“Modern Family” brought in the scares, tears, and Nielsen ratings for ABC Wednesday night, thanks to its much-teased Halloween episode, “Good Grief,” which featured the death of a long-running character on the Steve Levitan-created sitcom.
The spooktacularly sad installment saw a rise in overnight numbers for the ABC comedy, which grew in both total viewers (5.2 million vs. 5.0 million) and the all-important adults 18-49 range (1.5 rating/6 share vs. 1.3/5) compared to last week’s episode.
But the increase was not enough to land the broadcaster higher than third in ratings and fourth in viewers for the evening. The heavyweight title for the night’s ratings fight in both measures went to Fox, which easily slide into a Wednesday win with Game 2 of the World Series.
Due to the nature of live sports, the below fast-national Nielsen numbers for Fox should be considered subject to significant adjustment. According to the earlier-available (but more accurate for Fox, in this case) overnight ratings, Game 2 slipped 4 percent from last year’s comparable contest.
In a very far second was NBC, with its block of Dick Wolf dramas. “Chicago Med” was the most-watched show on the Big 4 broadcasters during primetime — so not counting the World Series, here — with that drama and its companion series “Chicago Fire” tying for first as the night’s top drama in the key demo.
Fox was first in ratings with a 2.8 rating/11 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and in total viewers with an average of 11.5 million, according to preliminary numbers. Game 2 ran throughout primetime.
NBC was second in ratings with a 1.3/5 and in viewers with 7.3 million. At 8 p.m., “Chicago Med” landed a 1.3/5 and 7.8 million viewers. “Chicago Fire” at 9 put up a 1.3/5 and 7.6 million viewers. At 10, “Chicago P.D.” ended the drama lineup with a 1.2/5 and 6.6 million viewers.
ABC was third in ratings with a 1.1/5 and fourth in viewers with 4.2 million. At 8, “The Goldbergs” received a 1.3/6 and 5 million viewers. At 8:30, “American Housewife” got a 1.1/4 and 4.3 million viewers. “Modern Family” at 9 scored a 1.5/6 and 5.2 million viewers. “Single Parents” at 9:30 had a 1.1/4 and 3.8 million viewers. At 10, freshman drama “A Million Little Things” managed a 0.8/4 and 3.5 million viewers.
CBS was fourth in ratings with a 1.0/4 and third in viewers with 5.7 million. At 8, “Survivor” earned a 1.4/6 and 7.4 million viewers. “SEAL Team” at 9 settled for a 0.8/3 and 5.4 million viewers. At 10, “Criminal Minds” took a 0.7/3 and 4.3 million viewers.
Telemundo was fifth in ratings with a 0.5/2 and sixth in viewers with 1.29 million.
Univision and The CW tied for sixth in ratings with a 0.4/2 and 0.4/1, respectively.
Univision was fifth in viewers with 1.34 million.
The CW was seventh in viewers with 1.1 million. At 8, “Riverdale” came in with a 0.5/2 and 1.4 million viewers. At 9, “All American” managed a 0.3/1 and 787,000 viewers.