Ratings: Premiere of NBC’s ‘The Weakest Link’ Reboot Is Tuesday’s Strongest Entertainment Show

There is no debating how well NBC’s “The Weakest Link” reboot was received on Tuesday. Still the Jane Lynch-hosted revival couldn’t hold a candle to ratings for the first Trump-Biden debate, which was hosted by Fox News Channel but simulcast across many networks. Due to the nature of live television, the below numbers for the presidential debate — which aired from 9 p.m. ET to 11 p.m. ET (or 6 p.m. PT to 8 p.m. PT) — are not adjusted for time-zone differences and thus should be considered subject to significant adjustment. Final Nielsen ratings for the debate, as well as Tuesday’s data for the cable news networks, will be available later on Wednesday.

ABC was first in primetime ratings with a 2.1 rating/10 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and in total viewers with an average of 9 million, according to preliminary numbers. A debate pre-show at 8, titled “The Main Event,” put up a 1.2/6 and 6.3 million viewers. The debate itself from 9-11 averaged a 2.6/12 and 10.3 million viewers.

NBC was second in ratings with a 1.8/8 and in viewers with 7.1 million. At 8, “The Weakest Link” debuted to a 1.3/7 and 6.1 million viewers. The debate drew a 2.1/10 and 7.5 million viewers.

CBS and Fox tied for third in ratings, both with a 0.9/4. CBS was third in total viewers with 4.3 million, Fox was fourth with 3.5 million.

For CBS, “Love Island” at 8 got a 0.6/3 and 2.8 million viewers. At 9, the debate had a 1.1/5 and 5 million viewers.

For Fox broadcast network, “Cosmos” at 8 had a 0.5/2 and 2 million viewers. At 9, the Trump vs. Biden showdown received a 1.3/6 and 4.4 million viewers.

Telemundo and Univision tied for fifth in ratings, both with a 0.4/2. Telemundo was fifth in total viewers with 1.3 million, Univision was sixth with 1.2 million.

The CW was seventh in ratings with a 0.1/1 and in viewers with 643,000. Following reruns, the finale of “Tell Me a Story” had a 0.1/0 and 318,000 viewers.