The War of 18-49, New Amsterdam

The Most Common This Is Us Lead-out

In its first two years, the huge lead-in from megahit drama This Is Us was mostly used on familiar franchises, from Chicago Fire in season one to Law and Order True Crime and Chicago Med in season two. Season three was NBC's first big push to try something new, and the medical drama New Amsterdam showed some real promise. It premiered to a 1.8 following This Is Us' 3.0, actually beating the raw numbers of L&O True Crime (1.6 out of a 3.9). And though it had dropped to 1.0ish by the back half of This Is Us' season, New Amsterdam still retained more than 50% of the lead-in every week (something True Crime had never done). It was not that different from what Chicago Med had done in the hour the previous year, and with big DVR gains to boot.

By the 2019-20 season, it was clear that This Is Us was past its peak, and New Amsterdam was pretty much following it downward in lockstep. It kept doing a little better than 50% retention, but it was certainly not looking like another big Chicago-esque franchise in the live ratings.

Still, NBC famously gave it a three-season renewal in January 2020, and continued to ride it out in the Tuesday 10/9c hour. They were not really rewarded for their efforts. The show took another large hit in the 2020-21 season, in part because the COVID-19 pandemic delayed its premiere to March 2021. The retention out of This Is Us still never got that much worse, but This Is Us was now diminished enough that retaining 50% of it made New Amsterdam a pretty iffy player in the Live+SD ratings. In season four, it returned to the fall, but it aired after the much weaker La Brea because This Is Us was delayed till midseason. But airing earlier and then reuniting with a strong final season of This Is Us helped New Amsterdam to stop the bleeding and rebound a touch in Plus. Perhaps that makes it a bit less painful for NBC to see out the last year of the three-season renewal, but NBC has confirmed it will also be the last of the series.

Adults 18-49 info by season:

Seas	Year	Slot	Avg	y2y	Lo	Hi	Results	Grade
1	2018-19	Tuesday 10:00	1.06		0.6	1.8	detail	B+
2	2019-20		Tuesday 10:00	0.77	-28%	0.6	1.0	detail	C+
3	Spring 2021		Tuesday 10:00	0.46	-40%	0.4	0.6	detail	C-
4	2021-22		Tuesday 10:00	0.37	-19%	0.3	0.5	detail	C+
5	2022-23		Tuesday 10:00	0.31	-16%	0.2	0.4	detail	B-

Historical-adjusted ratings by season:

Seas	Year	A18-49+	Label	Now23	y2y	Lo	Hi	Premiere	Finale
1	2018-19	112	solid	0.48		63	194	194	91
2	2019-20	94	marginal	0.40	-16%	76	121	121	115
3	Spring 2021	71	marginal	0.30	-24%	56	95	93	82
4	2021-22	73	marginal	0.31	+2%	51	106	106	92
5	2022-23	73	marginal	0.31	+0%	56	91	91	77
AVERAGE:		AVERAGE:	85	marginal
CAREER:		CAREER:	423	utility

The War of 18-49 chronicles the ratings history of veteran primetime series. For more, see the Index.

Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 7/6/22

FINALS UPDATE: No adjustments.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Numbers posted. CBS had the 90-minute return of Big Brother and the 90-minute premiere of competition series The Challenge: USA.

The Breakdown: CBS Wednesday in 2021-22 (Survivor, The Amazing Race, CSI: Vegas and more!)

It's time for a journey through the CBS Wednesday schedule in 2021-22...

Spotted Ratings, Tuesday 7/5/22

FINALS UPDATE: Holey Moley (0.4) and The Chase (0.4) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Numbers posted.

Spotted Ratings, Monday 7/4/22

FINALS UPDATE: No adjustments.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Numbers posted.

The Breakdown: ABC Wednesday in 2021-22 (The Goldbergs, The Wonder Years, The Conners and more!)

It's time for a journey through the ABC Wednesday schedule in 2021-22...

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 7/3/22

FINALS UPDATE: America's Funniest Home Videos (R) (0.3), Celebrity Family Feud (R) (0.3), Celebrity Family Feud (R) (0.4), 60 Minutes (0.3) and NCIS: Los Angeles (R) (0.2) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Numbers posted.

Spotted Ratings, Friday 7/1/22

FINALS UPDATE: Shark Tank (R) (0.4) and WWE SmackDown! (0.5) adjusted up while Penn and Teller: Fool Us (R) (0.0) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Numbers posted.

Spotted Ratings, Thursday 6/30/22

FINALS UPDATE: Press Your Luck (R) (0.4) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Numbers posted.

The War of 18-49, The Neighborhood

CBS Resets Monday Comedy

Coming off one of its weakest Monday nights historically, CBS cancelled the expensive sophomore anchor Kevin Can Wait and most of the other comedies that made up the two-hour block. They reverted to a single multi-camera comedy hour with newbies The Neighborhood and Happy Together. While Happy Together was a disappointment, The Neighborhood showed some promise. It started at a 1.3, fell to 1.1 in week two, and stayed right around there for most of the rest of the season, perking up a bit in the winter and falling off a bit in the spring. CBS found itself with a comedy anchor that did not hit the early heights of Kevin Can Wait, but ended up outrating its disappointing second season in Plus.

Season two brought a pairing with Chuck Lorre newbie Bob Hearts Abishola, which helped to shore up the 8:30 timeslot. However, The Neighborhood had a slow start to the season, premiering on a new series low 0.9. It didn't get much worse from there, but it started in enough of a hole that it finished the season down in Plus.

Season three was a step in the right direction, with a healthier premiere (0.83) and a nice bounce in the winter (including a couple 1.0's in late January/early February). That put it back on its season one Plus, and then The Neighborhood eked out a new high in season four. That season didn't have as flashy a winter bounce, but was very consistent and even held onto mostly 0.6's deep into the spring. Now The Neighborhood is starting to look like one of CBS' stronger 8/7c comedy anchors in the Plus era. (The only show that did significantly better was How I Met Your Mother in its later seasons.) The network may not have the horses to go with a two-hour comedy lineup as they did during the Everybody Loves Raymond/Two and a Half Men days, but this show is keeping that Monday beachhead alive.

Adults 18-49 info by season:

Seas	Year	Slot	Avg	y2y	Lo	Hi	Results	Grade
1	2018-19	Monday 8:00	1.12		1.0	1.4	detail	A-
2	2019-20		Monday 8:00	0.90	-20%	0.7	1.1	detail	B-
3	2020-21		Monday 8:00	0.76	-15%	0.6	1.0	detail	A-
4	2021-22		Monday 8:00	0.61	-19%	0.5	0.7	detail	B
5	2022-23		Monday 8:00	0.52	-16%	0.4	0.7	detail	B
6	Spring 2024		Monday 8:00	0.44	-15%	0.3	0.6	detail	C+
7	2024-25		Monday 8:00	0.37	-17%	0.3	0.4	detail	B
8	2025-26		Monday 8:00	0.34	-7%	0.2	0.4	detail	B+

Historical-adjusted ratings by season:

Seas	Year	A18-49+	Label	Now26	y2y	Lo	Hi	Premiere	Finale
1	2018-19	118	solid	0.35		104	144	138	107
2	2019-20	109	solid	0.33	-7%	92	134	112	105
3	2020-21	118	solid	0.35	+8%	93	155	129	118
4	2021-22	121	solid	0.36	+2%	106	141	123	110
5	2022-23	121	solid	0.36	+1%	94	155	117	113
6	Spring 2024	116	solid	0.35	-4%	87	145	145	111
7	2024-25	115	solid	0.35	-1%	88	142	142	94
8	2025-26	113	solid	0.34	-2%	73	144	114	144
AVERAGE:		AVERAGE:	117	solid
CAREER:		CAREER:	932	tentpole

The War of 18-49 chronicles the ratings history of veteran primetime series. For more, see the Index.