NBC started the fall season with a bang, taking the top spot in the 18-49 demographic most sought by advertisers with season premieres of its singing competition “The Voice” and the sophomore drama “The Blacklist.” Meanwhile, Fox’s new Batman prequel “Gotham” and CBS’s freshman drama “Scorpion” got off to strong starts, according to preliminary numbers.
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NBC took first place in the demo with a 3.7 rating/11 share and second in total viewers with 12.6 million. With intense competition from the season premiere of CBS’s “The Big Bang Theory” and Fox’s “Gotham,” “The Voice” season premiere at 8 p.m. was down sharply from last September’s premiere and hit a low for premieres. However, with a 3.9/9 it delivered its best numbers since March. The season premiere had 12.7 million total viewers.
“The Blacklist” at 10 drew a 3.4/10, down 11 percent from last year’s series premiere but up 31 percent from its May finale, and scored 12.5 million total viewers.
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CBS was second in ratings with a 3.5/10 and first in total viewers with 13.1 million. Back-to-back premiere episodes of “The Big Bang Theory” at 8 p.m. were the night’s top ratings-grabbers, scoring a 5.3/17 and 5.4/14, respectively, and collecting 17.8 million and 18 million total viewers. At 9, the “Scorpion” premiere drew a respectable 3.3/9 with 14 million total viewers, while “Under the Dome” the following hour posted a 1.8/5, down 36 percent from last fall’s season finale, and had 7.6 million total viewers.
Fox was third in ratings with a 2.6/7 and fourth in total viewers with 6.8 million. The premiere of “Gotham” at 8 drew a 3.2/10 with 8 million total viewers, while “Sleepy Hollow” the following hour posted a 2.0/5, down from its season finale in January, with 5.5 million total viewers.
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ABC took fourth place in ratings and third in total viewers with a 1.8/5 and 10.7 million. “Dancing With the Stars” at 8 fell off 17 percent from last week’s season premiere with a 2.0/6 and 8 million total viewers, while a preview of “Forever” at 10 had a 1.5/4 with 8.3 million total viewers.
The CW averaged a 0.3/1 with 1 million total viewers for the night. Following repeats of “Whose Line Is It Anyway,” “America’s Next Top Model” at 9 drew a 0.4/1, even with last week, and drew 1.2 million total viewers.