With a strong lead-in from "The Voice," NBC's new "Revolution" had the best premiere of any drama in three years as NBC cruised to an easy overall Monday win, according to preliminary numbers. Fox's "Mob Doctor," meanwhile, had a weak premiere against the second hour of "The Voice."
After "The Voice" increased 10 percent from its premiere last Monday, "Revolution" at 10 p.m. scored a 4.1/11 in the coveted 18-49 demographic. It was the highest rating of any drama premiere rating since ABC's now-canceled "V" had a 5.2 rating in October 2009. "Revolution" also had NBC's top-rated drama premiere since the September 2007 debut of the fast-canceled "Bionic Woman."
Also read: 'Revolution' Review: Built on Good Ideas but Needs Big Personalities
As the "V" and "Bionic Woman" cancelations show, initial tune-in from curious viewers doesn't always pay off long-term. But it's notable that "Revolution," from executive producers J.J. Abrams and Eric Kripke, had an original concept, while those shows had some built-in interest because they were reboots. "Revolution" imagines life after all power sources suddenly disappear.
Combined, "The Voice" and the "Revolution" premiere drove NBC to a commanding first place in ratings with a 4.4/12 in the 18-49 demo and in total viewers with 12.8 million. From 8 to 10, "The Voice" averaged a 4.6/12 and 13.4 million total viewers. "Revolution" averaged 11.7 million.
Fox took a distant second place in ratings and total viewers with a 1.9/5 in the demo and 6.5 million. The season premiere of "Bones" at 8 posted a 2.3/6 in the demo — down from last November's season premiere, which took a 2.7/6 — and received 7.8 million total viewers. The series premiere of "The Mob Doctor" the following hour took a fairly anemic 1.5/4 and 5 million total viewers.
ABC came in third in ratings and total viewers with a 1.7/4 and 6.2 million. The network ran "CMA Music Festival: Country's Night to Rock" throughout its primetime slate, and while ABC's numbers are approximate due to NFL preemptions, currently the CMA festival is running even with last year's mid-August telecast.
Univision grabbed fourth in the demo with a 1.6/4 and fifth in total viewers with 3.8 million.
CBS, which ran repeats Monday night, took fifth in ratings and fourth in total viewers with a 1.3/2 and 4.5 million.