Ratings Roundup for the Week of September 22, 2019

It's Premiere Week which means Ratings Roundup is back for another season. Just a quick refresher how ratings work.

Networks make most of their renew or cancel decisions based on C3 (commercial three day) numbers. Those numbers are not made public very often, however the Live Overnight numbers are a close analog.

General rule of thumb, the ratings for the new season usually average a few tenths lower than the previous year. The decline has been happening since the 1960s this is nothing new. If your favorite shows are only down a couple of tenths from the previous season, no need for concern, it happens. If your favorites shed more than that ... well, it might be time to worry. The important thing to watch is where your favorite shows rank against other shows on the same network. If your favorites are in the upper half to two-thirds, it's a good bet they will get renewed. If it's below that, then chance, other syndication/streaming deals, and dart throwing comes into play.

So without further ado, here are the numbers for the first week of the new season. (Freshman series' are marked in bold text)

ABC had the best luck with its new programs. Mixed-ish was even with its parent show Black-ish to take the top spot for the freshman shows on the network. Emergence and Stumptown opened okay, the days of 1.0 rated shows may be coming to an end for most programs. Grey's Anatomy opened up a couple of tenths from its season finale, taking its usual spot at the top of the chart for the network.

CBS was blessed with an NFL overrun to kick off its premiere season. Of the new shows, Bob (Hearts) Abishola finished with the highest numbers, The Unicorn wasn't too far behind. All Rise and Evil did not fare as well and it may be a long season for those show's fans in terms of if they get renewed. The Eye did some shuffling of its Friday night schedule, moving Hawaii Five-0 an hour earlier to lead off a one-two Hawaiian punch with Magnum PI. So far, it seems to be working; both shows, along with Blue Bloods, pulled about the same numbers as they did last season. Love it or hate it, NCIS proved once again why it keeps getting renewed. The show was even with its ratings last season pulling in more than twelve million viewers for its premiere.

NBC feasted on football last week. Of the Peacock's new programs, Bluff City Law opened with good numbers. The two new comedies, Perfect Harmony and Sunnyside, less so. Neither show will make it past mid-season with those numbers. The Dick Wolf trifecta of Chicago Med, Fire, and PD continued its strong showing on Wednesday nights.

FOX also had a good football night. The Masked Singer returned just as strong as last season. FOX only had one premiere last week, Prodigal Son opened in the middle of the pack, time will tell if that will be enough to see a season extension. The Emmy Awards had the dubious distinction of being the lowest rated Emmy's broadcast in history; losing almost an entire rating point compared to last year. (And yes, it was up against football then as well.)

The CW was still burning off its summer fare last week. Masters of Illusion topped the chart with its season six finale. Penn & Teller: Fool Us was close behind. The Outpost wrapped its second season. No word yet on if any of the three programs will be renewed.

So there you have it. A rather flat premiere week this year in terms of numbers. None of the freshman programs have really stood out yet is terms of run away hit, and several opened with only fair to middling ratings. There wasn't much buzz for any of the new shows going into the season, we'll see what the following weeks bring in terms of future potential. What are you watching this season?