CBS continued to reign in the prime-time ratings race in the second week of the new fall season. And that was even without its new smash hit, “Young Sheldon,” whose Sept. 25 preview was watched by more than 17 million viewers. (“Young Sheldon” won’t be back until November.)
According to Nielsen, CBS’ sitcom “9JKL” was the week’s strongest series premiere, ranking 22nd and drawing 8.2 million viewers (although the Linda Lavin comedy shed nearly 6 million of the 14 million viewers who were tuned to its powerhouse lead-in, “The Big Bang Theory”). In their second airings, CBS’ “SEAL Team” remained strong with 8.39 million viewers, as did its “Wisdom of the Crowd,” with 7.84 million.
ABC’s “The Good Doctor” stayed healthy in its second week with 10.9 million viewers, to seize 10th place. NBC’s revived “Will & Grace” drew a solid 7.1 million viewers in what was likewise its second airing.
But other premiering series didn’t fare so well. Fox’s “The Gifted” debuted with a puny 4.86 million viewers, while on ABC, “Kevin (Probably) Saves the World” scored only 4.17 million and “The Mayor” could claim just 4.09 million viewers.
Overall for the week, CBS averaged 8.61 million viewers, while NBC had 7.36 million viewers. ABC had 5.3 million, Fox had 4.47 million, Univision had 1.48 million, Telemundo had 1.43 million, ION Television had 1.11 million and the CW had 780,000.
ESPN was the most popular cable network, averaging 3.61 million in prime time. Fox News Channel had 2.39 million and TBS had 2.29 million. ABC’s “World News Tonight” remained the top evening newscast with an average of 8.5 million.
NBC’s “Nightly News” had 8.2 million and “CBS Evening News” had 6.5 million.
Below are primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Oct. 2-8. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.
1. NFL Football: Kansas City at Houston, NBC, 16.53 million.
2. NFL Football: New England at Tampa Bay, CBS, 15.43 million.
3. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 14.04 million.
4. “NCIS,” CBS, 13.51 million.
5. “The OT,” Fox, 12.89 million.
6. NFL Football: Washington at Kansas City, ESPN, 12.03 million.
7. “Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick,” NBC, 12.56 million.
8. “This is Us,” NBC, 11.06 million.
9. “The Voice” (Monday), NBC, 11.04 million.
10. “The Good Doctor,” ABC, 10.88 million.
11. “Bull,” CBS, 10.79 million.
12. “The Voice” (Tuesday), NBC, 10.42 million.
13. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 10.24 million.
14. “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 9.49 million.
15. “Football Night in America,” NBC, 9.28 million.
16. “NCIS: New Orleans,” CBS, 9.23 million.
17. “Dancing With the Stars,” ABC, 9.01 million.
18. “Thursday Night NFL Pre-Kick,” CBS, 8.98 million.
19. “Hawaii Five-0,” CBS, 8.53 million.
20. “NCIS: Los Angeles,” 8.46 million.