RATINGS RECAP: 10/5/15

ABC
7:00 The Muppets (Repeat)
Viewers: 2.4 million, 18-49 demo: 0.5
7:30 The Muppets (Repeat)
Viewers: 2.7 million, 18-49 demo: 0.8
8:00 Once Upon a Time
Viewers: 5.4 million, 18-49 demo: 1.8
9:00 Blood & Oil
Viewers: 5.3 million, 18-49 demo: 1.3
10:00 Quantico
Viewers: 7.0 million, 18-49 demo: 1.9

CBS
7:00 60 Minutes
Viewers: 11.8 million, 18-49 demo: 1.4
8:00 Madam Secretary
Viewers: 11.8 million, 18-49 demo: 1.4
9:00 The Good Wife
Viewers: 9.3 million, 18-49 demo: 1.2
10:00 CSI: Cyber
Viewers: 6.8 million, 18-49 demo: 1.0

NBC
7:00 Football Night in America
Viewers: 6.8 million, 18-49 demo: 2.3
8:00 NFL Pregame
Viewers: 12.7 million, 18-49 demo: 4.4
8:30 Sunday Night Football
Viewers: 24.2 million, 18-49 demo: 8.7

FOX
7:00 NFL Overrun
Viewers: 25.9 million, 18-49 demo: 8.7
7:30 The OT
Viewers: 13.3 million, 18-49 demo: 4.9
8:00 The Simpsons
Viewers: 6.0 million, 18-49 demo: 2.7
8:30 Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Viewers: 4.1 million, 18-49 demo: 1.9
9:00 Family Guy
Viewers: 3.6 million, 18-49 demo: 1.7
9:30 The Last Man on Earth
Viewers: 3.3 million, 18-49 demo: 1.5

On Sunday night, the CBS lineup got off to an OK start with no direct football lead-in. It skewed old, but certainly could have been worse. 60 Minutes and Madam Secretary delivered an identical 11.8 million viewers and 1.4 demo. For Madam, this was a solid return after mostly lower demos in the spring. It was on par with non-football Sundays last fall, and will probably go up from here on weeks that CBS has a direct NFL lead-in. At 9pm, The Good Wife returned OK at a 1.2 demo. This show is just getting older and its upside is limited. It seems quite likely it will go below a 1.0 demo in the spring. CSI: Cyber was not much of a player at 10pm with a very weak 1.0 demo. Since it's only a second year show and CBS has mostly decent drama players, I don't see this even lasting the rest of the season. It's time to move The Good Wife to 10pm and launch a new show at 9pm, but I'm not sure CBS has an upscale show to fit in waiting on deck.

On ABC, nothing took a major dive but the best news came from Quantico once again. At 8pm, Once Upon a Time was down half a million viewers and even in the demo. After an underwhelming debut, this was a good second week for this show. The weak spot is very clearly Blood & Oil at 9pm. It was down 1.1 million viewers and a tenth in the demo. That's not an awful week two drop but this show isn't a big appeal. As long as ABC doesn't think it's holding back Quantico, it might let it ride out the fall since it's not falling on its face. Speaking of Quantico, it was down just a tenth in viewers and even in the demo for an awesome second week. Fans are clearly responding to this show and it's being a big over-performer in a difficult time period so far. Some are already suggesting to move it to 9pm or to Mondays or Wednesdays at 10pm. I'm not opposed to trying it there for a week but I'd be careful right now. Let it have a chance here where it seems to be tapping into an audience.

FOX had a direct NFL lead-in and it certainly helped the Sunday night lineup but not as much as you might think. Not surprisingly, it was The Simpsons that was helped the most since it was closest to the NFL action. It was up 2.7 million viewers and 1.2 demo points. Each subsequent show didn't add as much to last week's total as the NFL halo effect dimmed each half hour. At 8:30pm, Brooklyn Nine-Nine was up a million viewers and four tenths in the demo. For both Simpsons and Brooklyn, it was their best performance since January 4, but I still felt like it could have been better. The 9pm hour didn't get the same kind of boost. Family Guy was up seven tenths in viewers and two tenths in the demo while The Last Man on Earth was up two tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo. Looks like Last Man may not get the benefit of a FOX Sunday in the fall since the NFL overrun effect wore off by then. Finally on NBC, a Cowboys-Saints overtime game was up nicely from last week's Broncos-Lions game.

WINNER OF THE NIGHT: Quantico (ABC)
LOSER OF THE NIGHT: CSI: Cyber (CBS)