Murphy Brown returned to television on Thursday, with the CBS sitcom revival drawing mediocre numbers in the overnight ratings.
Airing at 9:30 p.m., Murphy Brown averaged a 1.1 rating in adults 18-49 and 7.4 million viewers. By comparison, the revival of Roseanne on ABC stunned Hollywood with a 5.2 rating and 18.4 million viewers earlier this year. Prior to that, “Will & Grace” managed a 3.0 and 10.2 million last September when it returned for new episodes.
In fairness, Murphy Brown was airing against Thursday Night Football on Fox, but it also had the advantage of a lead-in from established shows like Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon, and Mom.
Big Bang Theory (2.1, 11.7 million) ticked down in both measures from its premiere on Monday, as did Young Sheldon (1.6, 10.1 million) though to a lesser degree. The season premiere of Mom (1.3, 8 million) ticked down in the demo from last season’s premiere but held mostly steady in total viewers. SWAT (0.7, 5 million) returned down by approximately 36% in the demo and 26% in viewers from last year.
Fox ruled the night with the Los Angeles Rams-Minnesota Vikings game. The game is currently at a 3.3 and 10.1 million viewers, though due to the nature of live sports those numbers will be subject to adjustment later today. In metered market households, which are time zone adjusted, the game drew a 10.7 rating, up approximately 8% from the comparable game last season.
On ABC, the two hour premiere of Grey’s Anatomy averaged a 1.9 and 6.8 million viewers, down double digits in both measures from last season. How to Get Away With Murder (0.8, 3 million) also saw noticeable declines in its premiere.
On NBC, the one hour season premiere of The Good Place (0.9, 3.1 million) was down over 30% in the demo and around 40% in viewers from last season. The two-hour premiere of Law & Order: SVU (1.1, 5.1 million) was down just over 20% in the demo but held mostly steady in viewers.
The CW aired only repeats.
