Snapshot: New series premiere: the CW’s All American (0.2 Live+Same Day rating in 18-49, 710,000 viewers)
Oh, boy. The CW debuted its highest-profile new fall series last night, All American, and it didn’t go so well. The series, about a talented teen football player from Crenshaw recruited by a Beverly Hills high school, opened to 710,000 total viewers and a 0.2 rating in adults 18-49 (Live+Same Day). It held onto less than half of its lead-in Riverdale (0.5, 1.5 million).
While supported by an extensive marketing campaign and carrying the Berlanti Prods. pedigree, All American, a cross between The O.C. and Friday Night Lights, is softer and more grounded than other over-the-top, noisy and twisty CW high school dramas like Gossip Girl, 90210 or Riverdale. That may have factored into the soft premiere numbers, which I think are the lowest for a fall new CW series debut.
All American’s opener was on par with the March premiere in the time slot (with a comparable Riverdale lead-in) of Life Sentence, which didn’t last beyond a short midseason run. Delayed/multi-platform viewing would be crucial for All American as the CW brass are known for supporting series based on their confidence in the creative, so they would likely try to stick with the drama if it shows signs of life on digital platforms.
As for Riverdale, the soapy thriller was off from its series-high Season 2 premiere numbers (0.8, 2.3 million) but was on par with its Season 2 average and up from the finale.
It was pretty good news all around for the other broadcast networks. No, we didn’t get a Big 4 Wednesday series rising above the 1.5 adults 18-49 rating (L+SD), but we had a few ratings upticks and a lot of series holding as shows are starting to settle into their fall ratings levels.
CBS’ Survivor (1.5, 7.6 million) and Fox’s Empire (1.5, 5.1 million) repeated as tied for No. 1 among adults 18-49, both even with last week in the demo while adding a few eyeballs. It is still a demo low for the Fox hip-hop drama.
Things were looking up for CBS’ Wednesday dramas, SEAL Team (0.9, 5.6 million) and Criminal Minds (0.8, 4.6 million), both inching up a tenth in the demo from their soft openers last week, when the Season 2 premiere of SEAL Team matched a series demo low and veteran Criminal Minds hit series lows.
Also logging an uptick of 0.1 18-49 ratings point was Fox’s Star (1.3, 4.3 million). Fox again ranked as the night’s top network in the demo.
NBC’s One Chicago lineup continues to impress. After upticks for two of the series and a hold for the third with the first crossover last week, there was no letdown last night. Chicago Med (1.3, 8 million), Chicago Fire (1.3, 8.2 million) and Chicago PD (1.2, 7.1 million) all were on par, avoiding the typical post-crossover ratings drops. Chicago Fire was the top program of the night in total viewers, logging its most-watched regular-slot episode in 2.5 years, since Tuesday, April 26, 2016, when it had a Voice lead-in. NBC won the night in total viewers.
After a sizable Week 2 drop, ABC’s A Million Little Things (0.8, 3.7 million) stabilized in Week 3, even with its Week 2 demo delivery. Fellow ABC Wednesday rookie Single Parents (1.0, 3.7 million) is still sliding, down a tenth from last week despite its lead-in, Modern Family (1.4, 5.1 million), holding steady. Also even week-to-week was 8 PM anchor The Goldbergs (1.3, 5.1 million), while American Housewife (1.0, 4.3 million) ticked down a tenth.
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