TV Ratings: ‘Blindspot’ Down, ‘Life In Pieces’ & ‘DWTS’ Rise Against ‘MNF’

Despite a packed schedule last night, the big play was not on the Big 4. With the world premiere of the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer during Monday Night Football’s halftime, the ESPN NFL flagship saw a double-digit ratings rise – even though the Philadelphia Eagles blasted the New York Giants 27-7. All of which is to say that MNF will be easily topping the TV landscape for last night. Adding to the sport cable mix, Monday also saw the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals 11-8 in Game 3 of the much-watched American League Championship Series.

So, on a night of no debuts on the networks or the CW, NBC was in first place among broadcasters Monday among adults 18-49 with a 2.7/8 rating. ABC was No. 1 with viewers with 10.49 million watching. While dipping 5% from last week in the demo, CBS’ The Big Bang Theory (3.7/12) was the top-rated and most watched (14.30 million) show of Monday that wasn’t guys in helmets on a field or featuring the Force.

If BBT took a slight downturn, the rest of CBS’ night went up. Coming off a ratings rut last week, freshman Life In Pieces (2.1/6) rose 17% last night. That’s the best the sitcom has done since the 2.6/9 of its September 21 debut. Lead-out Scorpion (1.8/5) bopped up 6% from its October 12 episode, while NCIS: LA (1.3/4) hit a season high with an 18% rise in 18-49s. With 8.74 million total viewers, NCIS: LA also hit an audience season high.

As the vet spinoff rose, the NBC breakout of the season saw a sharp decline. Coming off a weaker than usual The Voice (3.0/9), which was down 9% from last week, Blindspot fell 16% to hit a low. For a show that has seen big big delayed viewing results, that decline against big sports and a new look at the most anticipated movie of the year, if not the decade, may even out of sorts as Blindspot Live + 3 and Live + 7 numbers are released.

Speaking of sports, or rather the NFL to be specific, the CW was preempted in NYC because of the Giants-Eagles game. Which means that while both Crazy E-Girlfriend (0.4/1) and Jane The Virgin (0.5/1) were up a tenth from their respective series premiere and Season 2 premiere last week, those number are likely inflated and unreliable.

Fox saw Gotham (1.3/4) and Minority Report (0.6/2) down 13% and 14%, respectively. That’s a season low for the Batman backstory in early numbers, which saw a certain fiery villain make her debut. For the struggling TV series based on the 2002 Steven Spielberg movie, that’s not just a low but the worst any show on the Big 4 has done this season. As for Gotham, it might see a harder caped road ahead with the debut of fellow WBTVer Supergirl next week on CBS.

With a rise of 12% in the demo, Dancing With The Stars (1.9/6) hit its best result since its September 14 season debut. The high steps didn’t continue for lead-out Castle (1.1/3), which was even with it series low of October 12.