“Black Lightning” scored a thunderous debut on Tuesday, drawing The CW’s best series premiere in two years.
Even so, the best The CW could muster was a fourth-place tie in the key 18-49 demographic — and that only happened because parent network CBS was in reruns. To be fair, The CW is the youngest-skewing of the broadcast networks, and tends to measure its own success among adults 18-34.
NBC was first in ratings with a 2.1 rating/8 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and in total viewers with an average of 8.8 million, according to preliminary numbers. “Ellen’s Game of Games” at 8 landed a 2.2/8 and 8.8 million viewers. “This Is Us” at 9 scored a 2.5/9 and 9.8 million viewers. At 10, “Chicago Med” received a 1.5/6 and 7.9 million viewers.
Fox was second in ratings with a 1.0/4 and third in viewers with 3.8 million. “Lethal Weapon” at 8 had a 1.2/4 and 5 million viewers. At 9, “LA to Vegas” got a 0.9/3 and 2.8 million viewers. “The Mick” at 9:30 closed Fox’s primetime to a 0.8/3 and 2.3 million viewers.
ABC was third in ratings with a 0.9/3 and fourth in viewers with 3.6 million. “The Middle” at 8 had a 1.4/5 and 6.1 million viewers. At 8:30, “Fresh Off the Boat” got a 1.0/4 and 3.9 million viewers. “Black-ish” at 9 received a 1.0/4 and 3.8 million viewers. Following a rerun, “Kevin (Probably) Saves the World” managed a 0.6/2 and 2.6 million viewers.
CBS and The CW tied for fourth in ratings, both with a 0.8/3. CBS was second in total viewers with 8.1 million, The CW was fifth with 2.4 million.
For The CW, “The Flash” at 8 had a 0.8/3 and 2.5 million viewers. At 9, “Black Lightning” got a 0.8/3 and 2.3 million viewers — both of which are the best for a CW series debut since “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” started.
Univision and Telemundo tied for sixth in ratings, both with a 0.5/2. Univision was sixth in total viewers with 1.6 million, Telemundo was seventh with 1.4 million.