The ratings power of crossovers was in full display last night with big returns for a Frozen-themed Once Upon A Time and a The Simpsons-flavored Family Guy.
Frozen bestowed some of its box-office magic on ABC’s Once Upon A Time. Kicking off its hyped Frozen arc, Once opened its fourth season with a 3.4 fast national rating among adults 18-49 and 9.3 million viewers. That was up 31% in 18-49 from last fall’s Season 3 premiere and 48% from the two-hour May finale, earning the fairytale drama’s best numbers in nearly two years. Given Frozen’s huge popularity among younger moviegoers, Once not surprisingly hit series highs with teens and kids.
The momentum did not carry over to the rest of ABC’s Sunday dramas. The second-season debut of Resurrection at 9 PM posted a respectable 2.2 in 18-49 but that was down 42% from the drama’s series premiere in March. Things got bleaker at 10 PM where Revenge drew a 1.4, down 39% from last fall’s opener.
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Just like CBS did last Sunday, Fox kicked off its new fall lineup with some help from football. The NFL lead-in and possibly the buzz surrounding the demise of a character boosted The Simpsons (3.9), up 34% from last fall’s season premiere.
The Simpsons also helped Family Guy take a leap at 9 PM. The hourlong Simpsons Guy crossover episode of Seth MacFarlane’s animated comedy delivered a 4.5 in 18-49, up a big 73% from last fall’s season premiere and the series’ highest-rated episode in four years.
Sandwiched between the two highly rated animated comedies, Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2.6) did OK, matching its series premiere last fall but failing to capitalize on its larger lead-in.
With no football lead-in, CBS’ Sunday lineup fell from last week. As expected, the drop was steepest at 7 PM, with 60 Minutes (1.1) off by 69% from last Sunday, when it directly followed the game. The 30% second-week drop for Madam Secretary (1.4) at 8 PM was more disconcerting. The DC drama very quickly has declined to ratings levels its companion The Good Wife took several seasons to slip to. Speaking of The Good Wife (1.3), it was down just a fraction, -7% from its season premiere last week. Veteran CSI made its debut in its new Sunday 10 PM slot with a 1.4, down -30% from last season’s premiere.
Madam Secretary did far better in total viewers (12.7 million), holding onto 86% of its premiere audience and ranking as the night’s most watched program. The Good Wife (11.2 million) actually added 140,000 viewers from its season premiere last week.
Despite a 24-0 blowout by halftime, NBC won the night with Sunday Night Football. In metered markets, last night’s New Orleans Saints-Dallas Cowboys game averaged a 13.7 household rating from 8:30-11 PM. That was up 11% from last Sunday’s game and 5% from last year’s Cowboys-Saints SNF faceoff in November.
It’s worth noting that last year’s premiere of Revenge aired an hour earlier at 9:00pm. It only switched time slots in March to make way for Resurrection.
Makes no sense. Nielsen is the biggest scam on TV.
Enjoy Nielsen while you can. The future is Netflix and Amazon, who have no motive to release viewing data at all. They’ll renew or cancel shows and we’ll never know why (other than trusting that they can tell with 100% accuracy who is watching what on their own service). Still too early for the bitching to commence, but sooner or later, Netflix will cancel something that will make fans howl.
What are you finding nonsensical?
Once Upon A Time is going to have a big year with the FROZEN storyline. A 3.4 is OMG good. That is ABC’s 6th show this week to top a 3.0 demo and they only had one show below a 1.5, Revenge. ABC is killing it.
Wonder how big Dancing With The Stars and the return of CASTLE will be on Monday?
I’ve said it before, but I hate what FOX is doing to their Sunday night line up this year. Yet, the half hour between Simpsons and Family Guy now gives me a window to go to the bathroom, take the dog, maybe fix a bag of popcorn. So I guess I can’t be entirely mad.
Curious why do you hate B99 this much? Not that you have to love it but this seems extreme?
I don’t care for it because it seems so intent on not being like police squad or sledgehammer and by doing so it’s just not very funny.
I don’t like it because it’s not supposed to be on Sunday nights. Fox Sunday nights are nicknamed ‘Animation Domination’ for a reason and B99 isn’t it.
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Coat
The Good Wife is not just the best show on network TV, it’s one of the best shows on TV, period.
Look, everyone knows MADAM SECRETARY is gonna skew old, just as GOOD WIFE does. 12.7m in total viewers is nothing to sneeze at, especially in such a competitive time slot. CBS might have been smarter in putting the vet CSI at 8 and MADAM at 10, and the pilot was necessarily top-heavy with exposition and a ton of characters to introduce, but I still believe it’s in no real danger as long as the net remembers who its audience is and remains patient, especially after football ends.
I turnedit off. I ffelt like I was watching cable news
Nielsen’s fake ratings. The Biggest joke in the industry.
Absolutely loving The Good Wife! The best show on TV!
“Sandwiched between the two highly rated animated comedies, Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2.6) did OK, matching its series premiere last fall but failing to capitalize on its larger lead-in.”
It certainly capitalized on its lead-in. Brooklyn Nine-Nine ended last season with a 1.3, so The Simpsons helped it double its last 18-49 rating.
“The second-season debut of Resurrection at 9 PM posted a respectable 2.2 in 18-49 but that was down 42% from the drama’s series premiere in March.”
But that’s up from its May finale, which got 2.1. Also, Revenge was even with its May finale.
Why did you compare Once’s ratings to its May finale, but not the other two ABC shows, or anything else?
I barely heard a thing about resurrection coming on. Heard about OUAT over and over. I would have dvr’d resurrection if I had known. ABC should have spent some money advertising on Ressurection.
It’s funny that hardly any of you are talking about family guy/Simpsons crossover because you are probably just like me, you just don’t care! Apparently, neither does fox!
The David Clarke angle they’re playing on Revenge is totally and completely unrealistic. This was my favorite show but I have no idea what the writers are thinking now. Madam Secretary is solid. B-99 was fantastic, as was the latter half of season one.
There has been zero promotion for Resurrection. Do they want it to go on or not?
“As expected, the drop was steepest at 7 PM, with 60 Minutes (1.1) off by 69% from last Sunday, when it directly followed the game.”
Hmmm, and what was the centerpiece of that show? Oh, it was an interview with Obama? Funny how that wasn’t mentioned…