RATINGS RECAP: 9/22/15

ABC
8:00 The Muppets
Viewers: 9.0 million, 18-49 demo: 2.9
8:30 Fresh Off the Boat
Viewers: 6.1 million, 18-49 demo: 1.9
9:00 Dancing with the Stars Results
Viewers: 9.6 million, 18-49 demo: 1.5

CBS
8:00 NCIS
Viewers: 18.2 million, 18-49 demo: 2.5
9:00 NCIS: New Orleans
Viewers: 12.6 million, 18-49 demo: 1.7
10:00 Limitless
Viewers: 9.9 million, 18-49 demo: 1.9

NBC
8:00 The Voice
Viewers: 12.3 million, 18-49 demo: 3.5
10:00 Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris
Viewers: 5.9 million, 18-49 demo: 2.1

FOX
8:00 Scream Queens
Viewers: 4.0 million, 18-49 demo: 1.7

On the second night of the season, every network had something to smile about except for FOX, which suffered a second night with an extremely disappointing premiere. ABC got the best news for a new show as The Muppets proved to be a self-starter with an impressive nine million viewers and 2.9 demo. Some people were predicting a huge start for this but this actually exceeded my prediction. It was a huge improvement in a difficult slot. I think a big drop next week is likely but it has given itself some room to fall and still be a hit. The Muppets helped Fresh Off the Boat in its season premiere. The sophomore comedy tied its best Tuesday performance ever. Only its Wednesday preview night last season delivered a higher rating. I still think it could have been better given the lead-in but I think it also won't fall as much as Muppets this year and retention will improve. A Dancing with the Stars special results edition skewed pretty old. From here on out, it's back to just one night a week.

Disaster struck again on FOX as the heavily hyped Scream Queens disappointed in a big way with just four million viewers and a 1.7 demo. In some ways, this is a bigger disappointment than Minority Report on Monday even though it wasn't DOA. FOX put so much energy into promoting this show and it just didn't pay off. Yes, it will do better in DVR ratings. Yes, it was big on social media. But this was billed as an event show and FOX couldn't even get people to show up on the first night. This doesn't bode well at all for its future and its shaping up to be a rough fall for FOX outside of Empire. On NBC, night two of The Voice was pretty much dead even with its Monday night airing so that's good news. It also helped week two of Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris. The new variety show was down nine tenths in viewers but up three tenths in the demo from its premiere. Its big test comes next week, however, where it must be the lead-in show at 8pm.

Finally on CBS, NCIS came back to good levels, its best performance since February. In season 13, it's amazing this show can still deliver 18 million viewers. It's also interesting that, just like The Big Bang Theory, the viewer total was on par with last season's premiere but the demo was noticeably older. A lot of shows are continuing to skew older as younger audiences are watching shows in less traditional ways. The news was far worse at 9pm where NCIS: New Orleans had a terrible night. It tied a series low in total viewers and almost hit it in the demo. This is a really bad showing given how NCIS was strong once again. It will have to keep facing The Voice, which could prove to be a problem. At 10pm, the series premiere of Limitless was solid, especially given how weak New Orleans was. It built on its lead-in in the demo and skewed much younger. This wasn't great but given the circumstances and only so-so buzz, I think CBS should be happy with this start.

WINNER OF THE NIGHT: The Muppets (ABC)
LOSER OF THE NIGHT: Scream Queens (FOX)