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The “Abbott Elementary” Season 3 premiere amassed the biggest multiplatform premiere viewership the show has ever seen, TheWrap can reveal exclusively.
As viewers tuned in for the ABC sitcom’s return on Feb. 7, the episode drew in 5.91 million total viewers and a 1.84 rating in the key broadcast demo among adults 18-49, according to Nielsen live-plus-three-day and internal viewing data, which includes ABC and Hulu, among other platforms.
The Season 3 premiere viewership exceeded that of the Season 2 launch, which scored a three-day viewership of 5.82 million and a 1.83 rating. The Season 3 premiere also outpaced Season 2’s average viewership of 5.57 million by 6%, and grew over the average 1.78 rating brought in by Season 2 by 3%.
After initially scoring a total live-plus-same-day viewership of 2.81 million, the Season 3 premiere episode tallied an additional 3.10 million viewers when accounting for three-day multiplatform viewing, with the premiere’s live-plus-same-day rating of 0.48 similarly seeing a 283% uptick.
The premiere episode came on the heels of creator Quinta Brunson’s Emmy win for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series, and the show’s return was long-awaited — the debut was delayed due to the 2023 strikes.
Prior to the “Abbott Elementary” Season 3 launch, ABC’s Wednesday comedy lineup drew in an impressive crowd for returning shows “Not Dead Yet,” which added Brad Garrett as a new series regular to the Gina Rodriguez-led show’s second installment, and “The Conners,” which returned for its sixth season.
“The Conners” grew its live-plus-same-day viewership of 3.59 million to 4.94 million, and its initial rating of 0.41 to 0.72 when adding three-day multiplatform viewing.
On ABC alone, “The Conners” Season 6 debut scored 4.52 million, marking the most-watched telecast for any network sitcom this season in linear live-plus-three-day viewing data.
The “Not Dead Yet” premiere drew 3.93 million total viewers, per three-day multiplatform viewing — up from its live-plus-same-day viewership of 2.56 million — and scored a three-day rating of 0.67, doubling its initial rating of 0.32.
Three-day linear viewership brought the premiere to 3.35 million total viewers, marking the show’s biggest audience since Feb. 22, 2023 and posting a 8% increase over the average viewership of 3.09 million for the show’s first season.
