Maybe Zach Braff should have stayed away from television for a little longer. OK, so thats admittedly too harsh, but the “Scrubs” alum’s new ABC series “Alex, Inc.” didn’t impress much with its premiere ratings.
To be fair to both Braff and ABC, the 8:30 p.m. sitcom had some stiff competition to contend with, including Fox’s return of “Empire.” Either way, the “Alex” debut finished last among the Big 4 networks in both ratings and total viewers.
Thanks to that “Empire” comeback, Fox was first last night in key demo ratings. With “Survivor” and “SEAL Team,” CBS ended up No. 1 in overall audience members.
Fox was first in ratings with a 1.7 rating/7 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic, but third in total viewers with an average of 5.4 million, according to preliminary numbers. “Empire” at 8 scored a 2.0/9 and 6.1 million viewers. “Star” at 9 put up a 1.5/6 and 4.7 million viewers.
CBS was second in ratings with a 1.2/5 and first in viewers with 7.1 million. “Survivor” at 8 posted a 1.7/7 and 8.1 million viewers. At 9, “SEAL Team” had a 1.0/4 and 6.5 million viewers. “Criminal Minds” at 10 got a 1.1/5 and 6.5 million viewers.
NBC was third in ratings with a 1.1/5 and in viewers with 5.7 million. Following a two-hour “Voice” encore at 8, a special tribute to Andrew Lloyd Webber at 10 received a 0.6/3 and 3.3 million viewers.
ABC was fourth in ratings with a 1.0/4 and in viewers with 4.4 million. “The Goldbergs” at 8 had a 1.4/6 and 5.4 million viewers. At 8:30, “Alex, Inc.” premiered to a 1.1/5 and 4.6 million viewers — those are somewhere between “not terrible” and “not bad.” At 9, “Modern Family” grew from its lead-in with a 1.4/6 and 5.3 million viewers. Following a rerun, 10 o’clock’s “Designated Survivor” managed a 0.7/3 and 3.8 million viewers.
Univision was fifth in ratings with a 0.5/2 and in viewers with 1.5 million.
Telemundo was sixth in ratings with a 0.4/2 and in viewers with 1.2 million.
The CW was seventh in ratings with a 0.2/1 and in viewers with 700,000. “Riverdale” at 8 had a 0.3/2 and 977,000 viewers. “Life Sentence” at 9 settled for a 0.1/1 and 424,000 viewers.