NBC’s primetime block was in perfect harmony Tuesday, with the Nielsen numbers posted by new songwriting competition series “Songland” and the Season 14 premiere of “America’s Got Talent” combining to hand the broadcast network an easy win in both the key 18-49 demographic and total viewers.
The Adam Levine-produced “Songland’s” premiere came in with a 1.2 rating, making it the highest-rated alternative summer series debut since the launch of ABC’s “Steve Harvey’s Funderdome,” which received a 1.3 in June 2017.
Meanwhile, “AGT” returned as the No. 1 primetime program across all of broadcast, but was down 29% percent compared to its year-ago season opener, earning a 1.7 versus the Season 13 premiere’s 2.4.
NBC was first in ratings with a 1.5 rating/7 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and in total viewers with an average of 8.4 million, according to preliminary numbers. At 8 p.m., “AGT” Season 14 premiered to a 1.7/8 and 9.7 million viewers. At 10, “Songland” debuted with a 1.2/6 and 5.9 million viewers.
ABC was second in ratings with a 0.8/4 and third in viewers with 3.4 million. Following an airing of the “The Lion King” (the 1994 animated version), the “1969” finale at 10 managed a 0.6/3 and 2.8 million viewers.
Fox was third in ratings with a 0.7/3 and fourth in viewers with 2.6 million. At 8, “MasterChef Junior” received a 0.8/4 and 3.1 million viewers. At 9, a second episode of the cooking competition had a 0.6/3 and 2.1 million viewers.
CBS was fourth in ratings with a 0.6/3 and second in viewers with 5.5 million. Following a pair of “NCIS” encores, “Blood & Treasure” at 10 settled for a 0.5/2 and 4.2 million viewers.
Telemundo and Univision tied for fifth in ratings, both with a 0.4/2. Univision was fifth in viewers with 1.240 million and Telemundo was sixth with 1.235 million.
The CW was seventh in ratings with a 0.2/1 and in viewers with 745,000. After a repeat, “The 100” got a 0.2/1 and 803,000 viewers.