RATINGS RECAP: 9/23/16

ABC
8:00 Last Man Standing
Viewers: 6.0 million, 18-49 demo: 1.1
8:30 Dr. Ken
Viewers: 4.0 million, 18-49 demo: 0.9
9:00 Shark Tank
Viewers: 5.0 million, 18-49 demo: 1.1
10:00 20/20
Viewers: 3.4 million, 18-49 demo: 0.7

CBS
8:00 MacGyver
Viewers: 10.9 million, 18-49 demo: 1.7
9:00 Hawaii Five-0
Viewers: 10.2 million, 18-49 demo: 1.4
10:00 Blue Bloods
Viewers: 10.6 million, 18-49 demo: 1.3

NBC
8:00 Superstore (Repeat)
Viewers: 2.4 million, 18-49 demo: 0.6
8:30 The Good Place (Repeat)
Viewers: 2.3 million, 18-49 demo: 0.6
9:00 Dateline NBC
Viewers: 4.6 million, 18-49 demo: 1.0

FOX
8:00 Hell's Kitchen
Viewers: 3.4 million, 18-49 demo: 1.1
9:00 The Exorcist
Viewers: 2.9 million, 18-49 demo: 1.0

CW
8:00 Masters of Illusion
Viewers: 0.7 million, 18-49 demo: 0.2
8:30 Masters of Illusion (Repeat)
Viewers: 0.8 million, 18-49 demo: 0.2
9:00 Penn & Teller: Fool Us (Repeat)
Viewers: 1.0 million, 18-49 demo: 0.3

On Friday night, MacGyver arrived with a splash and a very impressive premiere. With a stunning 10.9 million viewers and a 1.7 demo, it had the best Friday premiere in the demo since Malibu Country in 2012 and the best Friday premiere in total viewers since Blue Bloods in 2010. To put this in perspective, it beat every single Thursday show in viewers and every Thursday show except Grey's Anatomy in the demo. This was a huge premiere for CBS and shattered most people's expectations. CBS promoted this show a lot and it paid off. We'll see where it goes from here but it gave itself an awfully big cushion. It also helped Hawaii Five-0, which was one of the few returning shows up year-to-year, rising an impressive four tenths in the demo from last year's season premiere. The always steady Blue Bloods started its seventh season on par with last season at a solid 10.6 million viewers and 1.3 demo.

FOX had an OK start to its Friday lineup, or at least better than their Thursday start. At 8pm, Hell's Kitchen did OK for an 8pm Friday show with 3.4 million viewers and a 1.1 demo. It smashed the 8pm performance of Rosewood on Thursday and tied Last Man Standing and Shark Tank in the demo. It led into the series premiere of The Exorcist. At 2.9 million viewers and a 1.0 demo, it's the lowest performance yet for a newbie but it really could have been worse. However, I don't think the long term prospects for The Exorcist are good at all. This is a show that is inevitable to drop so I think we'll be seeing 0.6 and 0.7 demos before too long for this show. As I said before, I would still swap Hell's Kitchen and Rosewood so Pitch has a better lead-in on Thursdays.

It was a rocky night for ABC. At 8pm, Last Man Standing delivered an OK 6.0 million viewers and 1.1 demo for its season premiere. It was better than what followed because the season two of Dr. Ken tied a series low with a 0.9 demo. This seemed like it deserved to return last season but this is a weak start so ABC may have some problems with its Friday comedy lineup. Then at 9pm, Shark Tank returned very weakly to tie a series low in the demo set way back in 2009. This was showing some signs of age last year and it seems to have accelerated rapidly. It might be time for ABC to consider giving this show the Undercover Boss treatment and letting it rest for awhile before becoming a fill-in show. It has had a great run on Fridays for a long time but this is a bad sign. 20/20 was beaten by Dateline at 10pm.

WINNER OF THE NIGHT: MacGyver (CBS)
LOSER OF THE NIGHT: Shark Tank (ABC)