RATINGS RECAP: 12/7/16

ABC
8:00 The Goldbergs
Viewers: 5.4 million, 18-49 demo: 1.5
8:30 Speechless
Viewers: 4.6 million, 18-49 demo: 1.3
9:00 Modern Family (Repeat)
Viewers: 4.3 million, 18-49 demo: 1.2
9:30 Black-ish
Viewers: 4.2 million, 18-49 demo: 1.2
10:00 Designated Survivor
Viewers: 5.2 million, 18-49 demo: 1.1

CBS
8:00 Survivor
Viewers: 8.5 million, 18-49 demo: 1.7
9:00 Criminal Minds
Viewers: 7.8 million, 18-49 demo: 1.3
10:00 Code Black
Viewers: 6.8 million, 18-49 demo: 1.1

NBC
8:00 Hairspray Live!
Viewers: 9.1 million, 18-49 demo: 2.3

FOX
8:00 Lethal Weapon
Viewers: 6.3 million, 18-49 demo: 1.4
9:00 Empire
Viewers: 7.0 million, 18-49 demo: 2.5

CW
8:00 Arrow
Viewers: 1.9 million, 18-49 demo: 0.7
9:00 Frequency
Viewers: 0.9 million, 18-49 demo: 0.2

Wednesday night was musical night for NBC as their fourth annual live musical, Hairspray Live, aired to mixed results. While it was a solid performance, it was the worst for an NBC live musical, falling behind 2014's Peter Pan Live! It was well below both last year's The Wiz and FOX's Grease Live in January. This is by no means a disaster and NBC already has Bye Bye Birdie Live with Jennifer Lopez planned for next December, but they put so much into this and I'm sure they would have been much happier with numbers much closer to The Wiz. On FOX, Lethal Weapon was down a tenth in viewers and two tenths in the demo for a series low while Empire fell eight tenths in viewers and a rough four tenths in the demo, also hitting a series low. The trajectory for Empire is pretty troubling and that doesn't bode all that well for next week's sneak peek of Star airing behind the 8pm fall finale of Empire.

Despite an underwhelming performance from Hairpsray, there was still major carnage elsewhere with tons of series lows hit. On ABC, The Goldbergs was down six tenths in viewers and two tenths in the demo for its worst performance since season one in 2013-14. At 8:30pm, Speechless was down four tenths in viewers and two tenths in the demo. Modern Family very well might have dipped into the 1s for the first time ever had it been new, but it was a repeat so it sent lead-out Black-ish tumbling 1.2 million viewers and a rough half a demo point for a series low. At 10pm, Designated Survivor was down three tenths in viewers and two tenths in the demo, also hitting a series low. On CBS, Survivor was down four tenths in viewers and two tenths in the demo. Criminal Minds was up four tenths in viewers but down a tenth in the demo, tying a series low. Of all the regular broadcast shows, the only show to rise from last week was surprisingly Code Black, which was up nine tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo. It actually tied Designated Survivor in the demo. Could it be having another late push for a renewal when all hope seems lost?

WINNER OF THE NIGHT: Code Black (CBS)
LOSER OF THE NIGHT: Black-ish (ABC)