NBC may have won the overall ratings rate during Premiere Week, but Fox isn’t exactly suffering a primetime-TV ratings emergency.
For the opening week of the 2021-22 TV season, including available DVR viewing, Fox had the top drama, the top comedy and the top unscripted series on the broadcast airwaves. Wanna pause here and see if you can guess those shows?
We’ll wait.
With a 1.5 rating in the key adults 18-49 demographic, the Season 5 premiere of “9-1-1” was the week’s highest-rated drama, according to Nielsen’s Live + 7 Day ratings.
Why do those extra seven days matter so much? The “9-1-1” premiere added 0.72 ratings points (or 933,000 viewers in that important age range) in the week following its airing, which is the largest increase for any telecast on any network in the last four months.
It’s important to point out here that we only have a full seven days of delayed viewing for programs that aired Monday, Sept. 20, like “9-1-1” and CBS’ “NCIS” shows. So, in theory, a “Chicago” show could still end up overtaking “9-1-1” when a few more days of catch-up viewing are tallied.
The week’s top comedy was also primetime’s longest-running: “The Simpsons.” The animated show’s 33rd season premiere on Sunday drew a 1.2, according to Nielsen’s “most current” ratings metric, which in this case counts just one day of delayed viewing. That one benefitted quite a bit from Fox’s late-afternoon NFL game and its postgame show “The OT” serving as its direct lead-in for the east-coast markets.
Finally, we can unmask Premiere Week’s No. 1 unscripted series. Right, you get it, it’s “The Masked Singer,” which earned a 1.7 with its Season 6 opening episode. The way Nielsen’s reporting works, that number has five days of (mostly) DVR viewing included. (See who was eliminated on the Season 6 premiere episode of “The Masked Singer” here.)
“Coming off back-to-back season wins as the No. 1 network, it’s gratifying to see fans return to Fox for some of the most engaging storytelling on television, created by some of the most talented auspices in the business,” President of Fox Entertainment Michael Thorn and President of Alternative Entertainment and Specials Rob Wade said in a joint statement to TheWrap. “As we continue this momentum and move deeper into the season, we will build on the strength of our schedule with even more all-new distinct and compelling dramas, comedies, unscripted and animated series.”
Not to fact-check Michael and Rob too hard, but Fox actually tied NBC last season in the key ratings demo. The network did finish first (alone) for the 2019-20 season.
