Some good CW ratings news (finally!): Supernatural returned much stronger Tuesday night, garnering 2.5 million viewers and a 1.2 rating among adults 18-49, up a big 50 percent from last fall.
Now if that seems like a suspiciously large jump, it's partly fueled by the fact the long-running action-drama had a lead-in from The Originals last night instead of last year's gutter-ball Oh Sit (plus it was up against the presidential debate last year, to boot). That NBC's The Voice had a clip show last night probably helped too.
Still. A rating is a rating. And Supernatural improved notably upon its lead-in (Originals, in its new time period, was down from last week with 1.9 million viewers and a 0.9). In fact, this is the most-watched and best-ratedSupernatural premiere since 2010. The episode was titled "I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here," which might as well be a comment on the show's new time slot.
CW also got some belated upbeat news earlier this week with the extended three-day DVR data for last Thursday'sVampire Diaries debut. You'll recall that episode was down notably from last year. Well, now the gap has narrowed, with the premiere averaging 3.7 million at this point, off only 6 percent from last year's first episode using the same measurement.
Also last night:
- ABC's Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The show slipped again, down 15 percent, despite not fighting an originalVoice. Put on the brakes Agent Coulson!
- ABC's New shouty sitcom The Goldbergs also edged down. BUT: Fellow newcomer Trophy Wife did not fall. The rating is still pretty terrible (1.4 in the demo), but it didn't fall. It's like the show saw the shadow of ABC's axe rising over its head and manged to halt its slide. I still have some hope for this show; it deserved better than it got.
- Fox's new comedies also got some ratings relief. Dads halted. And Brooklyn Nine-Nine edged up 9 percent.
- You wonder how much of NBC's improbable second season hit Chicago Fire does without The Voice? Without an original Voice as a lead-in last night, Fire was down 15 percent " not bad " and continued to fight off Person of Interest.