Fox’s ambitious but ratings-challenged freshman reality show “Utopia” managed to stop the bleeding Tuesday night, pulling even with last Tuesday’s broadcast, while ABC’s new comedies “Selfie” and “Manhattan Love Story” premiered to lukewarm numbers.
Meanwhile, NBC won the key demo for the night largely on the strength of “The Voice,” which held steady, while CBS was the most-watched network, according to preliminary numbers.
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“Utopia” scored a 0.8 rating/3 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic, steady with the previous week, and had 2 million total viewers, a slight improvement over last week.
ABC’s “Selfie” and “Manhattan Love Story,” meanwhile, premiered to a 1.4/5 and 1.3/4, respectively. Those numbers mark a 55 percent slide from last September’s season premiere of “The Goldbergs” and a 43 percent drop from last September’s season debut of “Trophy Wife.”
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NBC took first place in the 18-49 demo for the night with a 3.5/11 and was second in total viewers with 12 million. “The Voice” at 8 p.m. was the night’s top-rated show with a 4.0/13 and drew 13.5 million total viewers, while “Chicago Fire” experienced a minor downtick versus last week with a 2.4/7 and grabbed 9 million total viewers.
CBS was a distant second in ratings with a 2.2/7 but boasted the night’s highest total viewership with 15.3 million. “NCIS” at 8 dipped 10 percent from last week’s season premiere for a 2.6/9 and was the night’s most-watched show with 18.6 million, while the freshman spinoff “NCIS: New Orleans” at 9 saw just a minor dip from last week’s series premiere, posting a 2.3/7 with 16.4 million total viewers. “Person of Interest” the following hour inched up from last week’s premiere, climbing to a 1.8/6 with 10.8 million total viewers.
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ABC came in third in ratings and total viewers with a 1.5/5 and 4.9 million. After the “Selfie” and “Manhattan Love Story” premieres, which drew 4.9 million and 4.3 million total viewers respectively, “Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD” at 9 dropped 19 percent from last week’s season premiere to a series low of 1.7/5, with 4.5 million total viewers. “Forever” the following hour slid 28 percent from last week for a 1.3/4 and drew 5.6 million total viewers.
Univision was fourth in ratings and total viewers with a 1.1/3 and 2.9 million total viewers.
Fox drew fifth in ratings and total viewers with a 1.0/3 and 2.2 million. After “Utopia,” “New Girl” dipped a tenth from last week to a 1.2/4 but retained last week’s total viewership with 2.4 million. “The Mindy Project” at 9:30 climbed 10 percent for a 1.1/3 and saw identical growth in total viewers with 2.3 million.
The CW aired Part 2 of “iHeart Radio Music Festival ’14,” which posted a 0.4/1 — up 33 percent from Part 1 on Monday — and drew 995,000 total viewers.