TV Ratings: ‘America’s Got Talent’ Returns, ‘World Of Dance’ Debuts Strong

There were no NBA or NHL playoff games on TV last night, but with the return of America’s Got Talent (2.6/10) and the debut of World Of Dance (2.4/9), the competition for summer glory was fierce – even if it took longer than expected to get the ratings this morning.

As NBC rolled out it seasonal heavyweight featuring Simon Cowell, Mel B, Heidi Klum and Howie Mandel plus new host Tyra Banks, last night’s AGT Season 12 opener was owned by 12-year old ventriloquist Darci Lynne Farmer. Up against a singing Donald Trump impersonator, a sad clown called Puddles Pity Party, and an appearance by Cowell’s 3-year-old son at the Pasadena-based auditions, Farmer certainly succeed in her desire to keep the talent alive, at least going into the live round.

AGT also succeeded in exactly matching the results of its May 31, 2016 Season 11 opener among adults 18-49, a rare feat in today’s TV universe. In NBC’s eyes, the show topped that by pulling in 12.1 million viewers last night from 8-10 PM. That’s up 4% from last year to hit the series’ best season premiere viewership number since the 15.3 million who tuned in for the Season 6 opener in 2011.

With a set-up like that, the stage was set for the Jennifer Lopez-led World Of Dance to strut its stuff – and the new NBC series did just that. Holding on to 92% of the demo from its night-topping AGT lead-in, and with numbers that would impress in any time of year, World Of Dance delivered the net a 50% surge in the 10 PM time slot from last summer when variety show Maya & Marty debuted May 31. WoD attracted 9.7 million total viewers.

The only net with a full night of originals, NBC easily won Tuesday with a 2.5/10 rating and 11.3 million viewers.

Meanwhile, the latest revival of Prison Break (0.9/3) came to an end on Fox last night. Filled with reunions in the free world and behind bars, the finale of the nine-episode incarnation of the Wentworth Miller- and Dominic Purcell-led series was up 26% from last week. That’s even with the show’s May 16 episode.

ABC’s only originals of the night were Downward Dog (0.7/3) and the now-canceled Imaginary Mary (0.6/2), with the former down 30% in the demo from last week and the finale of the latter down two-tenths from its last new show May 16. CBS’ 48 Hours: NCIS (0.5/2) was also down a tenth from last week, while the CW’s iZombie (0.3/1) was even.