The premiere week of the 2020-21 TV season was unlike any other.
Due to the massive impact of COVID-19, the week was packed with un-scripted fare, reruns, and broadcast debuts of series which already aired elsewhere.
Amongst the lack of original scripted content, “The Masked Singer” and the NFL emerged as clear winners. The whacky Fox singing competition series delivered a 2.4 rating among adults 18-49 after seven days of delayed viewing. While that’s down a good chunk on last season, it still represents the largest non-football program of the week by some distance, and its +0.8 ratings growth was also by far and away the largest. “Sunday Night Football” came overall top with a 5.4.
The top scripted series of the week you ask? Well “The Simpsons” rolled back the clock for Fox, coming in with a 1.9 rating in Live+7, followed by “Family Guy” with a 1.1 and “Bob’s Burgers” with a 0.9.
It was a similar story on the total viewership front, with “Masked Singer” growing by around 50% to 8.8 million total viewers, still far behind “Sunday Night Football” with 18 million.
There was decent growth for two scripted shows, namely “L.A.’s Finest” and “Filthy Rich,” both of which gained more than 40% to end up with around 4.4 million viewers a piece.
Read the full week’s rankings below.
5.4
5.4
even
+0%
3.5
3.5
even
+0%
1.6
2.4
+0.8
+50%
2.0
2.0
even
+0%
1.7
1.9
+0.2
+12%
1.8
1.8
even
+0%
1.1
1.5
+0.4
+36%
1.2
1.5
+0.3
+25%
1.2
1.5
+0.3
+25%
1.0
1.4
+0.4
+40%
1.1
1.3
+0.2
+18%
1.0
1.1
+0.1
+10%
0.7
1.1
+0.4
+57%
0.9
1.0
+0.1
+11%
0.7
0.9
+0.2
+29%
0.8
0.9
+0.1
+13%
0.7
0.8
+0.1
+14%
0.8
0.8
even
+0%
0.5
0.8
+0.3
+60%
0.6
0.8
+0.2
+33%
0.8
0.8
even
+0%
0.5
0.8
+0.3
+60%
0.5
0.8
+0.3
+60%
0.5
0.7
+0.2
+40%
0.6
0.7
+0.1
+17%
0.7
0.7
even
+0%
0.4
0.7
+0.3
+75%
0.5
0.7
+0.2
+40%
0.5
0.7
+0.2
+40%
0.5
0.7
+0.2
+40%
0.6
0.7
+0.1
+17%
0.5
0.7
+0.2
+40%
0.7
0.7
even
+0%
0.7
0.7
even
+0%
0.5
0.6
+0.1
+20%
0.4
0.6
+0.2
+50%
0.4
0.6
+0.2
+50%
0.4
0.6
+0.2
+50%
0.6
0.6
even
+0%
0.4
0.5
+0.1
+25%
0.4
0.5
+0.1
+25%
0.4
0.4
even
+0%
0.4
0.4
even
+0%
0.3
0.4
+0.1
+33%
0.4
0.4
even
+0%
0.4
0.4
even
+0%
0.3
0.4
+0.1
+33%
0.4
0.4
even
+0%
0.3
0.3
even
+0%
0.3
0.3
even
+0%
0.1
0.3
+0.2
+200%
0.3
0.3
even
+0%
0.1
0.2
+0.1
+100%
0.2
0.2
even
+0%
0.2
0.2
even
+0%
0.1
0.1
even
+0%
0.1
0.1
even
+0%
0.1
0.1
even
+0%
0.1
0.1
even
+0%
0.1
0.1
even
+0%
0.1
0.1
even
+0%
Live+7 Total Viewers
Live+7 Total Viewership (in millions)
Actual Gain
% Gain
17869
18026
+157
+1%
12100
12136
+36
+0%
5919
8802
+2883
+49%
8000
8092
+92
+1%
7570
7986
+416
+5%
6572
7629
+1057
+16%
6099
7397
+1298
+21%
6159
7129
+970
+16%
6707
6711
+4
+0%
5266
6054
+788
+15%
5477
5857
+380
+7%
3817
5843
+2026
+53%
5622
5657
+35
+1%
4562
5627
+1065
+23%
4167
5404
+1237
+30%
4194
5268
+1074
+26%
4233
5210
+977
+23%
3942
4888
+946
+24%
4450
4801
+351
+8%
3029
4433
+1404
+46%
3435
4433
+998
+29%
3054
4314
+1260
+41%
3483
4117
+634
+18%
3046
4077
+1031
+34%
3415
3841
+426
+12%
3004
3818
+814
+27%
3206
3482
+276
+9%
2792
3461
+669
+24%
2951
3418
+467
+16%
2958
2990
+32
+1%
2724
2750
+26
+1%
1865
2641
+776
+42%
1884
2530
+646
+34%
2058
2528
+470
+23%
1861
2485
+624
+34%
2258
2463
+205
+9%
1876
2454
+578
+31%
2114
2419
+305
+14%
1868
2369
+501
+27%
1840
2320
+480
+26%
1729
2287
+558
+32%
1779
2284
+505
+28%
2223
2252
+29
+1%
2060
2174
+114
+6%
1895
2067
+172
+9%
1994
2056
+62
+3%
1578
2015
+437
+28%
1948
1951
+3
+0%
1615
1840
+225
+14%
1520
1719
+199
+13%
1532
1535
+3
+0%
719
1287
+568
+79%
1121
1127
+6
+1%
969
969
+0
+0%
523
962
+439
+84%
745
818
+73
+10%
749
814
+65
+9%
587
633
+46
+8%
467
492
+25
+5%
315
408
+93
+30%
305
323
+18
+6%
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