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It looks like NBC’s monster hit, This Is Us, is in no danger of a sophomore slump.
The drama came roaring back for season two, hitting a 3.9 among primetime’s key adult 18-49 demographic and averaging 12.93 million viewers, according to Nielsen’s final live plus same day ratings on Wednesday. That’s a series high by both measures, up 36% from its series premiere last September and up 12% from its first-season finale.
That marks two big broadcast wins in two nights for the young season. On Monday night, CBS’ one-two punch of the 11th season premiere of The Big Bang Theory paired with spin-off Young Sheldon scored a 4.1 and 3.8 in the key demo, respectively. On Wednesday, Young Sheldon—which doesn’t officially join CBS’ schedule until post-Thursday Night Football on Nov. 2—was picked up for a full season.
ABC’s highly-promoted The Good Doctor also got off to a good start on Monday night, averaging a 2.2 in the demo in Nielsen’s final tally.
Leading out of This Is Us on Tuesday night at 10 p.m., Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders averaged a 1.6 in the demo and 6 million viewers. That was the only other new series to debut on Tuesday. Leading into This Is Us, the second night of The Voice averaged a 2.7 in the demo and nearly 11 million viewers, even with its spring finale and its Monday-night debut.
CBS returned its Tuesday schedule with NCIS opening its 15th season at 8 p.m. with a 1.6 among adults 18-49 and 13.3 million viewers. That was followed by Bull, in its sophomore year, which averaged a 1.3 in the demo and 10 million viewers, and NCIS: New Orleans at a 1.0 in the demo and nearly 9 million viewers at 10 p.m. CBS’ Tuesday night fell off quite a bit compared to last year at this time, with the three hours down 24%, 45% and 29%, respectively, among adults 18-49. Bull, up against This Is Us, took the biggest hit.
Business was even slower for the rest of the broadcast networks.
ABC aired two reality shows: Celebrity Family Feud and two hours of Dancing With the Stars. Feud, hosted by the ubiquitous Steve Harvey, averaged a 1.3 in the demo and 6 million viewers, while DWTS scored a 1.2 in the demo and 7.2 million viewers.
Fox returned Lethal Weapon for season two at 8 p.m. and averaged a 1.2 among adults 18-49 and nearly 4.4 million viewers. That was followed by The Mick and Brooklyn Nine-Nine at 9 p.m., which together averaged a 0.8 in the demo and 2.35 million viewers.
The CW aired repeats of The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow, which averaged a 0.2 in the demo and 0.64 million viewers.
NBC easily won the night among adults 18-49 with a 2.7, more than doubling the performance of its closest competitor, CBS. But CBS was the viewer victor, averaging 10.7 million viewers to NBC’s nearly 10 million.
On Wednesday night, the only new show to premiere is CBS’ SEAL Team at 9 p.m., although all four Big Four broadcast nets are debuting new seasons of veteran series, and on Thursday night, NBC’s reboot of Will & Grace returns to its old time-slot at 9 p.m.
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