USA TODAY International Edition
Season finds some hits, more misses
‘ Bull’ leads pack; many returning shows struggling
Six weeks into the new TV season, the hits and misses among the crop of 20 new network series are clear — and so are the laggards among returning shows.
CBS’ Bull is the most- watched new series, with an average of 17.6 million viewers based on live and delayed viewing. It’s helped greatly by star Michael Weatherly and its scheduling behind NCIS, Weatherly’s former series and still TV’s top drama. ABC’s Designated Survivor, starring Kiefer Sutherland as a reluctant president, is second with 15 million, including a sizable audience of fans who keep up with it later in the week, and NBC’s This is Us ranks third with 13.9 million, though it leads all newcomers among adults ages 18 to 49, the sweet spot for advertisers. Fox’s Lethal Weapon and ABC’s Speechless are among other solid performers.
It’s a better track record than last fall’s, which saw ABC’s Quan- tico as a lone early hit that quickly faded ( and this season is down a big 38%). “There’s more buzz surrounding this year’s shows,” says analyst Billie Gold of Dentsu Aegis, “Every season has more losers than winners, but there are more ( new) shows in the win column than last year.”
Weak spots include drama The Exorcist and Pitch at Fox, ABC’s Conviction and Notorious and CW’s No Tomorrow, all with small audiences or weak comparisons to the shows they replaced. Notorious, filling in for Scandal due to Kerry Washington’s pregnancy, is tracking 62% below Scandal’s young- adult audience last season.
But there are some startling declines among returning shows, too, which make up the bulk of every networks’ schedule, amid interruptions from four televised debates. NBC’s Sunday Night Football is down 23% this year, losing its berth as TV’s top draw. Fox is having a tough fall: Already low- rated Scream Queens is down 52% from last year, while Rosewood, New Girl, Brooklyn NineNine and Lucifer are each down at least 25%. CBS’ Scorpion (- 23%), NBC’s Blindspot (- 41%), ABC’s Marvel’s Agents of S. H. I. E. L. D. (- 27%) and How to Get Away With Murder (- 34%) are among other big losers, thanks mostly to new time slots or weaker lead- ins.
All those declines are having an effect on the bottom line averages for every broadcast network: CBS and NBC are holding up best and leading the race, down 6% to 7%, while ABC and Fox have steeper declines of 9% in viewers and 11% to 12% among young adults.