ABC Airs 5 of Premiere Week's Top 15 Entertainment Series in Adults 18-49

During season premiere week (w/o 9/25/17) in the Live + Same Day numbers, ABC aired 5 of the Top 15 entertainment series in Adults 18-49: "Grey's Anatomy" - No. 8, "The Good Doctor" - No. 10, "Modern Family" - No. 11, "The Goldbergs" - No. 12 and "American Housewife" - No. 15. ABC's "The Good Doctor" opened as TV's No. 1 new drama in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.

• Premiere Week Social Activity: ABC aired 4 of the Top 10 most social broadcast series of premiere week (non-sports): "Grey's" (879k interactions) - No. 4, "DWTS" (314k) - No. 7, "The Good Doctor" (284k) - No. 8 and "HTGAWM" (256k) - No. 9.

• ABC was the only broadcaster to retain its year-ago Premiere Week delivery in Adults 18-49, holding 100% year to year (1.3/5). Versus the year-ago Premiere Week (w/o 9/19/16), CBS fell -24% (1.9/7 vs. 2.5/9), NBC DROPPED -16% (2.1/8 vs. 2.5/9) and FOX lost -17% (1.0/4 vs. 1.2/4).

Monday
"The Good Doctor" (10:00-11:00 p.m. - 11.2 million and 2.2/8 in AD18-49):
Surging over its "Dancing" lead-in at 10:00 pm and holding steady throughout its premiere, ABC's "The Good Doctor" debuted as the No. 1 series in its hour, dominating NBC's debut of "The Brave" by 87% in Total Viewers (11.2 million vs. 6.0 million), by 69% in Adults 18-49 (2.2/8 vs. 1.3/5) and by 59% in Adults 25-54 (2.7/7 vs. 1.7/5).

• "The Good Doctor" opened as ABC's most watched Monday drama debut in 21 years and top- rated with Adults 18-49 in 8 ½ years - since "Dangerous Minds" on 9/30/96 and "Castle" on 3/9/09, respectively. In fact, "The Good Doctor" outdelivered the year-ago debut of "Conviction" (on 10/3/16) on the night by triple-digit percentages in Total Viewers (+115%), Adults 18-49 (+144%) and Adults 25-54 (+125%).

• ABC's "The Good Doctor" stood as the most watched non-NFL-led drama debut on any network on any night in 1 year - since 9/20/16 with CBS' "Bull."

• "The Good Doctor" was ABC's most watched series debut on any night and tied its top-rated drama debut with Adults 18-49 in 3 years - since "How to Get Away with Murder" on 9/25/14.

Tuesday
With special Tuesday airings of "Celebrity Family Feud" and "DWTS" against season premieres on the other nets, ABC ran in a near-tie with CBS for No. 2 on the opening Tuesday of the season in Adults 18-49 (1.2/5 vs. 1.3/5) and beat Fox's season premiere Tuesday by 20% (1.0/4).

"Celebrity Family Feud" (8:00-9:00 p.m. - 6.1 million and 1.3/5 in AD18-49):
At 8:00 p.m. against season premieres of CBS' "NCIS" and NBC's "The Voice," ABC's season finale of "Celebrity Family Feud" jumped by double digits over its most recent telecast this past Sunday in Total Viewers (+17% - 6.1 million vs. 5.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (+18% - 1.3/5 vs. 1.1/4). Head-to-head in the hour, ABC's "Celebrity Family Feud" beat Fox's season premiere of "Lethal Weapon" (4.4 million and 1.2/5) by 1.7 million viewers and by 8% in Adults 18-49.

• Opposite the stiff competition, "Celebrity Family Feud" scored its highest Adult 18-49 rating in nearly 3 months - since 7/9/17.

"DWTS-SP" (9:00-11:00 p.m. - 7.2 million and 1.2/4 in AD18-49):
From 9:00-11:00 p.m. against season premiere/debut programming on the other broadcasters including NBC's "This Is Us," ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" drew 7.2 million viewers and took 2nd in its 2-hour slot with Adults 18-49 (1.2/4), beating CBS (1.1/4) and FOX (0.8/3).

• In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, "DWTS" generated ABC's best results in the time period since season finale Tuesday in May - since 5/23/17.

Wednesday
ABC ranked No. 2 on season premiere Wednesday in Adults 18-49 (1.5/6-tied w/CBS) to an "Empire"-driven Fox, beating NBC's premieres by 15% (1.3/5). ABC's "Modern Family" was Wednesday's No. 2 TV show, coming within 3-tenths of "Empire"'s premiere in Adults 18-49 (2.1/8 vs. 2.4/10). In addition, ABC's 8:00 p.m. Wednesday lead-off "The Goldbergs" (1.8/8) tied or beat out all 6 of the CBS and NBC premieres/debuts on the night, including CBS' "Survivor" (1.8/7), "Seal Team" (1.5/6) and "Criminal Minds" (1.3/5), as well as NBC's "The Blacklist" (1.1/5), "Law & Order: SVU" (1.4/5) and "Chicago P.D." (1.3/5). Each of ABC's Wednesday comedies returned above their season finales in May.

• At 8:00 p.m. opposite Fox's "Empire," ABC's "The Goldbergs" opener ranked No. 2 with Adults 18-49 (1.8/8), tying CBS' "Survivor" premiere in the half-hour. "The Goldbergs" was up from its May finale by 17% in Total Viewers and by 29% in Adults 18-49, attracting its biggest crowd since February and topping its final 8 original telecasts last season with young adults - since 2/22/17 and 3/1/17, respectively.

• At 8:30 p.m. against the second half-hours of "Empire" and "Survivor," ABC's "Speechless" topped NBC's "The Blacklist" premiere in the half-hour by 27% in Adults 18-49 (1.4/6 vs. 1.1/5). "Speechless" grew over its May finale by 11% in Total Viewers and by 17% in Adults 18-49, delivering its largest audience since February - since 2/22/17.

• At 9:00 p.m., ABC's "Modern Family" won its half-hour among Adults 18-49 (2.1/8), besting Fox's "Star" premiere by 17% (1.8/7), CBS' "Seal Team" debut by 31% (1.6/6) and NBC's "L&O: SVU" opener by 50% (1.4/5). "Modern Family" surged over its May finale by 13% in Total Viewers and by 24% in Adults 18-49, earning its top numbers since early February - since 2/8/17.

• At 9:30 p.m., moving from Tuesday last season to Wednesday this season, ABC's "American Housewife" ran neck and neck for No. 1 in its slot with "Star" in Adults 18-49 (1.6/6 vs. 1.7/6), beating the second half-hours of CBS' "Seal Team" (1.5/6) and NBC's "L&O: SVU" (1.5/5). "American Housewife" shot up from its May finale on Tuesday by 30% in Total Viewers and by 33% in Adults 18-49, marking its most watched telecast since January and matching its highest young adult rating in nearly 1-year - since 1/10/17 and 10/18/16, respectively.

• In the 10 o'clock hour, ABC's "Designated Survivor" sophomore season premiere is projected to win the hour once TV Playback is included. Setting TV playback records throughout its freshman season run, ABC's "Designated Survivor" closed out last season as TV's No. 1 10 o'clock series in Adults 18-49 (2.9/11 in Live + 7 Day). In fact, the ABC freshman drama was the 2016-17 season's top gainer in TV playback among Adults 18-49, shooting up by +142% in L+7 over its L+SD rating. "Designated Survivor" grew 8% from its Live + Same Day May finale in Total Viewers (5.5 million vs. 5.1 million) and held exactly even in Adults 18-49 (1.1/5), drawing its biggest audience since March - since 3/15/17.

Thursday
Opposite a big Bears-Packers NFL MATCHUP on Thursday on CBS, ABC was the non-sports leader in Adults 18-49 (1.9/7), beating NBC on the night with the high-rated "Will & Grace" premiere by 19% (1.9/7 vs. 1.6/6) and nearly doubling FOX with its dramas (90% over "Gotham"/"The Orville" = 1.0/4). With its Thursday dramas consistently delivering big increases in TV Playback, ABC will considerably close the Adult 18-49 competitive gap on the night with CBS in Live + 3 Day and Live + 7 Day ratings. ABC's "How to Get Away with Murder" was one of last season's biggest gainers in Live + 7 Day TV playback, doubling (+100%) its Live + Same Day Adult 18-49 rating and growing by +3.3 million Total Viewers in the finalized L+7 playback numbers. In addition last season, "Grey's" added +1.4 Adult 18-49 rating points to its L+SD number in playback to average a 3.5 rating for the season in Live +7.

• From 8:00-10:00 p.m., the 14th season premiere of "Grey's Anatomy" made ABC the No. 1 non-sports network in the 2-hour time period with Total Viewers (8.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.3/9). "Grey's" gained viewers (+3%) and jumped 15% over its May finale in Adults 18-49 (7.9 million and 2.0/9 on 5/18/17), delivering its best numbers since the beginning of February - since 2/9/17 and 2/2/17, respectively. "Grey's" stood as Thursday's No. 1 TV show in Women 18-34, beating the "Will & Grace" premiere by 75% (2.8/13 vs. 1.6/7).

Friday
"Marvel's Inhumans" (8:00-10:00 p.m. - 3.8 million and 0.9/4 in AD18-49):
After becoming the first-ever TV series to make a theatrical premiere in IMAX earlier this month, ABC's "Marvel's Inhumans" opened at No. 1 in its linear Live + Same Day TV debut with Adults 18-49 (0.9/4) on Friday night from 8:00-10:00 p.m., tying season premieres on CBS in the 2-hour slot ("MacGyver"/"Hawaii Five-0" = 0.9/4) and beating FOX premieres by 29% ("Hell's Kitchen"/"The Exorcist" = 0.7/3).

• On the night, ABC's "Inhumans" premiere more than doubled Fox's 9:00 p.m. "The Exorcist" premiere in Total Viewers (+138% - 3.8 million vs. 1.6 million) and outdelivered it by 80% in Adults 18-49 (0.9/4 vs. 0.5/2). "Inhumans" was also 13% higher rated than CBS' Season 2 premiere of "MacGyver" in Adults 18-49 (0.8/4 from 8:00-9:00 p.m.).

• ABC's Marvel series have exhibited consistently big gains in TV playback. And despite airing on Friday with lower TV Usage levels, "Inhumans" opened above the 2017 Live + Same Day averages (1/10-5/16/17) for "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." in Total Viewers (3.8 million vs. 2.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (0.9/4 vs. 0.7/3). "S.H.I.E.L.D." was one of last season's top gainers in TV Playback in Adults 18-49, jumping over its L+SD rating by +100% in Live + 3 Day and +129% in Live + 7 Day. In fact it was the No. 2 biggest percentage gainer last season on the major nets in L+7 Adults 18-49, behind only ABC's "Designated Survivor" (+142%).

Saturday
With COLLEGE FOOTBALL coverage (Clemson at Virginia Tech), ABC won Saturday night for the 5th week in a row in Total Viewers (4.8 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.5/7), dominating FOX with its COLLEGE FOOTBALL coverage (2.5 million and 0.7/3) by 92% and 114%, respectively.

• Airing from 8:07-11:43 p.m., ABC's "Saturday Night Football" was the evening's No. 1 program for the 5th consecutive week in Total Viewers (4.6 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.5/7).

• "Saturday Night Football" grew over the week-ago game by 7% with Adults 18-49 (1.4/7 on 9/23/17).

Sunday
"Shark Tank" (8:00-10:00 p.m. - 5.1 million and 1.3/5 in AD18-49)
Moving from Friday night for the first time in 7 seasons to Sunday and premiering from 8:00-10:00 p.m. against NBC's "Sunday Night Football," ABC's "Shark Tank" shot up 44% over its May finale (1.3/5 vs. 0.9/4 on 5/12/17) and grew 18% over its year-ago September premiere (1.1/5 on 9/23/16). In Total Viewers (5.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.3/5), the ABC unscripted series delivered its best numbers since March - since 3/3/17.

"Ten Days in the Valley (10:00-11:00 p.m. - 3.4 million and 0.5/2 in AD18-49)
At 10:00 p.m., ABC's series debut of "Ten Days in the Valley" opened above the last two ABC dramas to air in the time period with Total Viewers (3.4 million) and Adults 18-49 (0.5/2), besting the Live + Same Day averages for "American Crime" (1.9 million and 0.4/2 in March-April 2017 ) and "Conviction" (2.4 million and 0.4/2 in January 2017). In fact, "Ten Days in the Valley" drew ABC's best results with a 10 o'clock series in the time slot since Fall 2016 with viewers and young adults - since 10/2/16 and 11/27/16, respectively.

WEEK NO. 1: ADULTS 18-49 TOTAL VIEWERS
No.1 NBC 2.1 No.1 CBS 9,500,000
No.2 CBS 1.9 No.2 NBC 7,780,000
No.3 ABC 1.3 No.3 ABC 5,800,000
No.4 FOX 1.0 No.4 FOX 3,140,000
No.5 CW 0.2 No.5 CW 900,000

Source: The Nielsen Company, National Live+ Same Day Program Ratings for week of 9/25/17.

To post a comment, you must register and login.