RATINGS RECAP: 9/21/16

ABC
8:00 The Goldbergs
Viewers: 6.9 million, 18-49 demo: 2.0
8:30 Speechless
Viewers: 7.4 million, 18-49 demo: 2.0
9:00 Modern Family
Viewers: 8.2 million, 18-49 demo: 2.6
9:30 Black-ish
Viewers: 6.4 million, 18-49 demo: 2.0
10:00 Designated Survivor
Viewers: 10.0 million, 18-49 demo: 2.2

CBS
8:00 Survivor
Viewers: 9.5 million, 18-49 demo: 2.3
9:30 Big Brother
Viewers: 6.3 million, 18-49 demo: 2.0

NBC
8:00 Blindspot
Viewers: 6.1 million, 18-49 demo: 1.3
9:00 Law & Order: SVU
Viewers: 7.8 million, 18-49 demo: 1.8
10:00 Chicago PD
Viewers: 6.9 million, 18-49 demo: 1.6

FOX
8:00 Lethal Weapon
Viewers: 7.9 million, 18-49 demo: 2.2
9:00 Empire
Viewers: 10.9 million, 18-49 demo: 4.2

CW
8:00 Penn & Tell: Fool Us (Repeat)
Viewers: 1.2 million, 18-49 demo: 0.3
9:00 Whose Line is it Anyway?
Viewers: 1.1 million, 18-49 demo: 0.3
9:30 Whose Line is it Anyway? (Repeat)
Viewers: 1.2 million, 18-49 demo: 0.4

Premiere week continued with another positive night for newbies. On FOX, the pre-tune for Empire as well as genuine interest in Lethal Weapon gave the new show a very solid start with 7.9 million viewers and a 2.2 demo. This was just two tenths behind the Rosewood premiere last year when there was a much bigger Empire audience so I think that means there was actually more interest in this show as its own entity than Rosewood. It was a very positive start. Then Empire returned. Its 4.2 demo will certainly be the tops of the week among scripted programming but it felt a little lower than it should have been. Of course it was never going to get back to last year's 6.7 premiere but the winter premiere of 4.8 seemed attainable. This is a show that has clearly peaked at this point but it's still TV's #1 show in the demo and has a long way to go before things are troubling. It's just become one of TV's biggest hits, not a monster towering above everything else and any network/show would be happy to have that.

ABC debuted its new comedy lineup and though the lineup was down, it was promising that their big moves are going to work. The Goldbergs inherited the 8pm slot and was down just a bit from its 2015 start with a 2.0 demo. This was probably about what The Middle would have gotten here so that's a great sign. The premiere of Speechless followed at 8:30pm and fit like a glove into the lineup, equaling The Goldbergs in the demo and building on it in total viewers. Its 2.0 demo is the lowest for a new show so far but the fact that it fit so nicely into the comedy lineup is a really good sign. People who watched The Goldbergs followed that show to 8pm and then stayed for Speechless at 8:30. At 9pm, the season premiere of Modern Family was still the best of the comedy block but down from last year's 3.2 premiere. I'm fairly sure this will be the year that Modern Family sees 1s in the demo but it's still the class of ABC comedies when it comes to ratings. At 9:30pm, the season premiere of Black-ish was at a 2.0 like the 8pm comedies, posting the best results for that show since January 6. Overall, a strong start for the ABC comedy night. At 10pm was the series premiere of Designated Survivor to 10 million viewers and a 2.2 demo. This was the best Weds 10pm performance ABC has seen in a long time. I still think given the hype, it could have premiered stronger and this show is ripe for drops in the weeks to come, but it was still a positive sampling. ABC was at a 2.0 demo or above for the entire night and that hasn't happened on Wednesday since premiere week of 2013.

NBC had good news of its own though their entire lineup wasn't quite as strong. Still, Blindspot made an OK transition to 8pm. Considering it only got a 1.6 following a highly rated America's Got Talent last week, a 1.3 to lead off the night is OK. We'll see how it does from here but the wheels haven't come off yet. At 9pm, the 18th season of Law & Order: SVU started exactly on par with last season's premiere. This show is still chugging along. At 10pm, the premiere of Chicago PD was down just a tenth in the demo from last year's premiere despite the big ABC competition. All in all, a positive night for NBC too. Finally, CBS went with its regular opening Wednesday plan, pairing the season premiere of Survivor with the season finale of Big Brother. Even in its 33rd edition, Survivor had another solid start, down just two tenths from last fall's premiere and up big from the spring premiere. Talk about a show with lasting power. The finale of Big Brother, which premiered back in 2000 like Survivor, was also down two tenths from its year-ago performance.

WINNER OF THE NIGHT: Lethal Weapon (FOX)
LOSER OF THE NIGHT: None