Tuesday TV Ratings 10/13/20: The Bachelorette Returns Solidly, Weakest Link and Game of Games Drop, NEXT Steady (UPDATED)

Preliminary Analysis: Tuesday nights got a little more vibrant for ABC as 'The Bachelorette' (1.3) returned for its 16th season in strong fashion. This was essentially on-par with what the juggernaut managed for last season's premiere back in May 2019 (1.3). Despite the long hiatus, it's clear that viewers did not lose interest in the series. An out-of-timeslot 'Celebrity Family Feud' (0.6) rounded out the alphabet network's night and inched down from its last Thursday original (0.7). With the help of a sizable NFL lead-in (2.7), CBS's 'The FBI Declassified' (0.9) rose a whopping five-tenths from last week's disappointing start (0.4). Even though it grew a good amount on a week-to-week basis, 'Declassified' looks less impressive than it did on premiere night since it barely retained a third of the audience that watched the 'Bulls v. Titans' game before it.

NBC had a particularly alarming night as 'Weakest Link' (0.6) took a two-tenth drop from last week, now at just half the stellar premiere rating (1.2) it garnered only two weeks ago. The more concerning result came right after as 'Ellen's Game of Games' (0.4) collapsed in a rather frightening manner. 'Games' was down three-tenths from an already soft debut (0.7) and continues to dramatically trail its early 2020 numbers. It's safe to say that the controversy surrounding host Ellen DeGeneres may have caused this ratings corrosion. A dismal night for the peacock network was closed out by 10pm drama 'Transplant' (0.3), the series was down a notch from its last episode. Fox's 'Next' (0.3) held even with last week's feeble premiere and matched its 'Cosmos' (0.3) lead-in. The CW was also steady across the board with 'Swamp Thing' (0.2) and 'Tell Me a Story' (0.1).

Finals Update: CBS's NFL game (3.0, +0.3), 'Ellen's Game of Games' (0.5, +0.1), 'The Bachelorette' (1.4, +0.1), and 'Celebrity Family Feud' (0.7, +0.1) all adjusted up. This puts 'The Bachelorette' one tenth ahead of last year's premiere. On the CW, 'Swamp Thing' (0.1, -0.1) adjusted down.

Time	Show	18-49 Rating/Share	Viewers (mil)	Channel
8 PM	NFL: Bills v. Titans	3.0/20	10.80	CBS
	The Bachelorette (P)	1.4/8	5.03	ABC
	Weakest Link	0.6/4	4.23	NBC
	Cosmos: Possible Worlds	0.3/2	1.23	Fox
	Swamp Thing	0.1/1	0.80	The CW
9 PM	Ellen's Game of Games	0.5/3	2.86	NBC
	NEXT	0.3/2	1.54	Fox
	Tell Me a Story (P)	0.1/0	0.45	The CW
10 PM	The FBI Declassified	0.9/6	3.76	CBS
	Celebrity Family Feud	0.7/5	3.23	ABC
	Transplant	0.3/3	2.87	NBC