The series premiere of “A Million Little Things” on ABC failed to generate much heat in the Wednesday overnight ratings.
Airing at 10 p.m., “A Million Little Things” averaged a 1.1 rating in adults 18-49 and 5.1 million viewers. By comparison, the Season 2 premiere of “Designated Survivor” last September also drew a 1.1 rating but 5.5 million viewers in the same time slot. “Designated Survivor” was also down significantly from its series premiere the previous year.
ABC’s other series premiere of the night–the single-cam comedy “Single Parents”–drew a 1.3 rating and 4.9 million viewers. The show retained most of the lead-in it got from the season premiere of “Modern Family,” which was down a little over 20% in both measures from last season with a 1.6 and 5.4 million viewers.
Earlier on ABC, both the season premiere of “The Goldbergs” (1.4, 5.1 million) and “American Housewife” (1.2, 4.4 million) saw declines similar to those experienced by “Modern Family.”
The season premiere of “Empire” on Fox was the top-rated show of the night with a 1.9 and 6.1 million viewers, though it was also down approximately 21% in the key demo and 14% in total viewers from last season. The season premiere of “Star” saw smaller declines, dropping approximately 15% in the demo and 12% in viewers with a 1.5 and 4.7 million viewers.
NBC’s Wednesday “Chicago” block fared better than most returning shows, “Chicago Med” (1.2, 7.7 million), “Chicago Fire” (1.2, 8 million), and “Chicago PD” (1.2, 7.1 million) all saw declines in the demo but were up in total viewers compared to their previous season premieres.
On CBS, “Survivor” (1.7, 7.8 million) held mostly steady with last season. “Big Brother” (1.7, 5.8 million) ticked up slightly in the demo.
The CW aired only “Burden of Truth” (0.1, 0.6 million), which was down slightly in viewers.