Just because it’s a holiday doesn’t mean we have to watch reruns.
An original “American Ninja Warrior” dropped a new “Bachelor in Paradise” last night, leading to a Labor Day victory for NBC. Monday actually marked the first time this summer that “Ninja Warrior” bested the “Bachelor” spinoff in the key 18-49 demographic. They’ve tied once before.
At the time of this publishing, the only Nielsen numbers available were for the English-language broadcast networks — so we ranked just those. Don’t get used to it, CW.
NBC was first in ratings with a 1.2 rating in the advertiser-coveted demo and in total viewers with an average of 5.2 million, according to preliminary numbers. Beginning at 8 p.m., “American Ninja Warrior” scored a 1.5 rating/5 share and 6.2 million viewers. “Midnight, Texas” at 10 had a 0.7/3 and 3 million viewers.
ABC was second in ratings with a 1.1 and third in viewers with 3.9 million. “Bachelor in Paradise” at 8 had a 1.3 and 4.4 million total viewers. A repeat followed.
CBS and Fox tied for third in ratings, both with a 0.6. CBS was second in total viewers with 4.3 million, Fox was fourth with 2.6 million.
All CBS ran was some repeats and its “Fall TV Preview” at 8:30, which got a 0.8 and 5.2 million viewers.
Fox only aired “So You Think You Can Dance,” which received the aforementioned numbers.
The CW was fifth in ratings with a 0.2 and in viewers with 887,000, airing just reruns.