WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS: American Ninja Warrior (1.9) adjusted up, putting it even with last week. The Island (0.9) and Whose Line Is It Anyway? (0.4) adjusted down.
- The CW was in full original business on Monday for the first time with a solid return from Penn and Teller: Fool Us (0.5), tying the 0.5 it hit in almost every week of its first season run. Back on a weeknight, Whose Line Is It Anyway? (0.5) was at the high end of its spring Friday ratings, though a hair behind the average from last summer. And even Cedric's Barber Battle (0.3) inched up, though it's still the big weak link here.
- ABC had a minor uptick from Monday leader The Bachelorette (2.0), but The Whispers (0.8) was unable to come back from last week's low. Fox's So You Think You Can Dance (1.0) was barely up and NBC's American Ninja Warrior (1.8) and The Island (1.0) slightly down. CBS averaged a 0.7 with softer than usual repeats.
WHAT MATTERS:
- The battle of Monday reality staples has shifted back in The Bachelorette's favor across the last two Mondays, with Bachelorette surging to a 2.0 (vs. American Ninja Warrior's 1.8) on June 22. The shows preliminary tied at 1.9 last night. But this is a duel without a loser, as both shows are still up year-to-year.
- It's not quite as rosy for the shows' lead-outs; The Island has stabilized at very low 1's (1.0 on June 22, 1.1 last night), while ABC's drama The Whispers briefly increased alongside Bachelorette on June 22 (1.0) but slipped back to a new low 0.8 last night.
- The third wheel in the Monday reality smackdown is Fox veteran So You Think You Can Dance, which has hit a pretty ugly 0.9 each of the last two Mondays, only about tying the repeat lineup on CBS.
- And the CW, which will be all original starting next week with the return of Penn and Teller: Fool Us, brought back former Friday failure Cedric's Barber Battle (0.2) a week early with no sign of improvement.
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: American Ninja Warrior (2.1) adjusted up to its highest raw rating in about three years, and a new historical-adjusted high. The Island went down to match last week's 1.1.
- On cable, the Stanley Cup Finals had a 1.36, up from a 1.2 for Game 3 on NBCSN last year, but it just barely beat the US opener in the Women's World Cup on Fox Sports 1 (1.26).
- It was a rough week two for ABC's The Whispers (1.0), which shed a third of its premiere audience following a barely down The Bachelorette (1.8). It also took a bigger half-hour drop this week (1.1 -> 0.9) than in the prelims last week (1.5 -> 1.4). This number was still about on par with the Mistresses average in the slot last summer, but it's certainly not impossible it could soon be doing even worse.
- Fox didn't fare much better as So You Think You Can Dance (1.1) dropped two tenths in week two, putting it down 25%+ from last season's second week.
- ABC's losses meant NBC emerged on top with American Ninja Warrior (2.0) flat at last week's great number and The Island (1.2) preliminarily inching back up to tie the premiere rating.
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: So You Think You Can Dance (1.3) adjusted up, while The Island (1.1) went down to drop below last week's premiere.
- ABC's The Whispers (1.5) had the most promising start for a scripted series this summer to date, edging the highest rating Mistresses had in two years in the timeslot. It was up 25% vs. both of the Mistresses premieres. It got some nice help from The Bachelorette (1.9), which surged by three tenths from last week's Memorial Day rating.
- Earlier in the night came the start of a three-way smackdown between two-hour reality tentpoles. The winner was NBC's American Ninja Warrior (2.0), up two tenths vs. last week's premiere and above the year-ago evening as well, but The Bachelorette (1.9) was a very close second (and also up a notch year-to-year). The closest thing to a loser was Fox's veteran So You Think You Can Dance (1.2), whose first ever Monday season opened down 25% vs. last year's premiere. But it did hold off CBS repeats of 2 Broke Girls (1.1), Mike and Molly (1.2) and Scorpion (1.0) for third place.
- Also on NBC, 10/9c newbie The Island (1.2) matched last week's premiere, which aired out of a lower Ninja Warrior.
The Island
Mondays, 10/9c, NBC
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: 2 Broke Girls (1.1) inched up. History had some older interest but a modest demo rating for the premiere of miniseries Texas Rising, which averaged just over 4 million viewers and a 0.6 A18-49.
- NBC began its summer season with the premiere of American Ninja Warrior (1.8), whose growth in recent seasons has officially made it a part of the summer elite. This rating was up two tenths from last year's 1.6 Memorial Day premiere, though last year it rose from there and ended up averaging a 1.8 for the season. Ninja led into a middling premiere for the latest Bear Grylls reality series The Island (1.2), which was a bit behind the debut of Grylls' Running Wild (1.4) in July last year.
- ABC was the only other network in originals, as game show event 500 Questions (1.1) was back in originals after a couple nights off and rose to its best rating since the premiere on Wednesday. It was of no help to The Bachelorette (1.6), which took another big Memorial Day drop (but was still even year-to-year).
- In repeat land, CBS' regular season lineup (0.8) led by 2 Broke Girls (1.0) and Mike and Molly (1.0) edged Fox's encore of the two-hour MasterChef premiere (0.7).
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