Programming Insider

-Did You Know?:
“Seinfeld” is only one of three series historically to rank first overall in all of primetime in its final season. The other two are “I Love Lucy” and “The Andy Griffith Show”…In its peak (airing following “Cheers” on Thursday),“Night Court” finished 7th overall in all of primetime from 1986 to 1988.

Household Rating/Share
CBS: 3.6/ 6, NBC and Fox: 2.8/ 5 each, ABC: 1.8/ 3, CW: 0.6/ 1

Percent Change from Year-Ago Evening
CBS and CW: +20 each, Fox: +12, ABC: + 6, NBC: -12

-Ratings Breakdown:
Led by two episodes of medical drama “Code Black” (which CBS may want to reverse its decision on canceling), the Eye topped this first Wednesday of the unofficial summer season in the household overnights. “Code Black” only fluctuated by two-tenths of a household rating point from 9-11 p.m. ET, with a dominant 4.2 rating/7 share in the 9 p.m. hour and an also first-place 4.0/ 7 from 10-11 p.m. That 4.0 household rating at 10 p.m. bested the series premiere of NBC drama “Reverie” (#2: 1.9/ 3) by 111 percent. Since most new dramas drop by 10 to 20 percent in week two, I would not get too used to “Reverie.”

For the remainder of the analysis, plus the half-hour household breakdown for Wednesday, May 30, click here

Live+Same Day Data
Monday 2/18/18: Click here

Weekly Ratings Scorecard
What follows are the Live+Same Day data results for the five broadcast networks for the week of May 21. Change versus the comparable year-ago period appears in parentheses:

-Total Viewers:
NBC: 5.01 million (- 4), NBC: 4.35 (- 6), ABC: 4.09 (-10), Fox: 2.71 (-17), CW: 840,000 (-36)

-Adults 18-49: 
ABC: 0.8 rating/4 share (-11), NBC: 0.8/ 4 (-20), CBS: 0.7/ 3 (no change), Fox: 0.7/ 3 (-22), CW: 0.3/ 1 (-25)

-Adults 25-54:
ABC: 1.1/ 4 (- 8), NBC: 1.1/ 4 (-15), CBS: 1.0/ 4 (- 9), Fox: 0.9/ 3 (-25), CW: 0.3/ 1 (-40)

-Adults 18-34:
ABC and Fox: 0.5/ 3 (-17 each), CBS: 0.4/ 2 (no change), NBC: 0.4/ 3 (-33), CW: 0.2/ 1 (-33)

Live+7 Day Ratings – Week of May 14 – Click here

Source: Nielsen Media Research

“The Middle” Spin-Off in the Works at ABC
One week after the series-finale of nine-year old sitcom “The Middle” comes word that a potential spin-off with Eder Sher as perennially optimistic daughter Sue Heck is in development. The project, which could be for midseason consideration, comes from “The Middle” creators/executive producers Eileen Heisler and DeAnn Heline and studio Warner Bros. TV.

Set a few years into the future, the untitled series would follow Sue’s life after college and as a young adult. If this does move forward, it would be the third ABC sitcom at present to spawn a spin-off following Freeform’s “Grow-ish” from “black-ish” and ABC’s upcoming “Schooled” from “The Goldbergs.”

Showtime to Develop Half-Hour Dramedy About Swingers
Showtime is developing a half-hour dramedy series about swingers with actor-writer Alanna Thompson and producer and distributor Dynamic Television. Created by Thompson, the still untitled potential series will be presented from three perspectives: a monogamous couple, an open couple and two singles who meet and fall in love at a swingers’ party. Dynamic’s Daniel March, Holly Hines and Elena Blekhter will executive produce.

Netflix Renews Drama “The Rain” for Season 2
Netflix has renewed its first Danish original series “The Rain” for a second season. Debuting on May 4, “The Rain” is set years after a terrible virus carried by the rain wipes out almost all humans in Scandinavia. After two Danish siblings, Simone and Rasmus, emerge from the safety of their bunker to find all remnants of civilization gone they join a group of young survivors in Scandinavia, searching for any sign of life. Set free from their collective past and societal rules, the group has the freedom to be who they want to be. In their struggle for survival, they discover that even in a post-apocalyptic world there’s still love, jealousy, coming of age, and many of the problems they thought they’d left behind with the disappearance of the world they once knew.

“The Rain” is created by Jannik Tai Mosholt, Esben Toft Jacobsen and Christian Potalivo.

Sundance Greenlights Drama “The Split” for Season 2
SundanceTV and BBC One announced that Abi Morgan’s original drama “The Split,” produced by Sister Pictures, will return for a second season. The legal drama follows the lives of the Defoe family, who all work in divorce law for the family firm, aside from eldest sister Hannah (Nicola Walker), who works for rival family law firm Noble & Hale. The series co-stars Stephen Mangan, Fiona Button, Annabel Scholev and Barry Atsma.

Summer 2018 TV Series Premiere Schedule
Mark your calendars…what follows is a listing of the key program launch dates this summer. Click here

-10 Key Highlights From Network Upfront Week – Click here

–The CW Expands to Sundays, Adds 3 New Series – Click here
-CBS Announces 5 New Series This Fall; 8 in Total – Click here
-Aggressive ABC to Launch 6 New Series This Fall: Click here
-Fox to Launch Just 2 New Series This Fall, Plus “TNF”: Click here
-NBC: 3 New Shows This Fall; 9 in Total in 2018-19 – Click here
-Turner Networks’ Focus is On Faandom – Click here
-Univision Plans for Future Amid Continued Cost Cutting – Click here
-YouTube Boasts Both Scale and Safety at NewFronts – For more, click here
-Hulu Crosses 20 Million Subscriber Mark – Click here
-Linear Model Still Matters for Optimistic PopTV – Click here
-Connector’s Remain Sony Crackle’s Key Target – Click here
-Nat Geo Combines Science, Exploration Storytelling to Broaden Brand – Clickhere
-“New” Discovery Touts Scripps Networks Expansion at Upfronts: Click here
-With “Portlandia” Done, IFC Renews “Brockmire,” “Documentary Now” – Clickhere
-A+E Celebrates Females in Women’s Upfront – Click here
-Nickelodeon to Reboot “Blues Clues;” Introduce New Version of “TMNT” – Clickhere

Sundance Now will launch six-part thriller “Next of Kin” on Thursday, June 21. “Next Of Kin” follows whip-smart General Practitioner Mona Shirani (Archie Panjabi) who lives a charmed life at the heart of a loving family in London. Unfortunately, she is left grief-stricken when her beloved brother is brutally murdered while working for a medical charity overseas. As the death brings buried family secrets to light, Mona is drawn into a tangle of betrayal, conspiracy and murder. One way or another, she must find a way to protect herself, her family and her career as they are all put at risk.