TV Ratings: Chargers Beat Broncos, CBS Beats Everyone
A Chargers-Broncos throwdown that somehow didn’t end with the Chargers blowing a fourth-quarter lead (though not for lack of trying on the Chargers’ part) nabbed a 3.0 rating in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and 10.08 million overall viewers for CBS’ penultimate “Thursday Night Football” game in Nielsen’s preliminary ratings.
Because of the nature of live sports, and the fact that it was two teams from the western side of the country playing, “Thursday Night Football” ratings should be taken with an industrial-size grain of salt, as they’ll likely spike once Nielsen’s final tally for the night comes in later Friday afternoon.
That was still a good enough performance for now for CBS to win the night, with a 2.9 demo average and 9.82 million total viewers.
ABC came in second with a 1.3 demo average on the night. However, the Alphabet isn’t likely too pleased with “Notorious,” which finally descended below the Mulaney Line with a .9 demo rating and 3.99 million viewers on the whole. “Grey’s Anatomy” dipped a couple tenths of a point from last week, with a 2.1 demo rating and 7.69 million viewers, but continues to be an astonishingly solid performer in its 13th season. “How to Get Away With Murder,” perhaps suffering some ill effects from following the noxious “Notorious,” slipped down to a 1.1 in the demo and 4.01 million viewers.
“Notorious” did just edge out its timeslot competition, “Pitch,” though. Fox’s baseball drama continued to underperform with a .8 and 2.93 million viewers, tying The CW’s “Supernatural” premiere in the demo. “Supernatural,” for what it’s worth, was starting its 12th season, and was actually up from its previous season’s premiere in total viewers (2.18 million for Thursday’s bow).
Fox’s “Rosewood” came in with a .8 demo rating and 3.48 million viewers at 8 p.m., beating out only the sophomore premiere “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” (.6 demo, 1.84 million viewers) on The CW.
NBC’s 8 p.m. comedies dipped slightly from last week’s preliminary ratings. “Superstore” and “The Good Place” both notched a 1.2 demo rating, though “Superstore” had a slightly larger total audience (4.39 million vs. 4.22 million). “Chicago Med” held steady at 9 p.m. with a 1.3 demo and 6.51 million viewers, but “The Blacklist” at 10 p.m. fell once again, to a 1.0 demo rating and 5.65 million viewers.
As a reminder, yes, most of these shows — aside from “Thursday Night Football” — will see significant ratings increases once viewing within the next three and seven days is counted. Most of those people won’t watch the commercials, though.
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