Updated 9:51 a.m. PT: Final ratings from Nielsen have “The Orville” adjusting up to a 1.5 rating in the key demo and 5.6 million total viewers, up 67 percent in the first measure and 56 percent in the second, compared to the Season 1 final in December 2017.
Previously: The Season 2 premiere of Seth MacFarlane’s “The Orville” came in with a nice landing on Fox Sunday night, beaming up larger Nielsen numbers than the ones it posted for its first year finale. However, the debut of the sci-fi dramedy’s sophomore year didn’t come anywhere close to touching the show’s 2017 series premiere, according to early numbers.
Following Fox’s NFL doubleheader, the second season premiere of “The Orville” — which was broadcast at the same time across the country (8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT), with a rebroadcast at 8 p.m. PT on the West Coast — scored a 1.3 rating among the all-important adults 18-49 range and 4.7 million total viewers.
That’s up 44 percent compared to the show’s Season 1 finale last December (0.9 rating) and 31 percent in overall eyeballs (3.6 million). However, the Season 2 start is down from the series’ launch in September 2017, which ran following an NFL overrun at 8 p.m. and scored a 2.7 rating and 8.6 million viewers.
Meanwhile on NBC, last night’s “Sunday Night Football” game was the final one of 2018, and though the numbers put up by the Indianapolis Colts’ win over the Tennessee Titans carried the broadcaster to another win in both the key 18-49 demo and total viewers, this game was down from the NFL’s outing last Sunday.
NBC was first in ratings with a 3.3 rating/14 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and in total viewers with an average of 11.9 million, according to preliminary numbers. That was all due to “Sunday Night Football” and its pregame show.
Fox was second in ratings with a 1.7/7 and third in viewers with 5.9 million. An NFL overrun at 7 p.m. scored a 3.2/13 and 11.3 million viewers. After “The Orville” at 8 p.m. put up the above numbers and a 5 share, the network aired back-to-back reruns.
CBS was third in ratings with a 1.4/6 and second in viewers with 7.6 million. An NFL overrun at 7 p.m. earned a 3.8/16 and 16 million viewers. At 7:30, the first half of “60 Minutes” posted a 3.4/14 and 15.5 million viewers. The end of “60 Minutes” at 8 had a 1.4/6 and 8.9 million viewers. CBS filled the rest of its primetime block with encores.
ABC was fourth in ratings with a 0.7/3 and in viewers with 3.9 million, airing all repeats.
Univision and Telemundo tied for fifth in ratings with a 0.3/1.
Univision was fifth in viewers with 914,000.
Telemundo was sixth in viewers with 832,000.
The CW was seventh in ratings with a 0.2/1 and in viewers with 812,000, airing a rebroadcast of the iHeartRadio Music Festival.