Hannah B. met her boys — and some modest ratings — on Monday night, when the Season 15 premiere of “The Bachelorette” hit a record low for the “Bachelor” franchise’s season debuts. The episode was down 7% in the key adults 18-49 demo from its previous premiere last summer and down 15% in total viewers.
But those lower-than-usual numbers still landed the reality dating staple the title of highest-rated show for the evening, tied with Fox’s “9-1-1” Season 2 finale, with both topping NBC’s “The Voice.”
And we should note that last year’s premiere of “The Bachelorette” aired on Memorial Day, meaning it did not have the hit singing competition to contend with for that launch.
ABC and NBC tied for first in ratings with a 1.0 rating in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic (ABC had a 5 share, NBC got a 4 share), according to preliminary numbers. NBC was first in viewers with 6.3 million and ABC was third with 3.95 million.
For NBC, “The Voice” at 8 p.m. landed a 1.1/5 and 7.6 million viewers. At 10, “The Enemy Within” managed a 0.6/3 and 3.8 million viewers.
For ABC, “The Bachelorette” Season 15 premiere at 8 scored a 1.3/6 and 4.7 million viewers. At 10, “The Fix” settled for a 0.4/2 and 2.5 million viewers.
Fox was third in ratings with a 0.9/4 and fourth in viewers with 3.9 million. At 8, “9-1-1” ended its second season with a 1.3/6 and 6.3 million viewers. At 9, “Paradise Hotel” closed primetime with a 0.4/2 and 1.4 million viewers.
CBS was fourth in ratings with a 0.7/3 and second in viewers with 6.1 million. Following back-to-back sitcom reruns, “The Code” at 9 received a 0.6/3 and 5.6 million viewers. At 10, the “Bull” season finale had a 0.7/3 and 7.1 million viewers.
Univision and Telemundo tied for fifth in ratings, both with a 0.5/2. Telemundo was fifth in viewers with 1.34 million and Univision was sixth with 1.29 million.
The CW was seventh in ratings with a 0.3/1 and in viewers with 982,000. At 8, “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” got a 0.3/1 and 1 million viewers. At 9, the “Arrow” season finale took a 0.2/1 and 927,000 viewers.