Primetime Ratings: ‘Second Chance’ Premieres Soft

Fox drama Second Chance premiered to a weak 1.2 rating in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, but American Idol was strong enough to give Fox the night’s win. The network scored a 1.9 with a 6 share, barely ahead of ABC’s 1.8/6, NBC’s 1.7/6 and CBS’s 1.6/6. The CW registered a 0.4/1 with repeats.

American Idol scored a 2.5, down 14% from its debut a week before.

Second Chance has gone through an extraordinary number of name changes, from Frankenstein to The Frankenstein Code to Lookinglass, before Fox settled on Second Chance.

ABC had a listless night. The Middle was down 10% at 1.9, then The Goldbergs was off 5% at 2.0. Modern Family showed a 2.6, off 4%, while Black-ish slipped 10% to a 1.9. Drama American Crime then slid 8% to 1.1.

NBC showed gains on the night. The Mysteries of Laura was up 9% to a 1.2, while Law & Order: S.V.U. and Chicago P.D. both did 2.0s—S.V.U. up 11% and P.D. up 5%.

Over at CBS, 2 Broke Girls rated a flat 1.7 and Mike & Molly, in its final season, also flat at 1.6. Criminal Minds crept up 5% to 2.0 compared to its last original airing, and hospital drama Code Black was down 7% to 1.3.

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.