The Breakdown: ABC Sunday in 2015-16 (Once Upon a Time, Quantico, The Family, Blood and Oil, AFHV)

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

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 5/1/16

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: Little Big Shots (1.7) adjusted up to dodge a new low, but The Carmichael Show (0.9) and Crowded (0.7) both adjusted down to their new lowest ratings on an original LBS night. The American Country Countdown Awards also adjusted down to 0.9.
• On HBO, Game of Thrones (3.67), Silicon Valley (0.92) and Veep (0.47) were all down in the vicinity of 10% from last week... but these were smaller drops than they took last year, so all three year-to-year trends improved. (Game actually bested the 3.57 for episode two of last season.) And AMC's Fear the Walking Dead (2.15) showed some much-welcome steadiness, growing by three hundredths vs. last week.

• The return of NBC's Little Big Shots (1.6) is eyeing a new series low, but may have a shot to adjust up in finals. Lead-out comedies The Carmichael Show (1.0) and Crowded (0.8) both rebounded from last week when LBS was a repeat, but only got back to the low end of their results with original lead-ins. Dateline (1.0) was also up a tenth at 10/9c.

• It was a very consistent night for dramas, as ABC's Once Upon a Time (1.2), The Family (0.8) and Quantico (1.0) have all had those exact scores for three or four weeks now. CBS' Madam Secretary (1.0) and penultimate episode of The Good Wife (1.0) also stayed frozen, while Elementary (0.8) was up a tick at 10/9c.

• And Fox had the latest edition of its homemade country music awards show, the American Country Countdown Awards (0.8/1.1). After a huge dip to 0.9 in its last airing in December 2014, the move to May seems to have at least kept it steady at that level... but it still really pales in comparison to the likes of the CMAs and ACMs.

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).

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 3/27/16

WHAT MATTERS:

• Whether because of the holiday or the NCAA basketball regional finals on TBS, the broadcast networks had a brutal Easter Sunday. Hardest-hit by far was NBC, where a ton of air came out of the Little Big Shots (1.9) balloon in its third Sunday telecast, down a whooping seven tenths from last week. The lead-out comedies The Carmichael Show (1.0) and Crowded (0.8) collapsed right alongside it, though Hollywood Game Night stayed at 0.7.

• The ABC and CBS dramas were mostly down a tenth from last week; while not a decline on the NBC scale, it's not good news considering they were already not doing well to begin with. It meant more new lows for Once Upon a Time (1.0), The Family (0.6) and Quantico (0.9), while the CBS shows Madam Secretary (1.0), The Good Wife (0.9) and Elementary (0.8) merely tied their season lows.

• Fox ended up looking pretty smart to punt the night with a repeat of Grease Live! (0.4/0.4/0.5), and its regular comedy lineup will be back next week.

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 3/20/16

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: 60 Minutes (1.6), Madam Secretary (1.1) and The Carmichael Show (1.3) adjusted down, along with the repeat of The Simpsons (0.9).

• It was another Little Big Shots Sunday on broadcast TV, as the new hit dropped 10%ish in its second week to a 2.6 demo rating with 13.2 million total viewers. The Carmichael Show matched last week's final 1.4 at 9/8c (though it was a 1.5 in the prelims last week), and Crowded collapsed to 1.0 in its first Sunday 9:30 airing. Though it had looked fine in its Tuesday preview, this rating leaves Crowded with little case for a switch with Carmichael. Hollywood Game Night hung a weak 0.7 at 10/9c.

• Fox tried to take advantage of the holiday season with another dip in the live musical event pool. But The Passion (1.6) couldn't even get to half the rating of January's Grease Live! (4.3) or even NBC's December entry The Wiz Live! (3.4). It managed just two thirds the rating of Peter Pan Live! in 2014 (2.4), the previous standard for disappointment in this space. It was still an improvement on the network's usual comedy ratings on this night, but not by a huge margin.
• The Passion had little lead-in support from another new Ice Age holiday special at 7:30 (0.8), which dropped from its repeat The Simpsons lead-in (1.0).

• As last year, it was the second Sunday after DST when the ABC pain came; Once Upon a Time (1.1) took a two-tenth hit, while The Family (0.7) and Quantico (1.0) also inched down to new lows.

• And CBS had just over a 30-minute overrun from NCAA basketball, preliminarily boosting 60 Minutes (1.7) but not doing a whole lot for Madam Secretary (1.2/1.1) or The Good Wife (1.0). It also bumped the timeslot premiere of Elementary largely out of primetime, but we know it averaged just a 0.8 in the 10:30 half-hour (which would be toward the low end of CSI: Cyber's results in the slot).

First Two Weeks, The Family

WEEK ZERO (Thursday 9/8c preview)
Rating: 1.5
Lead-in: Grey's Anatomy (2.2)
Competition: Mom/2 Broke Girls (1.7/1.7), Blindspot (R) (0.4), American Idol (2.0), The 100 (0.5)

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 3/13/16

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: 60 Minutes (1.2) adjusted up while the 9:00 The Carmichael Show (1.4) and Hollywood Game Night (0.8) adjusted down.

• Little Big Shots had an even bigger wow moment in its second episode, posting a huge 2.8 rating for the Sunday premiere. It nearly matched the 2.9 it got in the post-The Voice preview on Tuesday (and may be close to matching it after finals with a 2.6 -> 3.1 breakdown). It also had about two million more total viewers (14.8 million total) than in that preview. This now looks like a major game-changer for NBC's spring fortunes.
• This helped vault The Carmichael Show to a new series high 1.5 at 9:00 (even if it was barely over 50% retention). And it then plummeted to 1.1 for the second original at 9:30. It did not much help Hollywood Game Night (0.9), which was on the low end as it moved to the Sunday 10:00 hour.

• On ABC, the network got some minor relief as Once Upon a Time (1.3), The Family (0.8) and Quantico (1.1) were all able to hold last week's spring premiere numbers, while America's Funniest Home Videos (1.1) returned to improve the 7:00 hour.

• Steadiness was also the word on Fox, with roughly steady showings from Bordertown (0.8), Bob's Burgers (1.0), The Simpsons (1.3), Cooper Barrett's Guide (0.8), Family Guy (1.4) and The Last Man on Earth (1.1). Bordertown looks to have gotten some help from a NASCAR lead-in again?

• CBS had a rather irregular lineup with the tail end of the NCAA basketball Selection Show (1.4), 60 Minutes (1.2/1.1) and a 90-minute Scorpion repeat (0.7/0.7/0.8) leading into the season/series finale of CSI: Cyber (1.0).

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 3/6/16

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: Madam Secretary (1.1) and Once Upon a Time (R) (0.6) adjusted down.

• ABC had a rough start to its return to Sunday drama programming, with The Family (0.8) completely bombing in its timeslot premiere at 9/8c. That means it's gonna be another rough (if not even rougher) run of lead-in support at 10/9c for Quantico (1.1), which was back at a new low. And Once Upon a Time (1.3) didn't fare much better at 8/7c, tying its low from the last couple fall episodes.

• Fox also shuffled the deck on Sunday, and at least in the prelims Bordertown (1.5) actually got an inflation in its move to 7/6c due to a late-afternoon NASCAR lead-in. It's possible/probable that this number includes some NASCAR coverage, so stay tuned for updates.
• The rest of the lineup looked fairly normal with Bob's Burgers (1.1), The Simpsons (1.3), sore spot Cooper Barrett's Guide (0.8) and Family Guy (1.3). And the network improved markedly at 9:30 with the return of The Last Man on Earth (1.1). 

• NBC will be back in the entertainment series game next Sunday but did rather well this week with a two-hour The Voice repeat (0.8/1.3) and a two-hour Dateline (1.4).

• And CBS' lineup of 60 Minutes (1.3), Madam Secretary (1.2), The Good Wife (0.9) and CSI: Cyber (0.8) inched down in the second half of the night.

SpotVault - The Family (ABC) - 2015-16 Ratings

Spotted Ratings, Thursday 3/3/16

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: American Idol (2.0) adjusted up. The Fox News debate (3.62) was easily the biggest program of the night, and it was about a third ahead of last week's CNN debate.

• ABC previewed new drama The Family to just 5.7 million viewers and a 1.5 demo rating, barely retaining two-thirds of the demo from its Grey's Anatomy lead-in (2.2). This concept is probably going to skew older than the TGIT norm, so it may have been more affected by a huge Republican debate on Fox News. But this is still a disappointingly modest starting point as it heads to Sunday later this week.
• While Grey's Anatomy (2.2) was up a notch to lead off the night, How to Get Away with Murder (1.4) inched down at 10/9c with a reduced lead-in.

• With The Big Bang Theory in repeats, Life in Pieces (1.8) couldn't pull off another improbable 100% week-to-week hold; it dropped by three tenths this time. But that's still relatively healthy behavior given TBBT (1.9) was reduced by nearly two full points from last week.
• The network held up better as the night wore on with Mom (1.7) down just a tenth, then 2 Broke Girls (1.7) and Elementary (1.1) were even.

• NBC also sat out its biggest gun on Thursday, bombing in the first two hours with You, Me and the Apocalypse (0.5) and a repeat of Blindspot (0.4). But Shades of Blue (1.0) proved resilient at 10/9c, matching last week.

• American Idol (1.9) won again on Thursday but couldn't continue its run in the twos, at least in the prelims (but it looks like it might be close to adjusting up).

• And the CW's Legends of Tomorrow held on at 0.9, while The 100 (0.5) gave back last week's uptick.

Best Case/Worst Case: The Family

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