Primetime Ratings: ‘Lucifer’ Starts Strong for Fox

The second episode of the X-Files revival scored a 3.2 in adults 18-49, according to Nielsen’s overnights, helping Fox to an easy win on the night. The strong showing by Mulder and Scully helped the premiere of Lucifer rate a promising 2.4.

Fox averaged a robust 2.8/8, followed by ABC at 1.9/6, CBS at 1.7/5, NBC at 1.2/4 and The CW at 0.3/1.

The X-Files premiered the night before with a 5.1 rating in 18-49 for the first half hour—enjoying a massive lead-in from the NFC championship, but a funky 10:24 start time. In the remake, Joel McHale plays a conspiracy-minded host of a web program.

On ABC, The Bachelor was up 10% from last week at 2.3, and The Bachelor Live was up 11% at 1.0.

On CBS, Supergirl was flat at 1.8 and Scorpion slipped 10% to 1.8, then NCIS: Los Angeles fell 17% to 1.5.

Over NBC’s way, Superstore rated a 1.4, down 13%, and Telenovela a 0.9, down 18%. The Biggest Loser rebounded with a 1.2, up 20%.

The CW spent big on marketing the return of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, playing up star Rachel Bloom’s win at the Golden Globes. But the show posted a 0.3, down 25% from its last original airing at the end of November, before Jane the Virgin did a flat 0.4.

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.