- ABC’s acquisition of 9-1-1 pays off with a season 7 premiere audience high of over 5 million viewers.
- Despite not winning top viewership, 9-1-1 leads in key demo ratings, outperforming other shows on ABC that night.
- The cancellation of Station 19 , in favor of 9-1-1 , led to disappointing ratings for the former, setting series lows.
ABC can breathe a sigh of relief after the latest TV ratings courtesy of TV Line validate the decision to acquire 9-1-1, one of the most expensive shows to make. The 9-1-1 Season 7 premiere attracted a little over 5 million viewers, a two-and-a-half-year audience high for the show that averaged 4.6 million viewers last season. While it didn’t win the top spot for most viewers, an honor that went to Young Sheldon, it did win in the converted key demo with a 0.61 rating. It was the most-watched program on ABC on Thursday night and the third most-watched overall coming behind comedies Young Sheldon and Ghosts, both from CBS.
9-1-1 was acquired after Fox canceled the program but ABC swooped in. The move, however, led to the cancelation of Station 19 which had been fickling in ratings and viewership. Thursday night saw 9-1-1 lead ABC in ratings and slot time, followed by Grey’s Anatomy which drew 3.7 million viewers and a 0.5 key demo rating. Station 19 closed out the night both in viewership and time slot with the final season’s premiere episode attracting 2.8 million viewers and a 0.4 key demo rating. These numbers set series lows for the show, which doesn’t bode well for the revival efforts.
Thursday Nights Just Got A Little More Competitive
All the programs on ABC’s Thursday night lineup were returning for new seasons, meaning that shows from other networks enjoying a wide target audience faced competition. CBS was a comedy night with Young Sheldon losing some viewers but leading the night with 6.5 million viewers while Ghosts was watched by 5.5 million people. So Help Me Todd came in last with 4.2 million viewers. At NBC, Tony Goldwyn made his debut as the new Law and Order DA, and 4.1 million people tuned in. Law and Order: SVU was watched by 4.6 million people while Law & Order: Organized Crime had 3.4 million people audience. Fox’s unscripted shows had Next Level Chef with 1.7 million viewers and Farmer Wants A Wife was at 1.8 million.
9-1-1 will lead ABC’s Thursday nights starting at 8 PM ET, followed by Grey’s Anatomy, and Station 19‘s final season closing in the night. Watch the shows live or stream the new episodes the following day on Hulu.
