The fall television season has officially kicked off, and the major broadcasters are battling it out for viewership among a slate of both scripted and unscripted series.
We ranked each of the broadcast network’s fall premieres, which began to roll out in mid-September. The list below accounts for the live plus same-day ratings in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic for each show and will be updated as the fall TV season continues.
As nearly all the fall broadcast premieres have rolled out, Fox’s new country series “Monarch” reigns as the ratings champion with a 0.91 in the demo. However, it’s certainly worth noting that the premiere followed a Sunday NFL doubleheader on Sept. 11, which no doubt boosted its ratings. When the series made its time slot debut with its second episode on Tuesday, Sept. 20 at 9 p.m., it garnered just a 0.21 in the demo and 1.7 million total viewers.
NBC has the highest-performing premieres overall so far with the entire “One Chicago” franchise, as well as “The Voice” and “Law & Order: SVU” all ranking in the Top 10. In addition to “Monarch,” Fox has one other premiere in the Top 10: “9-1-1.” CBS has three shows that have managed to rank in the Top 10 (“FBI,” “Survivor,” and “The Equalizer”). Neither ABC nor The CW have fall premieres in the Top 10, so far.
See below for the list of all the fall broadcast television premieres, ranked by their demo rating.
1. “Monarch” (Fox, 0.91 rating)
“Monarch” also raked in 4 million total viewers for its premiere on Sunday, Sept. 11. While it’s certainly an impressive feat for the new series, it’s also important to remember its beneficial lead-in from an NFL doubleheader on the network.
2. “Survivor” (CBS, 0.79 rating)
About 5 million people tuned in for the Season 43 premiere of “Survivor.”
3. “The Voice” (NBC, 0.7 rating, Tie)
The two-night premiere of “The Voice” Season 22 averaged a 0.7 demo rating and 6.2 million total viewers.
3. “Chicago Med” (NBC, 0.7 rating, Tie)
The Season 8 premiere of “Chicago Med” also scored a 0.7 in the demo. The episode performed slightly better than “The Voice” in terms of total viewers though, with 6.6 million people tuning in.
4. “9-1-1” (Fox, 0.69 rating, Tie)
The Season 6 premiere of “9-1-1” tied with two other procedurals– “Chicago Fire” and “Law & Order: SVU” with a 0.69 in the demo. In terms of total viewers, the episode managed 4.8 million, which was the lowest of the three.
4. “Chicago Fire” (NBC, 0.69 rating, Tie)
“Chicago Fire” secured substantially more total viewers for its Season 11 premiere than either “SVU” or “9-1-1,” with an audience of about 6.7 million.
4. “Law & Order: SVU” (NBC, 0.69 rating, Tie)
“Law & Order: SVU” brought in 5.5 million total viewers for its Season 24 debut.
5. “Chicago P.D.” (NBC, 0.67 rating)
“Chicago P.D.” managed about 5.5 million total viewers for its Season 10 premiere.
6. “The Equalizer” (CBS, 0.66 rating)
The Season 3 premiere of “The Equalizer” also notched an impressive audience of 7.1 million.
7. “FBI” (CBS, 0.64 rating)
The Season 5 premiere of “FBI” managed 6.8 million total viewers for CBS.
8. “The Masked Singer” (Fox, 0.63 rating)
For “The Masked Singer” Season 8, about 3.7 million people tuned in to see William Shatner and Eric Idle unmasked during the premiere episode.
9. “Law & Order” (NBC, 0.62 rating)
The “Law & Order” Season 22 premiere episode notched 5 million total viewers.
10. “Law & Order: Organized Crime” (NBC, 0.6 rating)
The 10 p.m. airing of “Law & Order: Organized Crime” secured an audience of 4.7 million.
11. “Bachelor in Paradise” (ABC, 0.6 rating)
Season 8 of “Bachelor in Paradise” debuted to 2.5 million total viewers on ABC, already promising plenty of drama on the horizon.
12. “Abbott Elementary” (ABC, 0.57 rating)
Fresh off a Best Supporting Actress Emmy win for Sheryl Lee Ralph, the highly anticipated Season 2 premiere of “Abbott Elementary” was watched by 2.9 million people.
13. “Ghosts” (CBS, 0.55 rating, Tie)
The Season 2 premiere of “Ghosts” was up 11% in total viewership from its pilot, notching 6.5 million total viewers.
13. “Grey’s Anatomy” (ABC, 0.55 rating, Tie)
14. “The Conners” (ABC, 0.53 rating)
“The Conners” Season 5 premiere drew an audience of 3.7 million on ABC.
15. “FBI: Most Wanted” (CBS, 0.51 rating)
The Season 4 premiere of “FBI: Most Wanted” aired to 5.3 million people on CBS.
15. “Young Sheldon” (CBS, 0.51 rating, Tie)
“Young Sheldon” Season 6 raked in an audience of 6.9 million and was the most-watched program on its premiere night.
15. “Station 19” (ABC, 0.51 rating, Tie)
The Season 6 premiere of “Station 19” answered the call to 4.2 million total viewers.
16. “The Neighborhood” (CBS, 0.5 rating)
“The Neighborhood” debuted its Season 5 premiere to 4.8 million viewers on CBS.
17. “FBI: International” (CBS, 0.5 rating)
Season 2 of “FBI: International” debuted to 5.4 million total viewers on CBS.
18. “La Brea” (NBC, 0.5 rating)
“La Brea” debuted to 3.9 million total viewers on NBC.
19. “Quantum Leap” (NBC, 0.47 rating)
The premiere episode of NBC’s reboot of “Quantum Leap” managed to entice about 3.3 million total viewers.
20. “The Amazing Race” (CBS, 0.46 rating)
“The Amazing Race” Season 34 had an audience of 3 million for its premiere episode.
21. “The Goldbergs” (ABC, 0.44 rating)
“The Goldbergs” Season 10 premiered on ABC to 2.5 million total viewers.
22. “Bob Hearts Abishola” (CBS, 0.43 rating)
Season 4 of “Bob Hearts Abishola” had an audience of 4.4 million when it premiered on CBS.
23. “NCIS” (CBS, 0.42 rating)
The Season 20 premiere of “NCIS” scored 5.8 million total viewers.
22. “Blue Bloods” (CBS, 0.41 rating)
About 6.4 million people tuned in to the Season 13 premiere of “Blue Bloods.”
23. “NCIS: Hawai’i” (CBS, 0.4 rating, Tie)
“NCIS: Hawai’i” brought in 5.3 million viewers for its Season 2 premiere.
23. “Fire Country” (CBS, 0.4 rating, Tie)
The series premiere of “Fire Country” debuted to an audience of 5.9 million people.
24. “New Amsterdam” (NBC, 0.39 rating)
“New Amsterdam” Season 5 managed to bring in 3.2 million viewers for its premiere.
25. “Hell’s Kitchen” (Fox, 0.39 rating)
Season 21 of “Hell’s Kitchen” notched 1.9 million total viewers for its premiere episode.
26. “Home Economics” (ABC, 0.38 rating, Tie)
An audience of 2.1 million watched the “Home Economics” Season 3 premiere.
26. “S.W.A.T.” (CBS, 0.38 rating, Tie)
The season premiere of “S.W.A.T.” garnered 4.8 million total viewers.
27. “So Help Me Todd” (CBS, 0.37 rating, Tie)
“So Help Me Todd” currently stands as the most-viewed pilot of the fall TV season with an impressive 4.8 million people tuning in.
27. “NCIS: Los Angeles” (CBS, 0.37 rating, Tie)
The series premiere of “NCIS: Los Angeles” drew 4.3 million total viewers.
28. “Lego Masters” (Fox, 0.36 rating)
Season 3 of “Lego Masters” earned 1.5 million total viewers for its premiere episode.
29. “The Cleaning Lady” (Fox, 0.35 rating, Tie)
Season 2 of Fox’s “The Cleaning Lady” swept up 2.4 million total viewers for its first episode.
30. “The Resident” (Fox, 0.35 rating, Tie)
“The Resident” Season 6 debuted to 2.7 million people on Fox.
31. “Alaska Daily” (ABC, 0.32 rating)
“Alaska Daily” premiered to 3.6 million total viewers.
32. “The Rookie: Feds” (ABC, 0.3 rating)
“The Rookie: Feds” posted 2.2 million total viewers for its pilot on ABC.
33. “CSI: Vegas” (CBS, 0.27 rating)
The premiere episode of “CSI: Vegas” drew an audience of 3.2 million.
34. “Big Sky” (ABC, 0.26 rating, Tie)
About 2.3 million people watched the premiere of “Big Sky” Season 3.
34. “The Real Love Boat” (CBS, 0.26 rating, Tie)
“The Real Love Boat” debuted to an audience of 2.4 million people.
35. “Call Me Kat” (Fox, 0.2 rating)
The Season 3 premiere of Fox’s “Call Me Kat” was watched by 1.2 million people.
36. “Welcome to Flatch” (Fox, 0.18 rating)
The first episode of “Welcome to Flatch” Season 2 didn’t perform the best, only managing 821,000 total viewers.
37. “All American” (The CW, 0.13 rating)
The Season 5 premiere episode of “All American” drew 447,000 total viewers.
38. “The Winchesters” (The CW, 0.12 rating)
“The Winchesters,” a prequel to “Supernatural,” managed 781,000 total viewers for its premiere episode.
39. “All American: Homecoming” (The CW, 0.1 rating)
The Season 2 debut of “All American: Homecoming” had an audience of 347,000.
40. “Walker” (The CW, 0.08 rating)
“Walker” had 760,000 total viewers for its Season 3 premiere.
41. “Kung Fu” (The CW, 0.07 rating)
The season premiere of “Kung Fu” fought its way to 402,000 total viewers.
42. “Walker: Independence” (The CW, 0.05 rating, Tie)
“Walker: Independence” premiered to 615,000 total viewers.
42. “Professionals” (The CW, 0.05 rating, Tie)
“Professionals” brought in 344,000 total viewers for its premiere episode.
