Undercover Boss Ratings--Season 8 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Sunday, December 27, 1970
Undercover Boss Ratings--Season 8 (2016-17)


Of the three reality shows CBS aired Wednesdays at 8pm this season--Survivor, Undercover Boss, and Hunted--Undercover Boss was the lowest-rated. Granted, it held up well when having to air so close to Christmas, and at least it was steady. When it moved to Fridays it fell below the levels of MacGyver on most weeks. Its turned more into an Amazing Race-like show, so while not terrible, you have to wonder how much longer it will be airing.

Grade: B-

The Wall Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Sunday, December 27, 1970
The Wall Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)


The Wall is very clearly not a 10pm show; while it posted a 1.2 in A18-49 at 10pm after The Celebrity Apprentice, it jumped up to a 1.7 self-starting the next night. It slowly but surely dropped down to a 1.4 by the end, but still did much better than last season's Hollywood Game Night and kept the lights on for NBC when The Voice was off the air.

Grade: A

The Great American Baking Show--Season 2 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Tuesday, December 15, 1970
The Great American Baking Show--Season 2 (2016-17)


The Great American Baking Show saw mixed results. While its premiere's retention wasn't perfect (1.0 out of a 1.5 in A18-49), it had 100% retention from its lead-in the following week, and finished at the same rating that it started. It was certainly better filler than My Diet is Better Than Yours, and had a rather strong finish.

Grade: A-

The Great Christmas Light Fight Ratings--Season 2 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Tuesday, December 15, 1970
The Great Christmas Light Fight Ratings--Season 2 (2016-17)


The Great Christmas Light Fight is basically winter filler, but it's good winter filler. It started at an OK 1.1 A18-49 rating and stayed there. It only lost 6% of its raw audience in that demographic and finished at 90% of the Big 4 league average. Sure, it's no Bachelor or Dancing with the Stars, but it's not supposed to be either.

Grade: A

Star Ratings--Season 1 (2017)

The Ratings Junkie Tuesday, December 15, 1970
Star Ratings--Season 1 (2017)


FOX has impressively held off on starting a musical drama phase just because of Empire's success. In fact, Star is the only one, and it hails from the creator of Empire too. In its first season, it bridged for Empire to decent results; while it fell a lot from its post-Empire premiere, it was still one of FOX's highest-rated shows and didn't really fall from its Lethal Weapon lead-in. In the 2017-18 season, it will be blessed to air after Empire and hopefully grow its audience back more towards that initial 1.6 or higher than the 1.1 it hit for its tenth episode. While no Empire, Star pretty much did what it was supposed to do. I give it a B+ when looking at the A18-49 alone, but its impressive W18-34 numbers bumps it up a little.

Grade: A-

Life in Pieces Ratings--Season 2 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Wednesday, December 02, 1970
Life in Pieces Ratings--Season 2 (2016-17)


It's not really a surprise that Life in Pieces fell hard when moved away from The Big Bang Theory. It's also not surprising that it didn't see the finale bump that Mom did given the difference in tone between the two shows. That being said, it didn't really do all that bad in raw numbers, as it was still in the company of most of CBS's other sitcoms. It shows that viewers are willing to watch a single-cam on CBS just as much as some of the multi-cams. I'm expecting it to stabilize next season.

Grade: C

Mom Ratings--Season 4 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Wednesday, December 02, 1970
Mom Ratings--Season 4 (2016-17)


You might wonder why two of Mom's best data points of the season came at the very end: The Great Indoors was no longer its lead-in. Mom shows that it still has strength going into its 5th season, and is a very underrated performer for CBS. I do wish some of the earlier episodes did better though; at this point, it really shouldn't have mattered that The Great Indoors was its lead-in. Even then, it was around as strong as it was last year.

Grade: B

The Great Indoors Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Wednesday, December 02, 1970
The Great Indoors Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)


The Great Indoors was clearly CBS's weakest comedy this season. While airing after The Big Bang Theory masked that for the majority of the season, its move to Monday for the last two episodes showed weakness. It had a few OK data points, but it seems like Thursday will be more than fine without it.

Grade: D

Man with a Plan Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Sunday, October 25, 1970
Man with a Plan Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)


Man with a Plan did what it was supposed to do, which was to hold on to Kevin Can Wait's audience decently. While it may not have had that high premiere Kevin had, its spring ratings were decent given the lead-in and it will probably be around for syndication at this rate.

Grade: B

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Ratings--Season 2 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Sunday, October 25, 1970
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Ratings--Season 2 (2016-17)


The first season of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend had historically low ratings, but also awards love and apparently is a solid streaming player. This season, albeit low rated, was incredibly steady in A18-49. While its fan base is small, it's at least loyal. You can look at it as losing 35% of its A18-49 audience from last season, or about one tenth of a ratings point.

Grade: C+

The Vampire Diaries Ratings--Season 8 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Sunday, October 25, 1970
The Vampire Diaries Ratings--Season 8 (2016-17)


The Vampire Diaries was a staple show for The CW for years. While it didn't finish quite as well as it started, for a Friday night on The CW, the final season of The Vampire Diaries didn't do all that bad. Those 0.3s in A18-49 were a little disappointing, and it's too bad the finale didn't rise more. Plus, it was down 25% in raw A18-49 ratings from last season. Regardless, it stayed a great W18-34 player, especially towards the end.

Grade: C+

Caught on Camera Ratings--Season 3 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Sunday, October 25, 1970
Caught on Camera Ratings--Season 3 (2016-17)


Caught on Camera's ratings were abysmally low, but then again it didn't seem like it was meant to last permanently either. At the very least, it seemed that Dateline was doing better airing after it than after something else, and it was a cheap Friday option.

Grade: D

2 Broke Girls Ratings--Season 6 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Wednesday, October 14, 1970
2 Broke Girls Ratings--Season 6 (2016-17)


2 Broke Girls did a decent job at holding down the 9:30pm time slot in the spring compared to The Odd Couple, but there really was no compelling reason for CBS to renew it over the shows on earlier in the night, which would have more syndication value. It started off on the right note but by the end of the season it was clear that it still hadn't stabilized, even if it had OKish ratings.

Grade: C-

Supergirl Ratings--Season 2 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Wednesday, October 14, 1970
Supergirl Ratings--Season 2 (2016-17)


Supergirl fell a ton from last season, though that's to be expected given it moved to The CW. I do wish it held up better from its first few episodes though; it showed that it is capable of pulling in top-tier ratings for The CW, and not just what Supernatural is doing. Its performance towards the end of the season was fine, but not great. Great performance in the first half of the season though, for the most part.

Grade: B-

Frequency Ratings--Season 1 (2016)

The Ratings Junkie Wednesday, October 14, 1970
Frequency Ratings--Season 1 (2016)


Frequency was a flop, so much so that The CW basically admitted it verbally. Contrary to what The CW typically does, this one didn't even make it through the season. Given it was based on a movie and aired after Arrow, it really should have done much better. Props to it for having a very evenly distributed audience though, both in gender and age.

Grade: D

Arrow Ratings--Season 5 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Wednesday, October 14, 1970
Arrow Ratings--Season 5 (2016-17)


Superhero fatigue may be setting in for Arrow, as the show that started it all shed a third of its Live + Same Day audience in A18-49 this season. It's still doing impressive in M18-34, almost tying the A18-49 demographic, but as a result of its fall it's now The CW's #4 show. That means, even if only by a hundredth, it is The CW's lowest-rated DC show. Next season, it will no longer be trusted to lead into a show. The CW has more problems to deal with before Arrow, but its days definitely look more numbered this season than they did last.

Grade: C-

Supernatural Ratings--Season 12 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Wednesday, October 14, 1970
Supernatural Ratings--Season 12 (2016-17)


Supernatural is a show that was around before The CW was, and it still holds up better than most other shows on the network over a decade after it premiered. Given it moved to Thursday at 8pm, the 0.5s towards the end of the season are somewhat forgivable. It finished the season around its average numbers, which is very impressive given it was deep into Daylight Savings Time.

Grade: B+

DC's Legends of Tomorrow Ratings--Season 2 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Wednesday, October 14, 1970
DC's Legends of Tomorrow Ratings--Season 2 (2016-17)


DC's Legends of Tomorrow started the season fine on Thursday nights, but midseason The CW decided to give it an upgrade by airing behind The Flash on Tuesdays. It didn't really seem to make the most out of it, but still showed that it's a reliable option and higher-rated than a lot of their line-up. Even if inflated by that 1.2 A18-49 demo rating for the mega-crossover episode, it's impressive that the show started and finished around what it averaged.

Grade: B

Chicago Fire--Season 5 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Wednesday, October 14, 1970
Chicago Fire--Season 5 (2016-17)


Chicago Fire is still the strongest Chicago show. It didn't hurt that it got to air after This Is Us in the fall, but even though retention out of it looked weak, by now it's clear that Fire is very lead-in independent. It didn't fall all that much when it had Trial & Error and Great News as lead-ins, sometimes doubling their ratings.

Grade: A

The Real O'Neals Ratings--Season 2 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Wednesday, October 14, 1970
The Real O'Neals Ratings--Season 2 (2016-17)


The Real O'Neals didn't exactly do great in its first season, but still was renewed due to ABC's intent on having a two-hour comedy block on Tuesdays. Its first data point this season--a 1.2 A18-49 demo rating out of a 1.6--showed weakness, and it didn't really get better from there. I suppose it could have got renewed again if they wanted to expand comedy again, but even then it wouldn't really be needed.

Grade: D

Fresh Off The Boat Ratings--Season 3 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Wednesday, October 14, 1970
Fresh Off The Boat Ratings--Season 3 (2016-17)


Poor Fresh Off The Boat has been sticking around but not much more over the past two seasons. Its first season was a somewhat surprising success story, but it's faltered since with heavy competition. Despite the data points in the red, Fresh Off The Boat's spring actually looked better in the fall in terms of retention. We can thank no more This is Us for that. It's almost like I'm grading two different performances since almost all of the better data points were in the spring. It should thrive next season without This is Us.

Grade: B-

American Housewife Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Wednesday, October 14, 1970
American Housewife Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)


American Housewife did what it could against heavy competition. It usually didn't drop all that much from its lead-in, if at all. Next season it will be getting a much-deserved tryout behind Modern Family. The only concern here is the fact that it seemed to rely on its lead-in a lot, and it's hard to tell if that's because of compatibility or because it's severely lead-in dependent. Its spring could have been better, but then again, so could its lead-in's.

Grade: A-

The Middle Ratings--Season 8 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Wednesday, October 14, 1970
The Middle Ratings--Season 8 (2016-17)


The Middle held remarkably steady on Wednesdays and rose in relative ratings significantly in all but one season. That being said, it wasn't itself on its move to Tuesday, hitting numerous new series lows and a 3-year low in relative ratings. On the bright side, it put a little but of new life into Tuesdays, though the move still hurt it.

Grade: C+

No Tomorrow Ratings--Season 1

The Ratings Junkie Monday, October 05, 1970
No Tomorrow Ratings--Season 1


No Tomorrow got to air behind The Flash and completely blew it. Even if you argue that it's lead-in independent, it's doing numbers that Crazy Ex-Girlfriend does on a Friday. The CW doesn't often cancel shows in their first season, but this one was completely warranted.

Grade: F

The Flash Ratings--Season 3 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Monday, October 05, 1970
The Flash Ratings--Season 3 (2016-17)


The Flash is the one show on The CW that is really competitive with the shows on the other networks, now at 86% of the Big 4 A18-49 league average. In fact, it even beat FOX in the time slot. Superhero fatigue does seem to be setting in a little bit though; it's down 23% in raw A18-49 ratings this season. The bump for its finale to a rating above its seasonal average is very impressive, especially given it aired at 8pm deep into Daylight Savings Time. The show definitely has life left in it.

Grade: B

Code Black Ratings--Season 2 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Tuesday, September 29, 1970
Code Black Ratings--Season 2 (2016-17)


Not everybody expected Code Black to be renewed for a second season, and when it was, many expected it to improve. It didn't. While still renewed for a third season, it lost 24% of its audience in A18-49 this season, and ended the season with an average below a 1.0 in that demographic. Credit needs to be given for how steady it has stayed. Time will tell where it will end up airing next season, but most likely it will not be returning to Wednesday, for better or worse.

Grade: C

Criminal Minds Ratings--Season 12 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Tuesday, September 29, 1970
Criminal Minds Ratings--Season 12 (2016-17)


After seeing a major cast departure, Season 12 of Criminal Minds had the lowest relative ratings average since Season 3. It also fell 22% in raw ratings this season, which although not great, was actually a healthier trend than a lot of CBS's other dramas this season. Furthermore, it's their #3 drama in A18-49 Live + Same Day ratings, and their #2 veteran drama in that metric. The string of 1.3s it posted did not look healthy, though some credit has to be given for its spike in the final two episodes. Very few shows see numbers in the green that late on in their season.

Grade: B-

Last Man Standing Ratings--Season 6 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Saturday, September 26, 1970
Last Man Standing Ratings--Season 6 (2016-17)


Last Man Standing was down 4% from last season's A18-49 ratings, meaning that once again it had its strongest Friday season. Like Hawaii 5-0 and Blue Bloods, Last Man Standing finished at 94% of the league average in A18-49, and on its current trajectory would have above-average ratings next season despite self-starting on Friday nights. We won't get to know just how high it would have gone though, because ABC canceled it. The cancelation likely had to do with expenses and not being in-house owned, because it had an outstanding season in the ratings when looking at it compared to other shows and its previous years' numbers.

Grade: A

Dr. Ken Ratings--Season 2 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Saturday, September 26, 1970
Dr. Ken Ratings--Season 2 (2016-17)


Given how well Last Man Standing held up, Dr. Ken really should have done better. Being a presumably cheap multi-cam, there was seemingly a chance for renewal, but ultimately it didn't get one. It stayed in the same time slot yet still lost 22% of its A18-49 audience. That being said, its numbers weren't that terrible given it was on a Friday night.

Grade: C

Shark Tank Ratings--Season 8 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Saturday, September 26, 1970
Shark Tank Ratings--Season 8 (2016-17)


It's hard to say what's up with Shark Tank. It's down 18% in raw A18-49 ratings from last season, and while the league average isn't done much less than that, we're talking about a casual reality show that has held up excellently throughout the years. It had an outstanding run from episodes 12 through 19, and even then most of the other episodes did decently, but it seems like The Toy Box really hurt it. Ii'd give half the episodes an A and half a C, so that evens out to a B.

Grade: B

20/20 Ratings--Season 39 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Saturday, September 26, 1970
20/20 Ratings--Season 39 (2016-17)


20/20 appears to be not only story-dependent, but also lead-in dependent. This can be seen by when it had Shark Tank reruns as a lead-in and dropped significantly. It's lost some ground to Dateline and Blue Bloods and while probably very cheap, really could be doing better. It stayed in the same time slot with the same shows as competition yet still dropped 22% in A18-49 from the previous season.

Grade: C

MacGyver Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Saturday, September 26, 1970
MacGyver Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)


Upon first glance, MacGyver put up passage, but not hit-worthy, ratings. When you look at the bigger picture and see that it self-started on Friday nights against Last Man Standing and Hell's Kitchen, not to mention put some new life into the rest of CBS's night, you see that MacGyver was quietly one of the most successful new shows this season. The fact that it fell for its finale isn't as promising as I would have liked, though it should have a successful rebound in the fall and become a long-term player for CBS.

Grade: A

Hawaii 5-0 Ratings--Season 7 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Saturday, September 26, 1970
Hawaii 5-0 Ratings--Season 7 (2016-17)


Hawaii 5-0 clearly benefited from having MacGyver as a lead-in. Even though its lead-in wasn't drastically different in ratings from last season, MacGyver was more compatible with it and as a result prevented Hawaii 5-0 from raw declines. Now at 94% of the A18-49 league average, Hawaii 5-0 is bound to at least be on par with the league average next season. Quite the performance that barring contract negotiations or a complete fall-apart, should mean it's hear to stay for coming years.

Grade: A+

Blue Bloods Ratings--Season 7 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Saturday, September 26, 1970
Blue Bloods Ratings--Season 7 (2016-17)


Blue Bloods continues to get stronger every season. Despite still airing at Fridays at 10pm, it managed to have its best season in relative ratings in A18-49 yet. The fact that it took this long to see a rating under a 1.0 A18-49 is astonishing, and even then it recovered from it for its finale. At this rate, it will rate higher than the league average next season.

Grade: A

Hell's Kitchen Ratings--Season 16 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Saturday, September 26, 1970
Hell's Kitchen Ratings--Season 16 (2016-17)


Hell's Kitchen was almost even in raw A18-49 ratings this season, which is a huge accomplishment given it had to air the majority of its season on Friday. This is compared to last season, when oftentimes it got to air after American Idol. When it moved to Thursday, it provided even better numbers than in the fall. While I don't like that its finale fell in the ratings, the fact it premiered and finished at the same level, not to mention staying at it or going above it numerous times, means this show deserves the grade it gets.

Grade: A

The Exorcist Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Saturday, September 26, 1970
The Exorcist Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)


The Exorcist was a known property prior to premiering, so it's a little disappointing that it didn't pull in higher ratings. Its retention out of Hell's Kitchen was mediocre at best. That being said, in terms of relative A18-49 ratings, this was one of FOX's top Friday at 9pm fall shows in years. Evidently it did enough for a renewal, but in terms of how it did in first run linear ratings, clearly there are stronger shows on the network.

Grade: B-

Dateline NBC Ratings--Season 25 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Saturday, September 26, 1970
Dateline NBC Ratings--Season 25 (2016-17)


Dateline is only down 9% in raw A18-49 ratings this season and has been beating 20/20 on a regular basis. Although it's always been a story-based show, as in it rises and falls based on that night's content, it does seem that most of the better data points came in the late fall/winter. Overall, not a bad showing.

Grade: A-

The Blacklist Ratings--Season 4 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Wednesday, September 23, 1970
The Blacklist Ratings--Season 4 (2016-17)


The Blacklist was remarkably steady throughout the season, yet was down 31% in raw A18-49 ratings from last season. This would be due in part to being serialized and airing at the lower-viewed 10pm. This is typically a tough time slot for NBC, so the fact that it hovered around a 0.9 A18-49 rating throughout the spring isn't terrible. It seemingly pulls in a lot of ad money, especially in comparison to its mediocre ratings, and while it isn't the huge hit it once was, it's still hanging in there.

Grade: C+

Chicago Med Ratings--Season 2 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Wednesday, September 23, 1970
Chicago Med Ratings--Season 2 (2016-17)


Chicago Med looked to be one of the most promising new shows last season when it aired between The Voice and Chicago Fire, but didn't hold up as well on Thursdays. By the spring, it was the brightest part of Thursday, which is somewhat of an accomplishment, but it was also down 28% in raw A18-49 ratings despite being a procedural with the Chicago name. That 1.7 in A18-49 for the for the Chicago crossover showed that it can still garner high ratings, though that came as part of a crossover with the other Chicago shows. Evidently, it did enough for a renewal, but not a spot on the fall schedule.

Grade: C+

The Good Place Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Wednesday, September 23, 1970
The Good Place Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)


If you take out the series premiere, The Good Place started decently and more or less stayed that way. I would have liked to see it rise for its finale, but given the first part aired at 8pm without support from Superstore, it was still a decent result. Plus, it did better than Powerless, Trial & Error, and Great News. Not too bad for a high-concept comedy airing in a relatively tough time slot.

Grade: B

Superstore Ratings--Season 2 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Wednesday, September 23, 1970
Superstore Ratings--Season 2 (2016-17)


Superstore received tons of promotion over the summer, including airing an Olympic-themed episode after a night of the Olympics. It did a solid job at the beginning of the season, but airing at 8pm during Daylight Savings Time and have a flop lead-out really didn't help it in the spring. It really could have and should have done a bit better. That being said, it's NBC's strongest sitcom and gives them a bit of life in the department. But even then, it's a weaker show than it was last season when it had to self-start on Mondays.

Grade: B-

Pitch Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Wednesday, September 23, 1970
Pitch Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)


Dan Fogelman provided broadcast television with two new dramas this season: This is Us and Pitch. As the ratings show, the former did a bit better than the latter. It grew out of or tied its Rosewood lead-in many times, but promotion during the World Series didn't seem to help build up hype. It was a good concept to try, but success wasn't really there. It probably wasn't as obvious of a cancelation as some other shows, though.

Grade: D+

Rosewood Ratings--Season 2 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Wednesday, September 23, 1970
Rosewood Ratings--Season 2 (2016-17)


Upon first glance, Rosewood seemingly had good ratings in its first season. However, it was very reliant on Empire pre-tune and collapsed when asked to self-start Thursday nights. It does deserve credit for its mini-rise in its first few episodes, but it wasn't able to provide a strong enough lead-in to Pitch or Sleepy Hollow when it had to move to Friday. Its cancelation was seemingly deserved, even if it didn't fall *that* much when it made that move.

Grade: D

How to Get Away with Murder Ratings--Season 3 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Wednesday, September 23, 1970
How to Get Away with Murder Ratings--Season 3 (2016-17)


How to Get Away with Murder saw another steep decline--32% in A18-49 raw ratings to be exact--due to its serialized nature. It's also clear that it's reliant on Scandal, as most of the above-average ratings came when Scandal returned. This means that while it's one of ABC's strongest dramas, it still doesn't hurt for it to have a good lead-in. Props to it for regaining a Live + Same Day audience in the winter that missed it in the fall, though.

Grade: B

Notorious Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Wednesday, September 23, 1970
Notorious Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)


It seemed that Notorious was more to air something before Scandal came back midseason than to actually last long. It premiered low, and while it stayed steady in the second week, things just got worse from there. When it aired its finale at 10pm, it fell to an anemic 0.5 A18-49 rating. Needless to say, it didn't last.

Grade: F

Grey's Anatomy Ratings--Season 13 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Wednesday, September 23, 1970
Grey's Anatomy Ratings--Season 13 (2016-17)


Grey's Anatomy has been on the air since 2005, and is still doing relatively well. While fellow TGIT shows Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder have peaked a couple seasons ago and since fallen, Grey's Anatomy has gotten stronger every season. Its spring was more or less expected given it airs at 8pm, though it seems the vast majority of its better year-to-year trends came in the fall.

Grade: A-

Chicago PD--Season 4 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Wednesday, September 23, 1970
Chicago PD--Season 4 (2016-17)


Chicago PD dropped in raw A18-49 ratings less than any other scripted show on NBC, and it didn't even have a time slot upgrade. It's also their #3 scripted show, only behind This is Us and Chicago Fire. Despite this, it was only down 5% in its second season, and 2% in its third season, so this season actually had the steeper decline than the other seasons. So a great performance for NBC, and a just OK performance in relation to its previous seasons. The fact that it more or less stayed steady throughout the season for non-crossover episodes is a major achievement though.

Grade: A-

Law & Order: SVU Ratings--Season 18 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Wednesday, September 23, 1970
Law & Order: SVU Ratings--Season 18 (2016-17)


Law & Order: SVU technically premiered before this millennium even began. It's one of NBC's unsung heroes. Not only does it keep the Law & Order franchise alive after the 2010 cancelations of both the original and LA, but it also helps out Chicago PD and gives NBC decent ratings in one of the toughest time slots on television. It's down 18% in raw ratings A18-49 from last season, and frankly it could have had a better spring. In fact, Chicago PD sometimes grew from it.

Grade: B-

Empire Ratings--Season 3 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Wednesday, September 23, 1970
Empire Ratings--Season 3 (2016-17)


Oh Empire...where to begin. On the bright side, it is still doing better in W18-34 than A18-49 in raw ratings, which is very impressive. But it's just looking more and more like the downfall of Glee. This season, it fell 38%. All three of the shows on FOX that had worse trends than that got canceled. Its 15th episode was particularly ugly, down 50% from the previous year. The fact that it started at a 4.2 and then went on a streak of low 2s when it returned from its hiatus just isn't promising. Of course, it's still one of television's biggest shows, but the Glee comparisons truly are scary. Hopefully a Season 6 doesn't air on Friday and hit a 0.6. And considering its lead-in was stronger than last season, and it had Star to promote its return, it really had no excuse. Perhaps Shots Fired hurt it in the spring, but Empire is the type of show that never really was affected by lead-ins. Here's to hoping it stabilizes next season.

Grade: D+

Lethal Weapon Ratings--Season 1

The Ratings Junkie Wednesday, September 23, 1970
Lethal Weapon Ratings--Season 1


Lethal Weapon was lucky enough to air Wednesday at 8pm before Empire this season. While its numbers with Empire were certainly better than the ones when it aired alongside Star, this show held up so much better than Rosewood did without Empire airing next to it. It will be trusted to self-start on Tuesdays next season against strong competition, and while it probably won't be looking at high 1s again, we're talking about the #2 new drama this season in A18-49 Live + Same Day.

Grade: A

Survivor Ratings--Seasons 33 and 34 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Wednesday, September 23, 1970
Survivor Ratings--Seasons 33 and 34 (2016-17)


Survivor is really an unsung hero. While it obviously isn't what it used to be in raw ratings back in its earlier seasons, the show is one of CBS's highest-rated and is seemingly covered in the media more than most other CBS shows as well. It fell 14% this season, which was slightly less than the league average fall. I would have liked to see less of a drop considering it's a reality competition series. Regardless, its fall cycle did better in relative ratings than any other season since fall 2005, which is quite an achievement.

Grade (Fall): A-
Grade (Spring): B+

Designated Survivor Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Wednesday, September 23, 1970
Designated Survivor Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)


Designated Survivor was one of the most anticipated, if not the most anticipated, new show going into the 2016 upfronts. In fact, it was picked up early, before Paul Lee exited in February 2016. It didn't do terrible for a 10pm show, and became another example of a 10pm show doing just OK in Live + Same Day ratings but doing much better when DVR numbers are factored in (which mean little to nothing to advertisers). The fact that it shed half of its premiere audience for its finale isn't great, but it was still ABC's #2 10pm drama and most likely would have been #1 if How to Get Away with Murder had to air in the spring. Plus, its audience was more or less steady from the 5th episode on, so it's hard to be too harsh on it.

Grade: B

Blackish Ratings--Season 3 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Wednesday, September 23, 1970
Blackish Ratings--Season 3 (2016-17)


Blackish got to spend a third straight season behind Modern Family. At this point, it doesn't seem to be *that* reliant on its lead-in, and this year it dropped a tiny bit less than Modern Family did. It spent another year as Wednesday's lowest-rated comedy, but it's still a feat that it didn't fall any more than the other two Wednesday veterans did.

Grade: B-

Modern Family Ratings--Season 8 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Wednesday, September 23, 1970
Modern Family Ratings--Season 8 (2016-17)


Modern Family fell a tiny bit more than The Goldbergs did this season as a result of the lineup change. A key difference, though, is Modern Family stayed where it's aired since 2009 and has always grown out of its lead-in. Considering it didn't change time slots, one would expect a family comedy to be up in relative ratings versus the year before. It consistently fell into the 1s by the end of the season, and by the time Season 10 hits it probably won't even be their most profitable comedy. It's great that it's still growing a lot out of its lead-in, but it really doesn't have that compelling of a reason to drop as much as it did.

Grade: C+

Speechless Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Wednesday, September 23, 1970
Speechless Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)


I initially predicted that Speechless would flop. However, its retention from The Goldbergs is a stellar 90%. Although the time slot is down significantly year-to-year, that was to be expected. It is unclear if Speechless is only doing well because it relies so much on The Goldbergs, as it almost always rises and falls with The Goldbergs. For now, though, it seems to look like one of the season's bigger breakouts. Its healthiest data point was most likely the 1.6 it posted when Fresh Off The Boat (1.5) was its lead-in for a night.

Grade: A-

The Goldbergs Ratings--Season 4 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Wednesday, September 23, 1970
The Goldbergs Ratings--Season 4 (2016-17)


The Goldbergs moved to 8pm to decent results. While it didn't hold up nearly as well as it did last season when it was still sandwiched between The Middle and Modern Family, it also didn't fall any more than Modern Family or Blackish did with the lineup change. It ended up doing the same numbers as The Middle probably would have done there this season, so certainly not a bad outing.

Grade: B+

This is Us Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Monday, September 21, 1970
This is Us Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)


This is Us is the epitome of a success story, the #1 new freshmen show since Empire. While raw ratings across the board are declining, the ratings of This is Us are only going up. In fact, it gained a full ratings point in A18-49, and even more than that in A18-34 , W18-49, and W18-34, in its last four episodes. It's very rare that a freshmen show's season finale out-rates the series premiere despite similar circumstances. Truly an outstanding performance, and next season could be even better.

Grade: A+

The Voice (Tuesday) Ratings--Seasons 11 and 12

The Ratings Junkie Monday, September 21, 1970
The Voice (Tuesday) Ratings--Seasons 11 and 12


The Voice's fall Tuesday cycle was quite the accomplishment; while Monday's A18-49 ratings were down 20% in raw ratings, Tuesday was only down 10%. It's debatable whether or not it had some This is Us pre-tune, but even then it had increased Same Day competition so it's not like its situation was miles better than last season. It would have been nice if its spring cycle was that well, but even then it did better in relative ratings than last season's spring cycle.

Grade: B+

Scream Queens Ratings--Season 2 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Monday, September 21, 1970
Scream Queens Ratings--Season 2 (2016-17)


In 2015, Scream Queens was one of the most highly-anticipated new show. The first season didn't do all that great in Live + Same Day ratings, but reportedly more than made up for that with non-linear platforms. However, this season the ratings went really low, and was one of the lowest-rated shows on broadcast television. It's not much of a surprise that it got canceled. It wasn't a total failure as shown through the premiere and maybe the following two episodes, but things just got worse.

Grade: D-

New Girl Ratings--Season 6 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Monday, September 21, 1970
New Girl Ratings--Season 6 (2016-17)


New Girl was once FOX's flagship live-action sitcom, and while it still holds its own, its ratings weren't exactly great either. It deserves the final season that FOX gave it for the 2017-18 season, and even though it didn't do great, it didn't do terrible either. FOX probably hoped New Girl would provide more support for The Mick, though.

Grade: C+

Brooklyn Nine-Nine Ratings--Season 4 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Monday, September 21, 1970
Brooklyn Nine-Nine Ratings--Season 4 (2016-17)


Brooklyn Nine-Nine had a decent first half of the season airing at 8pm on Tuesdays for FOX. While not a huge hit, Brooklyn Nine-Nine properly started off their night against the likes of NCIS, The Voice, The Middle, and The Flash. However, it collapsed in the same time slot in the spring to the point where it is no longer trusted to start off Tuesday nights. Given its fall numbers, it really should have held up better in the spring.

Grade: C

NCIS: NO Ratings--Season 3 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Monday, September 21, 1970
NCIS: NO Ratings--Season 3 (2016-17)


NCIS: NO had the misfortune of traveling to 10pm this season, and shed a third of its audience in A18-49 as a result. Given that it's a spin-off of a hit show and a procedural, it really should have held up better than that. However, it did decently considering that it only fell a couple tenths from its lead-in by the end of the season, and since episode 3 was rather steady. The time slot is also stronger than it was last season with Limitless airing there. Although the year-to-year trends were ugly, the rest of the factors showed that the move wasn't a giant failure.

Grade: B-

Bull Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Monday, September 21, 1970
Bull Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)


Bull, which stars a former NCIS lead, was the perfect companion for NCIS. While it started off better than it finished, and rarely rose from the previous episode's ratings, Bull was still one of the biggest success stories of the season. It held its own against This is Us and was one of the highest-rated freshmen shows this season. While its ratings were down from those of NCIS: NO, the 8pm time slot was down even more, meaning it had similar retention despite not even being an NCIS show. It would have looked better if it didn't fall for its finale, but nevertheless a good performance.

Grade: A-

NCIS Ratings--Season 14 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Monday, September 21, 1970
NCIS Ratings--Season 14 (2016-17)


While it is definitely an achievement to self-start after over a decade on the air, NCIS really isn't what it once was due to the departure of a major cast member. This season, it lost 22% of its A18-49 audience despite not being a serialized show.  It was not long ago when NCIS was one of the few shows that had never gone below a 2.0 A18-49 rating; it only went below that mark twice last season, compared to it only going above a 2.0 twice this season. Granted, it did have increased competition from ABC as an excuse, and it's good to see it rise a little bit for its finale, but CBS should hope the declines soften in upcoming seasons.

Grade: B-

Marvel's Agents of SHIELD Ratings--Season 4 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Monday, September 21, 1970
Marvel's Agents of SHIELD Ratings--Season 4 (2016-17)


While Marvel's Agents of SHIELD doesn't look particularly healthy upon first glance, keep in mind that it had to endure low-rated, incompatible lead-ins and aired in a historically time slot for ABC. Also, compared to the likes of fellow 10pm ABC occupants Quantico, American Crime, and The Catch, it didn't look all that bad. This is not to mention that it still does decently amongst males, a demo that many ABC dramas fail to hit. Despite all this, it fell 37% in raw A18-49 ratings this season and now is at just 60% of the Big 4 league average. Evidently, it did good enough to score a renewal.

Grade: C

The Good Place Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Sunday, September 20, 1970
The Good Place Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)


For a niche, high-concept comedy on a network that hasn't done all that well in that department in the last several years, The Good Place did well. Ignoring the special post-Voice premiere, The Good Place didn't drop all that much from start to finish and gained a solid fanbase. Of their four returning comedies, The Good Place is their 2nd-strongest, and ahead of some dramas that were renewed too. Plus, it pretty much held its Superstore lead-in and kept the lights on for NBC in the fall on Thursdays.

Grade: A-

Thursday Night Football Ratings--Fall 2016

The Ratings Junkie Thursday, September 17, 1970
Thursday Night Football Ratings--Fall 2016


Thursday Night Football was only down a tiny bit more than Sunday Night Football was in raw A18-49 ratings, and it's still a highly-coveted show for advertisers to place ads. It's pretty clear that the ratings depended on the teams playing, so it's hard to give a standard grade. Given its still able to pull in numbers way above most other shows, and it didn't collapse, it was an overall good season for Thursday Night Football.

Grade: B

Blindspot Ratings--Season 2 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Tuesday, September 15, 1970
Blindspot Ratings--Season 2 (2016-17)


Blindspot was down 44% year-to-year due to moving away from The Voice and asked to self-start on Wednesday. It did relatively better in A18-49 than The Mysteries of Laura did there last season, though it was still the weakest link on the night. It was consistently fractional in A18-49 by the latter half of the season, and although it was renewed, it now has to endure yet another big time slot downgrade: Friday. While getting a third season is actually not something every show that aired behind The Voice does, so it deserves credit for that. Still, the fact that it was so reliant on The Voice and couldn't recover from the fractionals isn't great.

Grade: C

Timeless Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Friday, September 11, 1970
Timeless Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)


Timeless didn't exactly have great ratings after The Voice, and it got even worse when it aired after The Celebrity Apprentice towards the latter half of its run. As a result, it was canceled. And then renewed two days after. While many were surprised by the renewal, looking back it didn't do *that* badly, especially if you take out episodes 14 and 15.

Grade: C-

The Voice (Monday) Ratings--Seasons 11 and 12 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Friday, September 11, 1970
The Voice (Monday) Ratings--Seasons 11 and 12 (2016-17)


The Voice is one of the highest-rated shows on television and helped improve NBC's schedule when it first launched. This year, five shows got the fortune of airing after The Voice, and some more have aired special episodes after it. That being said, NBC is reportedly looking into cutting it down to one cycle per year. Perhaps this is to obtain longevity, and it may also be very expensive. Regardless, it had a decent year-to-year trend, though the spring was much healthier than the fall.

Grade: B

Lucifer Ratings--Season 2 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Friday, September 11, 1970
Lucifer Ratings--Season 2 (2016-17)


Lucifer's ratings track record reminds me a good bit of The Last Man On Earth's. Both shows started off really well in their first seasons and while they came down to earth by the end of their short first season, they were still doing good. In their second seasons, they fell a good bit, but were still at steady numbers and it was clear that there was an audience there for them. While Lucifer didn't handle the extended break as well as Gotham did, it still did decently and is not trusted to launch one of the most high-profile shows in the fall. Can't really be too disappointed.

Grade: B-

Gotham Ratings--Season 3 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Friday, September 11, 1970
Gotham Ratings--Season 3 (2016-17)


Gotham did OK this season. Could have been a little better, but it's still one of FOX's most stable and reliable shows. Next season it will be trusted to help out their Thursday nights. The key to it getting a good grade here is its steadiness; given it was at a 1.0 by its third episode and took a long hiatus, staying round that number or above throughout May is a big achievement.

Grade: B

Jane the Virgin Ratings--Season 3 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Friday, September 11, 1970
Jane the Virgin Ratings--Season 3 (2016-17)


Jane the Virgin doesn't seem to be all that reliant on Supergirl as a lead-in, and as such it will move to Friday for its 4th season. It is tough to say how it will do; typically, CW shows moving to Fridays don't drop all that much when you ignore the deceivingly high percentage declines. It could have been worse.

Grade: C+

Supergirl Ratings--Season 2 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Friday, September 11, 1970
Supergirl Ratings--Season 2 (2016-17)


After a high-profile launch, Supergirl quickly lost a good deal of its audience on CBS. Due to that, it moved to The CW for its second season, and CEO Mark Pedowitz said he expected it to be a top 3 show for them. Assuming he was talking about A18-49, he was right. Supergirl premiered just a bit below where it ended on CBS. Unfortunately, it didn't hold too well in the spring, but it did its job of improving Mondays tremendously. Its been renewed for a third season, meaning it's still making money too (or at least will most likely make money in the future).

Grade: B-

Scorpion Ratings--Season 3 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Friday, September 11, 1970
Scorpion Ratings--Season 3 (2016-17)


Scorpion was one of CBS's highest-rated dramas for the last two seasons, but being pushed back to 10pm was nicer on the time slot than it was for the show itself. In fact, it lost a third of its audience in A18-49. It didn't help that its lead-ins weren't rated too well, so it did what it could given the situation. I expect more stable ratings next season.

Grade: C

The Odd Couple Ratings--Season 3 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Friday, September 11, 1970
The Odd Couple Ratings--Season 3 (2016-17)


The Odd Couple surprised a lot of people--possibly including CBS--by actually doing decently despite its afterthought scheduling. Unfortunately, it didn't really make a case for renewal this season, constantly being the weak link in CBS's Monday comedy lineup. While that pair of 1.1s in A18-49 looked promising towards the end, CBS apparently was higher on Superior Donuts. Losing 28% of last season's audience didn't help.

Grade: C-

2 Broke Girls Ratings--Season 6 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Friday, September 11, 1970
2 Broke Girls Ratings--Season 6 (2016-17)


2 Broke Girls didn't really do any worse (or better) than most of CBS's sitcoms this season, but it needed to do a little bit more than that to be renewed. When Superior Donuts started doing as well as it, it seemed its time was coming to an end. The main reason why I can't give this as good of a grade as Man with a Plan is the fact that it keeps declining year after year despite being an established multi-cam comedy. If renewed for a seventh season, the track record says a lot of episodes would be fractional. Still, it's not like it was canceled because the ratings were abysmally low; it just needed to do more than most shows need.

Grade: B-

Man with a Plan Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Friday, September 11, 1970
Man with a Plan Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)


Most sitcoms airing at the top of the hour have something very compatible airing after it, so it made sense to air Man with a Plan after Kevin Can Wait. Although it didn't get the post-Big Bang launch, Man with a Plan did a great job at holding from its lead-in. The problem is if it is too dependent on its lead-in, which could be the case since the shows rise and fall together. Although those later numbers aren't anything to write home about, it did what it was supposed to do, which was to more or less hold Kevin Can Wait's audience. If Kevin Can Wait was hitting 1.5s, Man with a Plan would almost certainly do no less than a 1.3.

Grade: A-

Kevin Can Wait Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Friday, September 11, 1970
Kevin Can Wait Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)


Kevin Can Wait got the fortune of airing behind The Big Bang Theory towards the beginning of its run, and was one of the better companions to the monster hit ratings-wise. While that 1.3 A18-49 rating on Halloween didn't look amazing, it quickly rebounded and even without The Big Bang Theory as a lead-in, proved to be one of the strongest new shows of the season. What's concerning is the drop at the end of the season. It does seem like a very casual watch where viewers will skip during Daylight Savings Time but rediscover in the fall, but what if they don't? The early numbers say long-running sitcom, and the later numbers say overrated. I'm guessing more towards the former as its ultimate fate.

Grade: B

The Big Bang Theory Ratings--Season 10 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Friday, September 11, 1970
The Big Bang Theory Ratings--Season 10 (2016-17)


The Big Bang Theory is still one of the highest-rated shows on broadcast; it's set to go until at last the season after this upcoming one, and there's also now a single-cam prequel spin-off. It really defines CBS's comedy brand, and its ratings provide a halo to the next couple shows that air after it. That being said, it had its worst year in A18-49 relative numbers since the 2012-13 season. It did hit some relatively ugly data points later on, though on the bright side it rose for its finale. It wasn't down much more than the average show, but as a multi-cam comedy that's actually kind of disappointing.

Grade: B-

Conviction Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Friday, September 11, 1970
Conviction Ratings--Season 1 (2016-17)


Conviction actually managed to do better than Quantico did in the post-Dancing with the Stars time slot, but its numbers still weren't exactly all that great; especially the 0.1 M18-34 demo it received for its fifth episode. When it moved to Sunday, that 0.1 became even more common, and even the A18-49 ratings slipped to those below pretty much every other show.

Grade: F

Dancing with the Stars Ratings--Seasons 23 + 24 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Friday, September 11, 1970
Dancing with the Stars Ratings--Seasons 23 + 24 (2016-17)


Dancing with the Stars just had its best season in relative A18-49 ratings since 2011. While Castle flamed out at 10pm in its last few seasons and Conviction and Quantico failed to improve, to say the least, Dancing with the Stars kept ABC afloat on Mondays against the likes of The Voice and Monday Night Football. In fact, its spring cycle wasn't too far off from its fall cycle in terms of raw ratings. Sure, the spring finale was disappointing, but a great season nonetheless.

Grade: A-

Sunday Night Football Ratings--Fall 2016

The Ratings Junkie Thursday, September 10, 1970
Sunday Night Football Ratings--Fall 2016


There has been a lot of media coverage about football ratings being down, but percentage-wise they aren't really down all that much. An ad spot is still really lucrative for advertisers, even if airing football actually isn't as big of a money-maker as you would think. It shows no signs of coming back down to earth, even if it had a couple weak data points.

Grade: B

Elementary Ratings--Season 5 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Thursday, September 10, 1970
Elementary Ratings--Season 5 (2016-17)


Elementary is not around because of first-run ratings, so it's hard not to ignore its performance entirely. This season, it was barely above half the league average in A18-49and didn't look any better in other demographics. Can't call it a total failure though, as it still got renewed, even if it isn't for the live ratings.

Grade: D

Madam Secretary--Season 3 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Thursday, September 10, 1970
Madam Secretary--Season 3 (2016-17)


Madam Secretary was never a strong show amongst those targeted demographics, and this season was no different. The 1.1s and 1s it was doing at the beginning of the season in A18-49 weren't *that* bad and on par with what The Good Wife was doing, but that streak of 0.7s really doesn't look good at all. CBS seemingly didn't like its performance enough to keep it at 9pm, as next season it will have to air where no show wants to air: Sundays at 10pm.

Grade: C+

NCIS: LA Ratings--Season 8 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Thursday, September 10, 1970
NCIS: LA Ratings--Season 8 (2016-17)


NCIS: LA had a pretty great season with the time slot change to Sundays at 8pm. Not only did it see a nice football halo boost, but even in the spring it drastically improved the time slot over Madam Secretary. Even its weakest points were around as strong as its average last season.

Grade: A

60 Minutes Ratings--Season 49 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Thursday, September 10, 1970
60 Minutes Ratings--Season 49 (2016-17)


60 Minutes had a very solid season. As always, it benefits from getting a football lead-in many weeks in the fall, so I like to look more so at its non-football numbers. Airing Sundays at 7pm, 60 Minutes has done one par with the likes of 20/20 and Dateline. What's impressive is that football or not, 60 Minutes did better in relative A18-49 ratings this season than it has in any other season this millennium--and by a lot. Some of its later data points, while in the red, were actually even from last season. Can't give a bad grade to that.

Grade: A

Quantico Ratings--Season 2 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Thursday, September 10, 1970
Quantico Ratings--Season 2 (2016-17)


Quantico was very close to record-low retention when it aired after The Bachelor. Either its lead-in independent or would be getting 0.2s on Sunday, but there's really no reason why its ratings should be this low in such a great time slot. Somehow, it's down 45% in raw A18-49 ratings from last season. It makes Conviction look good. This is an example of a show loved by the network that apparently makes money in other ways. Since I can't know what the profits are, I have to grade solely on the ratings we see, and they're not pretty.

Grade: F

Once Upon a Time Ratings--Season 6 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Thursday, September 10, 1970
Once Upon a Time Ratings--Season 6 (2016-17)


Since Once Upon a Time is a family drama, it seems like ABC is semi-obligated to air it at 8pm. As the ratings show, it can no longer be asked to air at 8pm Sundays though. Since the show is seemingly profitable, next season it will be rebooted after the "final battle" has occurred. A18-49 ratings will be dramatically lower than they were when Last Man Standing aired there, but it will likely still be profitable. Regardless, it did not have a good year this season in the ratings. Its down 32% from last season's raw A18-49 numbers, and its spring numbers were usually below those of America's Funniest Home Videos, a vastly cheaper show. Compared to the rest of ABC's non-Shonda dramas, it actually doesn't look too bad, but this show is way past its prime.

Grade: C-

Secrets & Lies Ratings--Season 2 (Fall 2016)

The Ratings Junkie Thursday, September 10, 1970
Secrets & Lies Ratings--Season 2 (Fall 2016)


In its first season, Secrets & Lies started out as a stable player and ended as a mini-Empire, growing in its last few weeks until it hit a series high of a 1.8 A18-49 for the finale. However, it sat out the 2014-15 season and took a year and a half off before returning for this season. Whether it was the hiatus or the storyline, or both, this show completely fell apart. At least it got to air its full order?

Grade: D-

America's Funniest Home Videos Ratings--Season 27 (2017-18)

The Ratings Junkie Thursday, September 10, 1970
America's Funniest Home Videos Ratings--Season 27 (2017-18)


America's Funniest Home Videos used to be a monster hit, and while it is far from those days, it has become ABC Sunday's highest-rated show in the spring. Not many shows see data points in the green that late into the season. Down only 9% in raw numbers in A18-49 from last year, this show had its second-strongest season of the millennium in terms of relative ratings. In fact, it seems like it's more or less getting stronger each year if anything. Truly an impressive and underrated performance.

Grade: A

The Last Man On Earth Ratings--Season 3 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Thursday, September 10, 1970
The Last Man On Earth Ratings--Season 3 (2016-17)


The Last Man On Earth was a solid, albeit not great, performer for FOX this season. It did around par what New Girl and The Mick have been doing and a little bit better than Brooklyn Nine-Nine. While it airs on Sunday, there's often a couple minutes of commercials between Family Guy and its start, and at this point probably won't be boosted by it given the serialized nature. There was cause for concern when it premiered to a 0.9 rating, but its spring numbers weren't really that far behind the non-football halo fall episodes. Still, it fell over 20% from last season despite still airing on Sunday.

Grade: B-

Family Guy Ratings--Season 15 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Thursday, September 10, 1970
Family Guy Ratings--Season 15 (2016-17)


Family Guy deserves a lot of credit for being about to grow significantly out of Making History and non-football-boosted Son of Zorn. Its A18-49 ratings are down 13%, which given the league average is down more than that and it had a worse situation is a solid performance. It also managed to recover from that ugly fractional rating for the 12th episode, and its sub-demos show it should still be very appealing to advertisers targeting that younger demographic.

Grade: A

The Simpsons Ratings--Season 28 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Thursday, September 10, 1970
The Simpsons Ratings--Season 28 (2016-17)


The Simpsons is almost at its 30th season and is still receiving massive football boosts. Since the show is very appealing to advertisers, it will likely continue to get this boost for years to come. This season, it was even in raw ratings in A18-49, a healthier trend than nearly all shows on broadcast TV. I can't say I'm pleased with the spring performance, where it showed to be no stronger than Family Guy, but it did have a very strong fall and appeals to all demos.

Grade: A-

Bob's Burgers Ratings--Season 7 (2016-17)

The Ratings Junkie Thursday, September 10, 1970
Bob's Burgers Ratings--Season 7 (2016-17)

Bob's Burgers didn't have the best year-to-year trend in terms of scripted shows on FOX this year. It did have the second-best though. Down just 7% in raw A18-49 from last season, Bob's Burgers was actually up in raw numbers for a good portion of the year, and a rather weak spring caused it to dip a little. Regardless, there have been weeks where it was just a tenth behind lead-out The Simpsons, which has gotten much more exposure than the animated show that isn't The Simpsons or Family Guy. Its value for FOX keeps increasing too with it doing so well in syndication. The fact that its had multiple data points in the latter half of the season that were around its seasonal average, though, is a major accomplishment.

Grade: A-

Son of Zorn Ratings--Season 1 (Fall 2016)

The Ratings Junkie Wednesday, September 09, 1970
Son of Zorn Ratings--Season 1 (Fall 2016)


While Son of Zorn premiered well after football, that audience did not stay for its second episode. Many episodes aired under the football halo, but it often had poor retention from The Simpsons. Its fate was sealed with the final two episodes, where it went lower than the rest of FOX's comedies despite having more exposure in previous weeks. It was one of the more higher-rated cancelations of the season, but the ratings didn't mask the weakness of the show. Minus a couple decent data points, there wasn't much reason to keep it around.

Grade: D