Fall 2021 Premiere Week live ratings: Which show won in viewers and demo?
Usually I do daily live ratings, but I’m looking at premiere week as a whole. Which shows performed the best in the fall 2021 premiere week live ratings?
I like to do the daily live ratings. It’s a chance to see how the networks perform against each other, especially with all the different genres of TV. However, last week was premiere week. It’s a busy week and there just wasn’t the chance to break down all the ratings in full.
Instead, I’m looking at how the shows performed across each of the networks. Have the changes to schedules paid off, especially when it comes to CBS? Which shows sit at the top of most-watched shows in terms of demo and audience?
Here’s a look at the fall 2021 premiere week live ratings. Remember there’s a lot more to come this week, but we’ll get back to the daily live ratings tomorrow.
All the ratings are compared with the previous season average for now.
CBS’s schedule change wasn’t too bad
There was one show we were highly concerned about going into the fall 2021 season. NCIS moved from Tuesdays to Mondays for the first time in 18 years. The plan was to make Mondays a popular night, but did it all pay off?
It turns out that the schedule change for NCIS Season 19 wasn’t all that bad! Yes, it lost some viewers, but every season sees a dip. The NCIS Season 19 premiere saw a 9% dip in the demo and a 10% dip in the total audience (from the Season 18 average). That really isn’t all that bad considering the circumstances. In fact, it’s good.
NCIS: Hawaii didn’t keep the audience and demo, though. It ranks last out of all CBS shows that have aired so far in the demo. The demo went from 0.73 for NCIS to 0.51 for NCIS: Hawaii and the audience went from 8.45 million for NCIS to 6.58 million for NCIS: Hawaii.
The new drama isn’t the lowest in the audience, though. The Neighborhood started Monday with the lowest audience, but did only see a 4.9% drop from the previous season average. The demo was down 17%, seeing the largest dip for the series.
The temporary decision (and the three-way crossover) helped FBI: Most Wanted. It was up 13% in the demo and 23% in the audience. Will people stick around when it moves back to the 10/9c timeslot? What will things look like for FBI: International when it moves to the earlier timeslot this week?
The Goldbergs claimed the top spot for ABC scripted shows
When it comes to ABC, it was all about The Goldbergs. ABC didn’t bother with a schedule change all that much. However, that doesn’t mean everything performed perfectly.
The Goldbergs did see a 9% boost in the demo and 4% boost in the total audience. The Wonder Years performed relatively well in the house after it, taking the second spot in the demo rankings. It’s third in the audience rankings, so we can’t complain about that.
However, A Million Little Things lost a large amount of both its demo and audience. It saw a 30% drop in the demo compared to the previous season premiere. The audience dropped 23%.
It wasn’t the only one, either. Sunday night’s The Rookie Season 4 premiere saw a 38% dip in the demo and 24% dip in the audience. So far, A Million Little Things ranks last and the 0.29 demo is extremely concerning.
Dancing with the Stars unsurprisingly won Monday night for the network. It didn’t win the night overall in the audience since NCIS was higher. The show saw just a 3% drop in the demo from the previous season premiere. It’s not a bad start.
NBC and FOX had mixed results in the fall 2021 premiere week live TV ratings
When it comes to NBC, we’re not surprised to see that the One Chicago shows performed well. Chicago PD took the top spot, as people tuned in to find out what happened to Kim Burgess. The show gained 7% in the audience and 1% in the demo compared to the Season 8 premiere.
Chicago Fire ranked second out of all scripted shows in the premiere week live ratings. It did lose 8% of its demo, but gained 1% in the audience to rank the highest in terms of audience numbers.
The Voice was the best show on the network, though. Both Monday and Tuesday saw the demo rise by 11%. Monday’s audience was slightly down by 1% but the Tuesday audience remained steady.
Ordinary Joe didn’t get off to the best start. It sits behind New Amsterdam with a 0.52 demo. The audience sits at 3.85 million, which is on the concerning side. Mondays are a tough night and have been for a long time. Can this series pick things up with the new episodes?
FOX had mixed results in the premiere week live ratings. Unsurprisingly, the animated shows performed extremely well. They followed the football, so the high increases are to be expected.
9-1-1 saw a 27% dip in the demo and 21% dip in the audience. These numbers aren’t too concerning yet as they’re still strong for a Monday night. We just hope to see more people tune in this week.
The Resident saw a 9% dip in the demo and a 13% dip in the total audience. This is the show we’re concerned about, but not as much as the two new shows. Our Kind of People pulled in just 1.64 million viewers (down from 3.02 million from The Resident in the hour before it, and a 0.35 demo after the 0.5 demo from The Resident.
The Big Leap was down at 0.29 in the demo, down from 9-1-1‘s 0.76 demo in the hour before it. The 1.4 million viewers down from 9-1-1‘s 5.07 million is a huge concern. FOX doesn’t give new shows much of a chance, so we need to see those numbers go up.
Alter Ego struggled as well, though. The Masked Singer‘s numbers were down but they were still relatively strong for the network. Almost half the demo and half the audience left for the new unscripted show in the hour afterward.
Check out the full premiere week live ratings for fall 2021 at TV Series Finale.
Which shows are you most concerned about? What do you take from the TV ratings? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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