of its BattleBots lead-in (0.8).
- NBC was the only network to break 1.0 in every hour, with an Olympics preview special at 8/7c (1.1) and a potent American Ninja Warrior repeat filling the last two hours at 1.0.
- CBS' Big Brother may get nicked by dueling with the Olympics over the next 2.5 weeks, but it went into that period on a high-end note (1.9). It was surrounded by repeats of comedies (1.3/1.0) and Code Black (0.6).
- The CW's Beauty and the Beast (0.3) has preliminarily given itself a shot of ending its long 0.2 streak. We'll see what the finals bring.
FINALS UPDATE: ABC Democratic National Convention (0.9) and
NBC Democratic National Convention (1.1) and
Home Free (0.6) adjusted up while
Hollywood Game Night (0.6) and
Legends of Tomorrow (R)
(0.2) adjusted down.
WHAT MATTERS:- CBS' comedy repeats (1.3/1.1) and upticking Big Brother (1.8) helped boost the final night of CBS 10/9c Democratic National Convention coverage (0.8) to its highest rating of the week, and competitive with the coverage on ABC (0.7) and NBC (0.9).
- Those other DNC telecasts had much less lead-in help. On ABC, BattleBots (0.8) tried to keep its hat in the ring, getting a tick back after last week's big drop, but Greatest Hits (0.6) kept moving in the wrong direction. NBC featured a repeat of Running Wild (0.7) and the original return of Hollywood Game Night (0.7), which had been pulled from the schedule after getting some 0.7's on Sundays in March.
- Elsewhere, Fox unloaded two more hours of Home Free (0.6/0.5), and will do the same to wrap up the run next week. The CW's Legends of Tomorrow repeat (0.3) is preliminarily threatening to end an eight-week streak of 0.2's, but Beauty and the Beast (0.2) is not.
FINALS UPDATE: ABC Republican National Convention (0.8) adjusted up.
WHAT MATTERS:- On the last night of the Republican National Convention, it looks like the big speech from nominee Donald Trump attracted some additional interest on ABC (0.7) and CBS (0.7), while NBC (1.1) was flat despite a much lower lead-in from the two-hour finale of Spartan: Ultimate Team Challenge (0.9). However, Trump's speech ran way out of primetime on the East Coast (and way into primetime on the West Coast), so that could complicate things in the finals.
- At least in the prelims, it was a down night for almost everything entertainment; ABC's BattleBots (0.7) and Greatest Hits (0.7) each fell to new lows, CBS' Big Brother (1.7) and repeat of The Big Bang Theory (1.3) were also down, and so was Fox's duo of the Bones (0.8) season finale and Home Free (0.4). But again, these may be subject to some abnormal adjustments.
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: Spartan: Ultimate Team Challenge (1.0) and Bones (0.9) adjusted up while Life in Pieces (R) (1.1) and Aquarius (0.4) adjusted down. The ABC town hall was not counted in finals but its prelim is included here for True formula purposes.
- On ABC, BattleBots took a week off in favor of an ABC News town hall (1.0) with President Obama on violence and race relations. It was a narrow improvement on last week's BattleBots (0.9) and had no noticeable effect on Greatest Hits (0.9) and the 10/9c repeat of Match Game (0.8)
- The CBS repeats of The Big Bang Theory (1.5), Life in Pieces (1.2) and Code Black (0.8) were all up a tenth, surrounding a steady Big Brother (1.9). Big Bro is one adjustment away from its first 2.0 of the season.
- Fox's Bones (0.8) was back from a couple weeks off and preliminarily down a tenth, while Home Free had yet another 0.5.
- NBC had another two hours of Spartan: Ultimate Team Challenge (0.8 for the 8/7c repeat, 0.9 for the 9/8c original), while Aquarius (0.5) hopes to hold onto its new! season! high! after adjusting down in finals last week.
- And the CW had a seventh consecutive pair of 0.2's from Legends of Tomorrow (R) and Beauty and the Beast.
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: Big Brother (1.9) adjusted up while Greatest Hits (0.9) and Aquarius (0.4) adjusted down.
- ABC's Greatest Hits was down a tenth to 1.0 in week two. But it stayed ahead of NBC's Spartan: Ultimate Team Challenge (0.9) head-to-head, as Spartan inched down with last week's Olympic Trials lead-in changing to a Spartan repeat (0.8) at 8/7c.
- Greatest Hits was surrounded by steady BattleBots (0.9) and another solid Match Game repeat (0.8), while Aquarius inched up to (a new season high...!) 0.5.
- The other three networks were all exactly even week-to-week:
- CBS: comedy repeats (1.4/1.1), Big Brother (1.8) and a repeat of Code Black (0.7);
- Fox: Bones (R) (0.5) and Home Free (0.5);
- and CW: Legends of Tomorrow (R) (0.2) and Beauty and the Beast (0.2).
WHAT MATTERS:
- A positive summer for ABC continued with decent sampling for the premiere of music performance series Greatest Hits (1.1) at 9/8c. Like with the Tuesday lineup, the key here is to compare it with what ABC was doing on the night last year: which was way below 1.0 with a tri-drama lineup. It was surrounded by BattleBots (0.9), down a tenth from last week's premiere (but even with the first hour of the premiere), and a solid second run of the Match Game premiere (0.9) at 10/9c.
- On CBS, Big Brother's strong second week continued (1.8) as it was up at least a tenth from last week's Thursday opener, and matched the year-ago evening for the second straight night. Leading in were repeats of The Big Bang Theory (1.4) and Life in Pieces (1.1), while Code Black had a 0.7 at 10/9c.
- Unlike The Night Shift, NBC's Spartan: Ultimate Team Challenge (1.0) seemed to get a tangible boost from a US Olympic Trials lead-in (1.2), bouncing back somewhat from the massive drop in its first Thursday airing. But the momentum definitely did not continue to Aquarius (0.4) at 10/9c.
- Fox's Home Free had another 0.5, this time leading out of a repeat of Bones (0.5). And the CW served up some more 0.2's with Legends of Tomorrow (R) and Beauty and the Beast.
Home Free
Thursdays, 9/8c, Fox
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: The NBA Finals just barely eked out a new series high with a 7.7 rating. Aquarius was not counted in finals so the fast nats will be used here.
- Game 6 of the NBA Finals had series-high preliminaries in both the 9:00 (5.9) and 10:00 (6.7) hours and figures to adjust into the general vicinity of 8.0 after finals. That'll trail last year's Game 6 (8.9), which was a series ender. But the result does mean ABC gets the good fortune of a Game 7 ratings bounty, coming on Sunday.
- It was not a good night for the original programming that tried to compete with the Finals, starting with the tiny-rated return of drama Aquarius (0.5/0.4) on NBC. This is at the low end of its Thursday performances last summer, and less than half of the 1.1 at which it started season one. At least it rallied from the 0.2's it was getting on Saturdays...? Aquarius also notably lost more than half its lead-in from Dateline (1.0).
- The return of Fox's reality series Home Free (0.6) was arguably an even bigger debacle, since it was actually doing OK the last time we saw it. After ending season one on a 1.0 and 1.1, it was mired at American Grit levels for this premiere. But it had little help from lead-in Bones (0.7), which itself collapsed to a new low.
- CBS' repeats were easily the strongest alternative to the Finals, as the comedies (1.4/1.1/1.0/0.9) were up from last week while Code Black (0.7) was even. The CW had more 0.2's with Legends of Tomorrow (R) and Beauty and the Beast.
WHAT MATTERS:
- On finale night for The Carmichael Show (1.0/0.9), the comedy gave back all of last week's growth and then some, matching Mr. Robinson's finale night three weeks ago when lead-in America's Got Talent was a bit weaker (1.6 three weeks ago, 1.8 last night). Both comedies will end up with almost exactly the same very low-1's average, leaving the picture more unclear than ever. (Carmichael seems to have the buzz/critical advantage, which may make a difference when it's this close.)
- Also on NBC, the short Last Comic Standing season ended with a 1.1, down both from last week and from last year's 1.4 finale (though it may adjust up to match last week).
- On Fox, Home Free (1.1) wrapped up with what would be another new series high. Even if it ticks down in finals, the last few weeks seem to have solidified this as the least weak of Fox's unscripted newbie offerings this summer.
- CBS' Big Brother (2.1) may be able to adjust up and snap a three-week streak of 2.1 on Wednesday, while the two-hour finale of Extant (0.8/0.7) bounced back from last week's low but really did nothing unusual as it waits to hear its fate.
- CW's America's Next Top Model (0.6) had a big night in the often unreliable CW prelims; if it can hold, this is Top Model's best raw number since the 2013 season premiere.
Above based on preliminary adults 18-49 ratings unless otherwise noted. Full table forthcoming!
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: Big Brother adjusted up to its familiar 2.1, while Last Comic Standing (1.2) and Celebrity Wife Swap (0.9) both ended up having pretty strong nights after they gained a tenth each. On the downswing were the 9:00 Carmichael Show (1.2), The Middle (0.8) and a particularly ugly night for Extant, hitting its first 0.6 since it moved to 9:00. Home Free held onto its new series high 1.0.
- On a high-end night for many shows, perhaps the most interesting was NBC's rookie comedy The Carmichael Show, which surged by two tenths in each half-hour to 1.3/1.1. A show that looked weaker than Mr. Robinson on premiere night now suddenly looks stronger; if the 1.3 holds after finals, that would beat all six Robinson points. We'll see what happens in its third and final week, but it certainly seems to have thrown its hat in the ring if a renewal is possible. Carmichael's lead-in America's Got Talent (1.7) also upticked this week, and Last Comic Standing stayed at 1.1 at 10/9c.
- ABC and Fox were also winners on this night, as The Middle (0.9), The Goldbergs (0.9), Modern Family (1.2) and Black-ish (1.0) all hit or tied their best numbers since early June. And MasterChef (1.5) and Home Free (1.0) were on the upswing as well, with what would be a new series high for Free if it holds.
- Only CBS with Big Brother (2.0) and Extant (0.7) and the CW with America's Next Top Model (0.4) and A Wicked Offer (0.2) did no better than usual. (But they weren't really worse than usual, either.)
WHAT MATTERS:
- NBC's second of the three-week sitcom runs began with The Carmichael Show posting a 1.1 at 9:00 and dropping to a 0.9 at 9:30. This was a tenth worse in each half hour than the debut of Mr. Robinson three weeks ago, even though America's Got Talent (1.6) was a notch stronger than on that night. Last Comic Standing stayed at 1.1 at 10/9c.
- Elsewhere, it was Big Brother (2.0), Celebrity Wife Swap (0.8) and Home Free (0.8) slightly down in the prelims, while Extant (0.8) and the CW's America's Next Top Model (0.5) and A Wicked Offer (0.3) were slightly up in the prelims.
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: MasterChef (1.4) went up to avoid a new worst-since-premiere rating (though even at 1.4, it was still down a sobering 30% year-to-year).
- The Tuesday America's Got Talent audience still isn't really catching onto the Wednesday results show, which was stuck at 1.6 in its second week. Mr. Robinson posted a 1.0/0.9 for its last two episodes, inching down at 9:30. Not really sure what to make of these ratings, but NBC will get a fairly direct comparison point as The Carmichael Show will have the same situation over the next three weeks. And Last Comic Standing (1.1) shed another tenth after last week's big drop.
- Big Brother (2.1) and MasterChef (1.3) both inched down at 8/7c, with Big Brother needing a fairly substantial adjustment (from 2.1/2.0 half-hours) to tie its season high yet again. MasterChef would hit its worst-since-premiere rating if it doesn't adjust up. Home Free (0.9) was back up to its premiere rating, staying ahead of Extant (0.7) at 9/8c, while CW's A Wicked Offer (0.2) was down after two weeks at 0.3.
- ABC had its strongest Wednesday in awhile with The Middle (0.9), The Goldbergs (0.9) and Celebrity Wife Swap (0.9) all at their best numbers since June.
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: Big Brother was up to a new season high 2.2, and everything else at 1.4 (America's Got Talent, Last Comic Standing, MasterChef) also ticked up.
- NBC's sitcom Mr. Robinson began its three-week run with a 1.2 at 9:00, pretty respectable retention of its lead-in from another America's Got Talent special (1.4), but it fell somewhat to a 1.0 at 9:30. We'll see if it gets more lead-in help next week as America's Got Talent finally enters the live results show phase. Last Comic Standing (1.4) held up very well again at 10/9c with a much reduced lead-in.
- CBS got a major surge at 8/7c from Big Brother (2.1), which could hit a new season high if it adjusts up. The network then had two steady hours of Extant (0.8/0.8).
- The CW brought back America's Next Top Model (0.4) even earlier in the summer than usual, matching the 0.4 for last year's mid-August Monday premiere. It led into new unscripted entry A Wicked Offer (0.3).
- And Fox inched down with MasterChef (1.4) and Home Free (0.8), though the former may well adjust up to its fourth straight 1.5.
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: Last Comic Standing (1.5) was up to match last week's premiere, while MasterChef (1.5) got its usual uptick and Extant (0.8) eked one out as well.
- NBC had a two-hour 10th anniversary celebration for America's Got Talent (1.6) leading into Last Comic Standing (1.4), which held up well in week two with its first one-hour 10/9c edition.
- All other originals were very close to even with last week. For week two of Fox's Home Free (0.9), that at least gives it some hope of being no weaker than previous occupant Bullseye. It also meant no help for Extant (0.7) in its second week at 9/8c after Big Brother (1.8). ABC's Celebrity Wife Swap was back after a few weeks off at its usual 0.8.
Home Free
Wednesdays, 9/8c, Fox
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: MasterChef (1.5) adjusted up and 8:30 Black-ish (0.6) down. On Syfy, Sharknado 3 (0.87) was down about a third from the second installment last year.
- Two months into the summer, NBC finally unveiled the new season of Last Comic Standing (1.5), whose two-hour premiere took about a league average decline from last year's premiere (but skewed noticeably older, as it was actually up in total viewers). It led out of America's Got Talent (1.2), which is for now still doing clip shows on Wednesday.
- Fox had yet another modest new unscripted entry called Home Free (0.9), which was not particularly different from recent episodes of Bullseye in the slot and two tenths below the 1.1 Bullseye premiere in May. Its lead-in MasterChef (1.4) was on the lower end.
- CBS switched the struggling Extant (0.7) back to 9/8c, where it was up a tenth from last week's low but on par with the season average. As we said last summer when it was moved to 10/9c, the show is so skew-incompatible with Big Brother that a high-1's lead-in from BB is really no more helpful than a high-0's from a procedural repeat, and this was more evidence of that. Big Brother (1.8) was also a bit below average.
- And ABC ran four episodes of Black-ish (0.7/0.7/0.8/0.8), which did somewhat worse than the usual comedy lineup (most noticeably at 9/8c compared with Modern Family). Modern Family had a couple repeats at 10/9c (0.8/0.8).
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