Primetime Ratings: Fox Wins With Hearty ‘9-1-1’ Premiere

Fox won the ratings championship Wednesday, riding the premieres of The X-Files and 9-1-1 to a healthy 1.6 score in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and a 6 share. That topped the 1.2/5 put up by ABC and NBC. 

But The X-Files didn’t exactly pop, doing a 1.4, well down from its last finale’s 2.4. The premiere of drama 9-1-1, from Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, scored a strong 1.8. 

On ABC, The Goldbergs slipped 6% to a 1.5, and Speechless fell 8% to a 1.1. Modern Family was a flat 1.7 and American Housewife a flat 1.3. The premiere of Match Game was good for a 0.9, up 50% from its last fresh airing.

On NBC, Blacklist went up 11% to 1.0 and Law & Order: SVU grew 8% to 1.4. Chicago PD ticked up 8% to a 1.3.

CBS weighed in a 1.1/4, with the premiere of The Amazing Race at 1.6. Its finale last year did a 0.7. SEAL Team dropped 18% to 0.9. Criminal Minds did a flat 0.9.  

Telemundo and Univision both scored a 0.5/2. 

The CW rated a 0.2/1. Repeats of Riverdale and Dynasty aired.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.