RATINGS RECAP: 1/26/17

ABC
8:00 Grey's Anatomy
Viewers: 9.6 million, 18-49 demo: 2.6
9:00 Scandal
Viewers: 7.6 million, 18-49 demo: 2.0
10:00 How to Get Away with Murder
Viewers: 5.4 million, 18-49 demo: 1.5

CBS
8:00 The Big Bang Theory (Repeat)
Viewers: 9.4 million, 18-49 demo: 1.6
8:30 Mom (Repeat)
Viewers: 7.0 million, 18-49 demo: 1.2
9:00 Mary Tyler Moore: Love is All Around
Viewers: 6.6 million, 18-49 demo: 0.8
10:00 Pure Genius
Viewers: 5.2 million, 18-49 demo: 0.7

NBC
8:00 Superstore (Repeat)
Viewers: 2.8 million, 18-49 demo: 0.7
8:30 Superstore (Repeat)
Viewers: 2.4 million, 18-49 demo: 0.7
9:00 Chicago Med (Repeat)
Viewers: 4.0 million, 18-49 demo: 0.8
10:00 The Blacklist (Repeat)
Viewers: 2.5 million, 18-49 demo: 0.5

FOX
8:00 Hell's Kitchen
Viewers: 4.0 million, 18-49 demo: 1.2
9:00 My Kitchen Rules
Viewers: 2.2 million, 18-49 demo: 0.7

CW
8:00 Supernatural
Viewers: 1.7 million, 18-49 demo: 0.6
9:00 Riverdale
Viewers: 1.4 million, 18-49 demo: 0.5

On Thursday night, the TGIT gang got back together for the first time since last March. The results were pretty good but there are some warning signs. The best performance came from Grey's Anatomy, which aired for the first time since November and surged 1.6 million viewers and four tenths in the demo for a season high. At 9pm was the heavily promoted return of Scandal, but I would say it was an underwhelming performance. This was well below the season five premiere and even a tenth below its winter return last year. For all the hype for Scandal's return, this is an alarming sign in my opinion as the wind is coming out of its sails. I think it might be time for ABC to think about an end game for Scandal, maybe an announced final season for next year? I'm not sure that will happen but I'd hate to see this once hot show wither away to nothing. At 10pm, How to Get Away with Murder was up four tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo, also hitting a season high.

The CW had its last series premiere with Riverdale, but first up, Supernatural moved to the 8pm slot and was down a tenth in viewers and the demo. Then Riverdale premiered to a very modest 1.4 million viewers and 0.5 demo. This was on par with the No Tomorrow premiere and just above the Frequency premiere. Considering how bad those shows bombed in the fall, this was a pretty weak start. It's good CW got Supergirl from CBS because their new freshmen have been weak. We'll see where Riverdale goes from here but CW had to be hoping for better. On CBS, a special on Mary Tyler Moore was old skewing but did well in total viewers. It was followed by the season (and most certainly series) finale of Pure Genius, which was down a tenth in viewers and the demo. Finally on FOX, Hell's Kitchen was up a tenth in viewers and down a tenth in the demo while My Kitchen Rules was down three tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo.

WINNER OF THE NIGHT: Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
LOSER OF THE NIGHT: Riverdale (CW)