Fall TV Scheduling Hits & Misses (2019)

ABC

With Mondays (home of the increasingly broken Dancing With the Stars and steady Good Doctor) unchanged....

SUNDAY: The Rookie (averaging a 0.6 demo rating through its first four Sunday airings) may be down a tick from its freshman run, which closed out Tuesday nights, but A) it was fated to dip anyway and B) it's faring far better than what The Alec Baldwin Show did in the time slot last fall (averaging a 0.3). All told, with Kids Say the Darnedest Things swapped in for DWTS: Juniors, ABC's shuffled Sunday slate is averaging a 0.6 versus last fall's 0.7 — and remember, everything is down these days. (RESULT: HIT)

TUESDAY: Now leading out of The Conners, Bless This Mess (averaging a 0.8) is up a tick from its freshman run. And though shy of what gone-too-soon predecessor The Kids Are Alright had been doing (0.9), it's actually delivering greater retention (67 vs. 56 percent) out of ABC's top-rated sitcom. Leading out of freshman spinoff mixed-ish (0.8), which has performed steadily, black-ish (0.7) is down a tick from last year but on par with Splitting Up Together's numbers. Closing out the night, Emergence (0.6) is now performing below The Rookie's average in the network's Death Slot, and has trended down since launch (currently off 35 percent from its premiere). (RESULT: EVEN)

WEDNESDAY: Stumptown opened to a pair of 0.7s and to date is averaging 0.6 — well shy of what A Million Little Things did in the time slot last fall (0.8). The freshman drama meanwhile is down 40 percent in total viewers since launch. That said, it's leading this fall's freshman class in DVR playback gains. (RESULT: HIT)

THURSDAY: Having first claimed the #TGIT hammock spot midway through its freshman run, A Million Little Things is delivering sliiiightly better retention (62 percent) out of Grey's Anatomy than Station 19 had been, while giving the night a bit more buzz. (RESULT: SLIGHT HIT)

FRIDAY: American Housewife (averaging 0.6) took a hit with the move to Fridays but is matching what Fresh Off the Boat did in the leadoff spot last season. Fresh Off the Boat (0.5), meanwhile, is down a tick from last season but matching Speechless' final-season average. (RESULT: EVEN)

Want scoop on any of the above shows? Email InsideLine@tvline.com and your question may be answered via Matt's Inside Line.

CBS

With Sundays (getting a bit wobbly) and Tuesdays (rock-steady) unchanged....

MONDAY: Bob Hearts Abishola is drawing a bigger crowd (5.3 million) than last fall's Happy Together, though with a smaller demo rating (0.7 vs 0.9). Similarly, All Rise (5.5 million) is just shy of Magnum P.I.'s freshman audience, but down sharply in the demo (0.6 vs 0.9). (RESULT: SLIGHT MISS)

WEDNESDAY: Not only is S.W.A.T. down sharply from its Season 2 average (0.6 vs. 0.8), it is performing below Criminal Minds' penultimate season average (0.8) in the time slot. (RESULT: MISS)

THURSDAY: It's as unpretty as it was inevitable. With Big Bang Theory gone and no less than three new shows in the mix, the Eye's Thursday lineup is down 44 percent in the demo (averaging below a 0.8) and down 33 percent in total viewers (with 5.8 million). On the brighter side: The Unicorn and Carol's Second Act have held pretty steady since their launches, while the well-reviewed Evil actually ticked up in its fourth week. (RESULT: MISS)

FRIDAY: Now in the leadoff spot after many years, Hawaii Five-0 (averaging a 0.7) is down a tick from last season but putting up slightly better numbers than the pine-riding MacGyver most recently did. Relocated from Mondays, Magnum P.I. (0.6) isn't performing as well as Five-0 did in the hammock spot, and Blue Bloods in turn is down two tenths (averaging a 0.6).  All told, the Friday drama slate is down 14 percent in the demo, on par with broadcast-TV's fall average. (RESULT: EVEN)

Want scoop on any of the above shows? Email InsideLine@tvline.com and your question may be answered via Matt's Inside Line.

FOX

With only Thursdays unchanged and easily winning the night with football....

MONDAY: With the buzzy 9-1-1 holding rock-steady (averaging nearly a 1.6, now in the leadoff spot) and Prodigal Son putting up the same demo number (0.9) as The Resident did last season, Fox has done well maintaining one of its two all-scripted nights. (RESULT: HIT)

TUESDAY: The relocated Resident (currently averaging a 0.8) is down a tenth from its sophomore season, while Empire (0.9) has dropped 40 percent from its most recent Wednesday run. That said, together the two are averaging sliiiightly better numbers than what Lethal Weapon and The Gifted did on Tuesdays last season. (RESULT: SLIGHT MISS)

WEDNESDAY: The good-ish news: Almost Family is trending down only slightly since its launch. The bad news: Averaging a 0.7 demo rating, it has horrible 31 percent retention out of the network's crown jewel, The Masked Singer. (RESULT: MISS)

FRIDAY: Friday Night SmackDown is delivering a younger (1.1 demo rating to date) — but much smaller (2.4 million viewers in Week 3) — audience than last season's Last Man Standing/Cool Kids/Hell's Kitchen combo (which averaged 4.2 mil and a 0.9). (RESULT: MODEST HIT)

Want scoop on any of the above shows? Email InsideLine@tvline.com and your question may be answered via Matt's Inside Line.

NBC

With Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays unchanged and all performing solidly.....

MONDAY: We've said it before, we will say it again: Bluff City Law, which is averaging just north of a 0.6 demo rating, has delivered just 36 percent retention out of the reality juggernaut The Voice, whereas Manifest last fall at this point was enjoying 79 percent. Considering that this primo real estate in the past has often gone to (and made modest hits out of) genre-TV fare, going with a staid legal drama (and opposite another legal drama!) was an odd call. (RESULT: MISS)

THURSDAY: Like CBS' mix-and-mash of old and new, NBC's lineup at last count averaged 2.4 million total viewers and a 0.6 demo rating — down about 25 percent from a year ago. Because though Superstore has proven to be quite the Steady Eddie, The Good Place (leading out of freshman comedy Perfect Harmony) is down sharply in its farewell run, while Sunnyside (averaging a 0.35 rating) emerged as this fall's first bomb and has thus been replaced with Will & Grace's final season. (RESULT: MISS)

Want scoop on any of the above shows? Email InsideLine@tvline.com and your question may be answered via Matt's Inside Line.

THE CW

With only Thursday night unchanged....

SUNDAY: Batwoman (averaging nearly a 0.4) thus far is up a tick from what Supergirl did in the leadoff spot last season, while the Girl of Steel (1.05 mil/0.3) has improved on what Charmed was doing (850K/0.26) in the later time slot. All told, Sundays this fall are up 8 percent in the demo and 24 percent in total viewers, and Batwoman is currently drawing the largest audience and second-best rating of any CW series. Now if Supergirl can just stabilize.... (RESULT: HIT)

MONDAY: All American and Black Lightning thus far are averaging just south of a 0.3; the former has improved on its freshman run (which led out of Riverdale versus opened a night), whereas the latter is down just a bit from Season 2. All told, the pair are down about 15 percent from what Arrow and Legends averaged on Mondays last fall. (RESULT: EVEN)

TUESDAY: Now leading out of The Flash, Arrow opened its farewell run right on par with its penultimate season rating, if down a few eyeballs. (RESULT: SLIGHT HIT)

WEDNESDAY: In the post-Riverdale slot, Nancy Drew is delivering a 33 percent larger audience (1 million viewers) than predecessor All American, while delivering slightly better demo retention (with a 0.22). (RESULT: HIT)

FRIDAY: Though Dynasty and the relocated Charmed are both down from their previous seasons, together they have improved The CW's Friday average by 16 percent in total audience and 7 percent in the demo, compared to last season's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend/Dynasty combo. (RESULT: EVEN)

Want scoop on any of the above shows? Email InsideLine@tvline.com and your question may be answered via Matt's Inside Line.