‘Gotham’, ‘Scorpion’ Ratings Up In Return From Break; ‘Bachelor’ Slips In Season Premiere; ‘Apprentice’ Solid In Slot Debut

The broadcast networks have been very quick in turning on the lights after the holidays this year, with the Big 4 switching to all-originals on Sunday. The strategy has paid off with a second night of pretty solid ratings overall, an indication that there is strong appetite for new programming after the break.

The entire CBS and Fox Monday lineups came back from hiatus higher. CBS’ 2 Broke Girls (2.4 in adults 18-49), Scorpion (2.4) and NCIS: LA (1.9) were up +14%, +22% and +19%, respectively, from their most recent originals on Dec. 15. At 8:30 PM, recent Monday returnee Mike & Molly (2.2), which stayed in originals over the holidays, was up +22% from last week to log season highs in the demo as well as total viewers (9.6 million). 2 Broke Girls and NCIS: LA also drew their largest audience of the season,  9.1 million and 11.6 million, respectively. Both series matched 18-49 season highs.

Fox’s Gotham (2.5) was up +9% from its fall finale on Nov. 24 to hit a three-month high. Sleepy Hollow (1.6) was up +7% from its most recent original on Dec. 1.

The Celebrity Apprentice continues to impress in its return after a two-year break. Likely helped by the Bill Cosby controversy in the season premiere that made the rounds on the Web yesterday, the veteran reality series regular slot premiere last night drew a 2.1 in 18-49 from 8-10 PM. That was down a modest -9% from the solid season debut on Sunday, with both of Celebrity Apprentice’s first two episodes outrating every episodes of the series’ most recent season, which aired in the spring of 2013 on Sunday.

ABC debutted the latest cycle of its own veteran reality series The Bachelor (2.2) from 8-11 PM. It was down -19% from last season’s premiere on Jan. 6 2014 when it didn’t face all-original competition on the other major networks, tying a series low in Live + Same Day and lowest premiere rating ever. Still a solid outing for the dating show, which helped ABC tie CBS for the No.1 spot on the night among adults 18-49.

The only disappointing delivery last night came from State of Affairs (1.0) at 10 PM. The freshman NBC drama did not take advantage of its solid lead-in from Celebrity Apprentice and was even with its most recent original on Dec. 22, tying its lowest rating to date in Live + Same Day.

Like it does in the fall, the CW will start rolling its midseason lineup after its Big 4 counterparts. It aired reruns last night.