Primetime Ratings: ‘Last Man on Earth’ Leads Sunday in Debut

In a night full of premieres, Fox’s new comedy Last Man on Earth led the night in the adults 18-49 demo, notching a 2.3 from 9-10 p.m. on Sunday, according to Nielsen overnight numbers.

The Will Forte-led comedy was more than a full point higher than what Mulaney premiered to last fall. Earlier, the rest of Fox’s lineup was up big over their last episodes, which aired against Saturday Night Live’s 40th Anniversary special. The Simpsons rose 64% to a 1.8, while Brooklyn Nine-Nine doubled its last rating with a 1.8 as well. In its time period premiere, Bob’s Burgers rose 56% to a 1.4 at 7:30 p.m.

Fox led Sunday with an overall 1.8 rating/5 share.

CBS’ new crime drama Battle Creek, from Breaking Bad’s Vince Gilligan and House’s David Shore, drew a decent total viewer audience with 7.8 million, but just a 1.0 rating in the demo, down three tenths from what CSI had for its premiere in the fall in that time slot. Madam Secretary fell 24% to a season-low 1.3 in its first episode in more than a month, while Good Wife tied its series-low in its return with a 1.1. CBS was third in the demo with a 1.2/4, but was the runaway leader among total viewers with more than 10 million.

ABC’s Secrets & Lies debuted to a modest 1.5 rating in the demo, down 32% from Resurrection’s premiere numbers in the fall. Once Upon a Time returned for the second half of its season up 29% to a 2.2. ABC was in second with a 1.6/5.

NBC was in fourth with a 1.0/3. Dateline drew a 0.8 from 9-11 p.m.