RATINGS RECAP: 9/29/15

ABC
8:00 The Muppets
Viewers: 5.8 million, 18-49 demo: 2.0
8:30 Fresh Off the Boat
Viewers: 4.7 million, 18-49 demo: 1.7
9:00 Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Viewers: 4.9 million, 18-49 demo: 1.7
10:00 Quantico (Repeat)
Viewers: 4.2 million, 18-49 demo: 1.0

CBS
8:00 NCIS
Viewers: 16.5 million, 18-49 demo: 2.2
9:00 NCIS: New Orleans
Viewers: 12.9 million, 18-49 demo: 1.7
10:00 Limitless
Viewers: 9.7 million, 18-49 demo: 1.9

NBC
8:00 The Voice
Viewers: 13.6 million, 18-49 demo: 3.7
10:00 Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris
Viewers: 6.0 million, 18-49 demo: 1.9

FOX
8:00 Grandfathered
Viewers: 5.3 million, 18-49 demo: 1.5
8:30 The Grinder
Viewers: 5.0 million, 18-49 demo: 1.5
9:00 Scream Queens
Viewers: 3.5 million, 18-49 demo: 1.4

On Tuesday night, FOX launched its new sitcom block and the results were respectable. Grandfathered and The Grinder needed to be self starters and they didn't totally fall on their faces. Both delivered an OK 1.5 demo and a decent total viewer count considering how its been going for FOX. Also, they seemed quite compatible which gives me some hope for the future of this block. Sure, it wasn't amazing but considering how FOX's fall has been going outside Empire, this was an OK start. At 9pm, week two of Scream Queens was down half a million viewers and three tenths in the demo. It's already so far below what many (including me) expected, but it didn't have a disastrous week two drop. FOX can tout the social media buzz of this show and it does skew young, but it's still a disappointment without question.

ABC saw a horrible drop in week two for The Muppets. It crashed 3.2 million viewers and nine tenths in the demo from its premiere last week. That is a drop of over 30%, which is more than double the normal week two slide. We'll see where it settles but this is not a great sign when the second week drops that much. Fresh Off the Boat held up better as it was down 1.4 million viewers and two tenths in the demo. The viewer total is actually a series low but the demo is not even close to the series low (1.3). So, it's skewing younger than last year. I think it would do extremely well in the Wednesday block but what could it replace? Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returned at 9pm. It was below last fall's premiere but posted its best demo since December 9. Not a horrible return for this show. A repeat of Quantico did quite well at 10pm. Through its two airings of the pilot, it has gotten over 10 million viewers and a 2.9 demo. I'll be curious to see how episode two does this Sunday.

On NBC, The Voice was up a strong 1.3 million viewers and two tenths in the demo for a season high. It may have benefited from less sampling of other shows and no Dancing with the Stars competition. It helped Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris once again. It was up a tenth in viewers and down two tenths in the demo but suffered a big drop at the half hour mark. NBC has realized it likes this order more and will keep the night as is for one more week instead of flipping the two shows. Best Time Ever will now go to 8pm in two weeks when Chicago Fire returns to 10pm. Finally on CBS, NCIS was down 1.7 million viewers and three tenths in the demo from its season premiere. Despite the lead-in being down, NCIS: New Orleans was up three tenths in viewers and even in the demo. After last week's very disappointing return, it needed to at least hold on and it did. The best news for CBS came at 10pm where Limitless did not drop in week two, a very rare occurrence for new shows. It was down two tenths in viewers and even in the demo. This is very encouraging news for CBS and it catches a break once again next week as NBC will not move The Voice into this hour as originally planned.

WINNER OF THE NIGHT: Limitless (CBS)
LOSER OF THE NIGHT: The Muppets (ABC)