The Breakdown: CBS Wednesday in 2015-16 (Survivor, Criminal Minds, Code Black and more!)

It's time for a journey through the CBS Wednesday schedule in 2015-16...

The Breakdown: CBS Monday in 2015-16 (Supergirl, Scorpion, NCIS: LA, Mike & Molly)

It's time for a journey through the CBS Monday schedule in 2015-16...

Spotted Ratings, Monday 5/16/16

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: The Voice (2.1) adjusted up, as did the 8:30 edition of Mike and Molly (1.7) to tie its season high. Houdini and Doyle (0.7) also gained a tenth.

• After its surprisingly huge penultimate week surge, Mike and Molly ended its six-year run with a downtick on series finale night, averaging a 1.4 at 8:00 (down two tenths from last week) and a 1.6 at 8:30 (down a tenth from last week). Though off of last week's highs, it's still better than what it did in its first couple Monday airings this spring.
• In the 9:00 hour, it was yet another 1.5 for The Big Bang Theory (R) and yet another 1.3 for The Odd Couple, while Person of Interest inched down to 0.9 at 10/9c.

• An even longer series run came to an end on ABC, where Castle (1.3) finished its eighth and final season with an outright season high, and pulled into a tie for the 10/9c lead with Blindspot (1.3). Castle was just a tenth behind last season's finale, easily its best trend of the season. The dramas' lead-in reality programs Dancing with the Stars (1.7/1.8) and The Voice (2.0/2.1) were close to even with last week.

• On Fox, Gotham (1.3) inched up to end its four-week streak at 1.2, while Houdini and Doyle remained mired at 0.6.

• And the CW's Jane the Virgin finished season two with a swing back up to 0.4 as it awaits its scheduling fate at the upcoming upfront. Reign also inched back up to 0.3.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 5/9/16

WHAT MATTERS:

• After a couple fairly innocuous weeks to begin its return to Monday, Mike and Molly had a major surge to 1.6/1.7 in the week before the series finale. Though this basically matches the raw numbers of its winter Wednesday run, it is a more impressive showing in a post-DST world.
• Later in the night, The Big Bang Theory (R) (1.5) and The Odd Couple (1.3) both matched last Monday. And Person of Interest began its brief Monday 10/9c run with a new series low 1.0, but it was still not too far a cry from its 1.2 Tuesday premiere last week.

• There was much steadiness elsewhere. In the case of NBC's The Voice (2.1), that meant the show's best point on a year-to-year basis all season. (Its third-to-last Monday last year got just a 2.3.) Blindspot stayed at 1.3 after a downward finals adjustment. 

• On Fox, it got even worse for Houdini and Doyle, which ticked down to 0.6 in week two. Gotham posted its fourth consecutive 1.2.

• ABC's Dancing with the Stars (1.7) inched down, while Castle (1.1) inched up.

• And after a downward adjustment in finals, Reign was down to 0.2, a number it hit just once in its Friday run earlier in the season. Jane the Virgin couldn't bounce back from last week and had another 0.3.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 5/2/16

WHAT MATTERS:

• The week after Scorpion's finale, CBS made a return to its historic two-hour Monday comedy block. It was a fairly significant night for bubble series The Odd Couple (1.3), airing on Monday for the first time. And it did passably enough, dropping by two tenths from its The Big Bang Theory repeat (1.5) lead-in. This is markedly below what it's been doing on Thursday, but that was to be expected. Meanwhile, Mike and Molly had a 1.3/1.4 for two originals in the 8/7c hour. And despite a comedy lead-in, the season finale of NCIS: Los Angeles (1.3) inched up to the high end of its spring results.

• Fox got a head start on summer with the dud premiere of co-production Houdini & Doyle (0.7), which barely managed half of recent Lucifer numbers. It had a steady 1.2 lead-in from Gotham.

• Dancing with the Stars (1.7/1.8) was close to even while The Voice (2.1) was on the upswing. 10/9c dramas Castle (1.0) and Blindspot (1.3) each inched down.

• And the CW had another 0.3 from Reign, while Jane the Virgin preliminarily ticked down to join it at 0.3.

Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 2/10/16

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: American Idol (2.2) adjusted up and Black-ish (1.8) adjusted down.

• NBC struck yet more gold with Dick Wolf universe synergy, as Law and Order: SVU (1.9) and Chicago PD (2.0) crossed over for one night, lifting both to at or near their season highs. The Mysteries of Laura (1.2) was also on the high end to round out a very competitive night for the peacock.

• ABC's The Middle (1.8) and The Goldbergs (2.0) stayed at their season lows, and will hope to benefit beyond this week from no more CBS comedy competition. Modern Family (2.6) was down a bit for its first original in a month, and Black-ish (1.9) matched its last ep with an original lead-in. Finally, American Crime (0.9) ended its string of post-premiere declines.

• On CBS, 2 Broke Girls (1.6) and Mike and Molly (1.6) closed their Wednesday runs (though 2BG will be right back to Thursday next week to replace cancelled Angel from Hell). Criminal Minds (1.8) dropped a bit against a stronger NBC, but Code Black (1.3) ticked up with an original lead-in.

• Fox's American Idol (2.1) and Hell's Kitchen (1.3) each dropped two tenths.

• And on the CW, Arrow stayed at 0.9, but Supernatural (0.8) had an above-average outing.

Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 2/3/16

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: 2 Broke Girls (1.6) adjusted up.

• ABC took its comedy lineup off the air to debut two-night miniseries Madoff (1.2), which skewed old (7 million total viewers) and had a pretty modest demo appeal. It was of no help to American Crime (0.8) at 10/9c, which ticked down by 0.1 for the fourth consecutive week.

• NBC was back from a week off with a slight downtick for The Mysteries of Laura (1.1) but an above-average night for Law and Order: SVU (1.8) and Chicago PD (1.7). SVU continues to absolutely crush what it was doing against Empire at this time last year, and it was also up against a repeat of Criminal Minds (1.2) this week.

• CBS' Code Black stayed original at 10/9c, and it downticked to 1.2 with its worst lead-in yet. (Though this is still what it was doing in the fall even with original lead-ins.) The bright spots for CBS were 2 Broke Girls (1.5) and Mike and Molly (1.6), but they were also down a tick.

• Fox saw American Idol (2.3) down a bit, but Hell's Kitchen (1.5) picked up a tenth in its second episode on Wednesday. 

• And the CW's Arrow (0.9) also took a hit, but Supernatural (0.7) was even.

Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 1/27/16

WHAT MATTERS:

• Fox moved Hell's Kitchen (1.4) to Wednesday as a quick replacement for drama Second Chance. Hell's was a definite upgrade on last week's Chance (1.0), but not that much higher than what it had been delivering on Friday alongside MasterChef Junior. It led out of American Idol (2.5), which easily topped the broadcast night.

• The CBS lineup didn't really take advantage of repeats elsewhere, as 2 Broke Girls (1.6), Mike and Molly (1.6), Criminal Minds (2.0) and Code Black (1.3) were all steady to slightly down.

• NBC and (mostly) ABC snuck in a night of repeats on the eve of February sweeps. ABC's only original was American Crime (0.9), which had a third straight downtick since the premiere. This one had a decent excuse since the lead-in comedies (1.3/1.2/1.4/1.2) were all in repeats. ABC's comedy repeats kept the network in third place, besting NBC's three drama repeats (0.8/1.0/0.9).

• And the CW's Arrow (1.1) and Supernatural (0.7) matched last week's winter premieres.

Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 1/20/16

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: Mike and Molly adjusted up to 1.7.

• With no more crossovers or other big events in the mix, the Wednesday crime drama strength shifted somewhat from NBC back to CBS. Law and Order: SVU (1.7) and Chicago PD (1.5) were both down significantly for NBC, while Criminal Minds (2.0) held onto last week's season high and Code Black (1.4) had a nice rebound. On a year-to-year basis, they're all doing pretty well but SVU is the big winner (as it had just a 1.3 against Empire on the year-ago evening).
• At 8/7c, The Mysteries of Laura held last week's 1.2 while 2 Broke Girls and Mike and Molly had a third straight week at 1.7/1.6.

• ABC's 8/7c hour continued a rather soft winter against CBS comedy competition, with The Middle (1.8) potentially headed for a new season low and The Goldbergs (2.0) not far off. At 9:30, Black-ish (1.7) was down two tenths as its lead-in Modern Family went into repeats (1.6). American Crime (1.0) dropped a tenth for the second straight week at 10/9c (but is still about on par with Nashville's timeslot average).

• On Fox, Second Chance (1.0) didn't do much with its second chance, taking a typical post-premiere drop that still leaves it in bad shape. American Idol inched down to 2.4.

• The CW was back in originals with a slightly above-average return from Arrow (1.1) and a barely below-average one from Supernatural (0.7).

Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 1/13/16

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: Modern Family (2.7) adjusted up and Code Black (1.2) adjusted down.

• Fox's first new drama premiere of 2016 got off to a very poor start, as Second Chance opened with a mere 1.2 A18-49 rating and retained less than half of its American Idol (2.5) lead-in. It just barely edged the fall premiere of Minority Report (1.1), which had a point less of lead-in support, and fell well behind even the starts of recent post-Idol failures like Rake (1.7 two years ago) and Backstrom (1.9 last year). We'll see if it can benefit from the drama competitors maybe coming back to earth in future weeks, but don't get used to it long term.

• Second Chance got overshadowed by big nights from the crime dramas on CBS and NBC. Both Criminal Minds and a heavily-promoted Law and Order: SVU event tied season highs at 2.0; Minds last hit the number for the season premiere, and SVU when it had a Voice lead-in in November.
• Maybe even more impressive for NBC was Chicago PD's ability to match that 2.0 at 10/9c, beating even last week's crossover-fueled result. Meanwhile, Code Black (1.3) was down a bit for CBS, but most of its decent ratings at the end of the fall came with no PD competition, and this was still ahead of most of its mid-fall ratings.
• And at 8/7c, 2 Broke Girls (1.7) and Mike and Molly (1.6) matched last week's premieres, while The Mysteries of Laura (1.2) got a desperately-needed upswing following its poor start to the year.

• ABC had a somewhat soft comedy evening, with below-average results from The Middle (1.9), The Goldbergs (2.0) and Modern Family (2.6). However, Black-ish (1.9) continued to show slightly improved retention in a world without Empire.
• And it was another potentially hopeful night for the new season of American Crime (1.1), which was down just a tenth from last week's premiere. It's looking increasingly likely Crime can match or stay ahead of where it settled last season.

• Still awaiting next week's Legends of Tomorrow premiere event, the CW had solid repeats from Arrow (0.4) and The Flash (0.4).

SpotVault - Mike and Molly (CBS) - 2015-16 Ratings

Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 1/6/16

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: American Idol officially made it back into the threes with a finals uptick, while Modern Family went up to 2.8. The Mysteries of Laura adjusted down to the low end of its fall numbers at 1.0, a disappointing result in a week with so many upswings.

• The former Death Star is back for one final ride, and it was a promising start for American Idol (2.9) as the show's two-hour premiere dominated primetime and took a less-than-average decline from last season's 3.2 opener.

• On ABC, the big story was the return of American Crime (1.2) at 10/9c. While this number was down 40% from last year's series premiere, it certainly could've been worse; it went above the entire second half of season one and also tied Nashville's premiere in the slot earlier this season.
• Crime got some nice help from Black-ish (2.1), which got the biggest early January boost out of the whole ABC comedy lineup with no more Empire competition for now. The rest of the gang (The Middle (2.1), The Goldbergs (2.1) and Modern Family (2.7)) saw only small upticks.

• CBS saw an OK return from 2 Broke Girls (1.7) and Mike and Molly (1.6) in the 8/7c hour, where they will fill the Survivor hiatus over the next six weeks. These shows don't seem as strong as they were a year ago, but should mark a nice improvement over what The Mentalist did with this timeslot in winter 2015. CBS also had the People's Choice Awards (1.3), which are crumbling at a rather alarming rate; this was the ceremony's second straight 25%+ year-to-year decline. 

• NBC's The Mysteries of Laura (1.1) returned at its usual number at 8/7c, but Law and Order: SVU (1.8) and Chicago PD (1.9) were much stronger than usual, benefiting from PD's end to the three-part Chicago crossover, plus a lot less drama competition on CBS/Fox. It was an outright season high for PD.

• CW had Arrow (0.3) and Supernatural (0.3) repeats.

Best Case/Worst Case: American Crime, Mike & Molly, American Idol

Best Case/Worst Case lays out possible scenarios for broadcast primetime TV seasons yet to premiere. Here's what's premiering tonight!

War of 18-49 Update, Mike and Molly (2014-15)

Let's take a look at the 2014-15 season (the fifth overall) of Mike and Molly on CBS.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 5/18/15

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: DWTS (2.3), Mike and Molly (1.9) and Stalker (1.3) adjusted up.

• It was a promising two-hour start for the latest season of The Bachelorette (2.1), which beat the show's last two premiere ratings. Last summer's Bachelorette only got as high as 2.1 for the After the Final Rose following the finale. It led out of the performance finale of Dancing with the Stars (2.2), which was even with last week's two-hour episode.

• CBS aired its last scripted original episodes of the regular season to surprisingly good results, as 2 Broke Girls (2.0) shot well ahead of its other deliveries since the Scorpion finale. Mike and Molly (1.8) and NCIS: Los Angeles (1.4) also went out on an up note, though the Stalker series finale (1.2) inched down.

• The final performance edition of The Voice (2.6) was up two tenths week-to-week (if still down almost 20% year-to-year), but The Night Shift (1.2) didn't benefit. Fox's The Following went out with another two-hour edition (1.0/0.9).

Spotted Ratings, Monday 5/11/15

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: Dancing with the Stars adjusted up to 2.2, down just a tenth year-to-year. The second half of The Following was also up to put both hours at 1.0. 

• The penultimate performance Monday brought minor rebounds for both The Voice (2.4) and Dancing with the Stars (2.1). DWTS remained at very close to a league average decline year-to-year (it had a 2.3 on this night last year), while The Voice's y2y was -20%, a bit better than last week but still well behind the season trend as a whole. Better lead-ins didn't help the finale of Castle (1.4), down a massive 33% from the year-ago finale, and The Night Shift (1.2).

• CBS had another low-end post-Scorpion Monday, as 2 Broke Girls (1.6) and Mike and Molly (1.7) were close to even, Stalker was back from a week off with another 1.3, and it dragged NCIS: Los Angeles (1.3) to a preliminary new low.

• Fox dipped to 1.0 for two hours of recently axed The Following, while The Originals and Jane the Virgin each stayed at 0.5 for their season finales.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 5/4/15

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UDPATE: 2 Broke Girls (1.7) and Mike and Molly (1.6) went up a tenth.

• The season finale of Fox's Gotham had a nice increase to 1.7, its best number since returning from hiatus in mid-April and perhaps a good sign for the future. But lead-out The Following inched down to 1.1.

• It wasn't a good late-season evening for the singing competitions, as The Voice took a sizable hit to a new performance low 2.3. The Monday show held tight at 3.0 in the closing weeks last year, so this is its worst year-to-year point of the season by a pretty wide margin. Dancing with the Stars (1.9) also hit a new season low. The shows' lead-outs The Night Shift (1.3) and Castle (1.4) held on at 10/9c, perhaps benefiting from no CBS drama competition.

• CBS' comedies continued to struggle in a post-Scorpion world, with 2 Broke Girls (1.6) unable to come back from last week's plunge and Mike and Molly (1.5) taking another sizable hit. CBS slightly improved on last week's final 90 minutes with a David Letterman tribute special (1.5).

• The CW's Jane the Virgin preliminarily inched up to its first 0.5 in awhile, but a 0.4/0.5 breakdown means it is not there by a wide margin.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 4/27/15

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: 2 Broke Girls (1.6), Mike and Molly (1.7) and Stalker (1.3) all went down for CBS, suggesting some preemption oddity. For 2BG, it resembles the show's previous 1.6 stinker in late November (also a night with some preemptions due to riot coverage). The Night Shift (1.2) also lost a tenth.

• CBS traded out smashing new success Scorpion for the low-end drama Stalker (1.4) and dropped more than a third week-to-week in the 9/8c hour (as well as 25%+ from what Scorpion was getting on a normal basis). While not as bad as it could've been for Stalker given its over two months off the airwaves, it's still not making any kind of serious case for renewal. Its presence was also not good to the surrounding CBS hours; 2 Broke Girls (1.7) and Mike and Molly (1.8) were below average at 8/7c, and NCIS: Los Angeles (1.4) stayed at last week's weak number.

• A weaker CBS brought little added audience to the competition. Fox's lead-in Gotham (1.5) preliminarily gave back last week's rebound but may adjust up, while The Following (1.2) was even. NBC's lineup (The Voice (2.6) and The Night Shift (1.3)) was steady, while ABC was actually down another notch with Dancing with the Stars (2.0) and the increasingly shaky Castle (1.3). 

Spotted Ratings, Monday 4/20/15

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: If you had a 1.5 or higher in the prelims, you adjusted up, meaning a tenth for Dancing with the Stars, Mike and Molly, Scorpion, The Voice and Gotham, and a very rare two-tenth upgrade for 2 Broke Girls (2.1). The first three CBS shows all hit their highest ratings in over a month (and in over two months for Scorpion).

• Finale night for CBS' very successful drama newbie Scorpion (2.1) produced a nice bounce over the last few episodes, and CBS' comedies 2 Broke Girls (1.9) and Mike and Molly (1.9) were also narrowly up. But the momentum quickly ended at 10/9c as NCIS: Los Angeles (1.4) dropped to an abnormally low number with all of its drama competitors in play. 

• On NBC, The Voice (2.5) took a sizable hit. This was the same week that a similar decline (3.4 -> 3.0) occurred last year, so it remained at the same mid-teens year-to-year decline that has been the norm in recent weeks.

• ABC's Dancing with the Stars (2.0) and Castle (1.4) were both slightly down, while Fox's Gotham (1.5) remained at last week's low return number and The Following (1.2) inched up. The CW's The Originals (0.5) rebounded but Jane the Virgin remained mired at 0.4.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 3/23/15

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: The Voice (3.4), Mike and Molly (1.9), Scorpion (2.1) and the 8pm The Following (1.3) were up a tenth. The Night Shift (1.5) lost a tenth.

• Week two of Dancing with the Stars (2.0) had a nice post-premiere hold, matching the 2.0 for week two of the fall season but still about 10% behind last spring's pace. But the struggle continued for Castle (1.4), which shed another tenth.

• CBS had its first fully original lineup vs. the new DWTS season and saw a bit of an off night for comedies 2 Broke Girls (1.9) and Mike and Molly (1.8), while Scorpion (2.0) was even and NCIS: Los Angeles (1.6) was back to fairly normal after a high-end result a couple weeks ago.

• On Fox, two hours of The Following (1.2) inched up from the last couple weeks, perhaps illustrating just how far below local programming those repeat Gotham lead-ins have been.

• And NBC won with a fairly steady The Voice (3.3) and a preliminary new season high for The Night Shift (1.6). But we'll have to see if TNS can avoid a reprise of last week's two-tenth downward adjustment in finals.