‘This Is Us’ Gets Premiere Week’s Biggest Delayed-Viewing Bump, Cements Spot as Top-Rated Scripted Series
NBC family drama finishes with a 3.35 rating in the demo
Reid Nakamura | October 9, 2019 @ 2:49 PM
Last Updated: October 9, 2019 @ 3:26 PM
Ron Batzdorff/NBC
The Season 4 debut of “This Is Us” scored big in delayed viewing, with the episode locking in its place as the number one scripted episode of broadcast premiere week.
The episode, which aired on Sept. 24, grew 82% across seven days of delayed viewing for a final rating of 3.35 among adults 18-49, according to Nielsen. The only entertainment program to perform better in this demo was the Season 2 premiere of “The Masked Singer,” which closed out the week with a 3.60 rating.
NBC had a strong start to the 2019-20 broadcast season thanks to reliable performers “This Is Us,” “The Voice” and “Sunday Night Football.” As expected, “SNF” came in as the week’s top-rated program overall, with a 7.86 rating among adults under 50.
In terms of total viewers, premiere week’s scripted winner was “NCIS” with 16.9 million over 13.0 million for “This Is Us.”
Although its audience may have been bigger, “This Is Us” didn’t see the biggest percentage growth of premiere week. That distinction belongs to ABC rookie “Stumptown,” which ballooned 141% across seven days of delayed viewing.
The private eye drama starring Cobie Smulders premiered on Sept. 25 to a 0.69 rating according to Nielsen’s live-plus-same-day numbers. But thanks to largely positive reviews and strong word of mouth, the show grew to a final 1.66 rating across the following week.
Other shows to see a strong lift included “The Good Doctor” (126%), “New Amsterdam” (119%), “How to Get Away With Murder” (114%), “Law & Order: SVU” (109%) and “Modern Family” (108%).
17 New Fall TV Shows Ranked by Premiere Viewers: From 'Batwoman' to 'Prodigal Son' (Photos)
Broadcast is back in session: Fall TV a.k.a. the kickoff to the traditional September-to-May season, began last month with CBS, NBC, Fox, ABC and The CW starting to premiere fresh seasons of their returning shows and debuting new series. To date, 17 new fall programs have premiered on the broadcast networks and we've got each of their starts charted by total viewers below. Find our summer version of these rankings here and the midseason list here.
Rank: 17 Show: "Nancy Drew" Net: The CW Total Viewers: 1.174 million
The CW
Rank: 16 Show: "Sunnyside" Net: NBC Total Viewers: 1.794 million
NBC
Rank: 15 Show: "Batwoman" Net: The CW Total Viewers: 1.799 million
The CW
Rank: 14 Show: "Bless the Harts" Net: Fox Total Viewers: 1.808 million
Fox
Rank: 13 Show: "Perfect Harmony" Net: NBC Total Viewers: 2.601 million
NBC
Rank: 12 Show: "Almost Family" Net: Fox Total Viewers: 2.951 million
Fox
Rank: 11 Show: "Mixed-ish" Net: ABC Total Viewers: 4.009 million
ABC
Rank: 10 Show: "Emergence" Net: ABC Total Viewers: 4.111 million
ABC
Rank: 9 Show: "Prodigal Son" Net: Fox Total Viewers: 4.180 million
Fox
Rank: 8 Show: "Stumptown" Net: ABC Total Viewers: 4.534 million
ABC
Rank: 7 Show: "Evil" Net: CBS Total Viewers: 4.618 million
CBS
Rank: 6 Show: "Bluff City Law" Net: NBC Total Viewers: 4.727 million
NBC
Rank: 5 Show: "Kids Say the Darndest Things" Net: ABC Total Viewers: 5.399 million
ABC
Rank: 4 Show: "Bob Hearts Abishola" Net: CBS Total Viewers: 5.876 million
CBS
Rank: 3 Show: "Carol's Second Act" Net: CBS Total Viewers: 5.965 million
CBS
Rank: 2 Show: "All Rise" Net: CBS Total Viewers: 6.006 million
CBS
Rank: 1 Show: "The Unicorn" Net: CBS Total Viewers: 6.007 million
CBS
1 of 18
Ratings are “Mixed-ish”
Broadcast is back in session: Fall TV a.k.a. the kickoff to the traditional September-to-May season, began last month with CBS, NBC, Fox, ABC and The CW starting to premiere fresh seasons of their returning shows and debuting new series. To date, 17 new fall programs have premiered on the broadcast networks and we've got each of their starts charted by total viewers below. Find our summer version of these rankings here and the midseason list here.