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%).