SpotVault - 60 Minutes (CBS) - 2014-15 Ratings

60 Minutes

Sundays, 7/6c, CBS

The Question, Monday 9/22/14: Will Gotham Fly Much Higher than Scorpion?

Opening night for the 2014-15 TV season is probably one of the highest-stakes evenings for broadcast TV drama in quite some time. There's a new drama premiering in each hour (including ABC's Forever at 10/9c), plus the returns of two very important sophomores (Fox's Sleepy Hollow at 9/8c and NBC's The Blacklist at 10/9c). But for Question purposes, I'm boiling it down to the two most interesting. Fox's Batman prequel Gotham takes on more importance almost daily as the rest of the once-proud Fox schedule crumbles around it. And CBS has blown up decades of two-hour Monday comedy tradition for the action procedural Scorpion, which is getting a huge promotional push and a The Big Bang Theory lead-in tonight. Will Gotham fly much higher than Scorpion? That's The Question for Monday, September 22, 2014.

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 9/21/14

WHAT MATTERS:

• CBS had broadcast primetime to itself from an entertainment standpoint, but the early numbers don't look like anything special. The premiere of Madam Secretary predictably skewed quite ancient, with 14.75 million viewers and a 2.0 demo rating (putting less than 20% of its audience in the key demo). The Good Wife had over 11 million and a 1.4 in the finals. CBS got a very good situation with its late afternoon Super Bowl rematch going into overtime; the network averaged a 10.2 at 8:00 and 10.3 at 8:30, then 60 Minutes dropped to a 4.4 at 9:00 and 2.8 at 9:30.

The New and Improved 2014-15 SpotVault - Phase I

Welcome to the 2014-15 regular season! The SpotVault ratings archive you know and love will be undergoing a few substantial upgrades this season, but it's going to be a work in progress over the course of the fall. Here are some quick notes about what's getting installed this week along with what's to come.

The Question, Sunday 9/21/14: Will Madam Secretary Negotiate a Demo Audience?

Knowing that their new drama Madam Secretary has a rather old-skewing concept, CBS scheduled it on Sunday at 8/7 in an attempt to capture as many eyeballs as possible from the huge late-afternoon NFL lead-ins. Since the network does not have a national late-afternoon game next week, that means Madam Secretary premieres on the eve of the official season, and then will have to cross its fingers for a good hold with much less support and more competition next week. Will Madam Secretary negotiate a demo audience? That's The Question for Sunday, September 21, 2014.

Fall 2014 Best Case/Worst Case, Sunday 10/9c

Best Case/Worst Case moves to the Sunday 10/9c hour. CBS has chosen its latest procedural to endure the terrible overrun-riddled hour, and it's their oldest scripted series CSI.

Fall 2014 Best Case/Worst Case, Saturday 10/9c

Best Case/Worst Case moves to Saturday 10/9c, in which CBS adds original 48 Hours to the mix of repeats and football.

Spotted Ratings, Thursday 9/18/14

WHAT MATTERS:

• If last week represented the best CBS can expect from Thursday Night Football, last night (4.5 on CBS + NFLN combined) probably represented the worst. Not only did Bucs/Falcons look like the Thursday package's worst game going in, but the game quickly became a massive blowout.

• In its last opportunity before real competition from ABC and Fox arrives, The Biggest Loser (1.3) took a pretty disappointing week two drop. It led into a The Mysteries of Laura (0.8) pilot encore.

Fall 2014 Best Case/Worst Case, Friday 10/9c

Best Case/Worst Case moves to the Friday 10/9c hour. NBC populated the hour with low-cost Grimm companion dramas in 2013-14, but they're aiming higher this fall with the more normal-budgeted comic book drama Constantine.

SpotVault - Red Band Society (Fox) - 2014-15 Ratings

Red Band Society

Wednesdays, 9/8c, Fox