It was not a bomb on the scale of FOX’s “Lone Star” or ABC’s “The Whole Truth,” but NBC’s “Undercovers” definitely failed to impress in its debut Wednesday.
The premiere scored a 2.1 adults 18-49 rating with 8.6 million viewers. While the viewership total was not terrible, the demo performance was disappointing, indicating an older skew than was expected and a general disinterest from younger viewers. No one was pegging “Undercovers” as a major hit, but there was definitely some internal hope that the marketing campaign and JJ Abrams backing would have spurred a higher premiere rating.
A two hour “Law & Order: SVU” followed with a 3.2 rating and 10.0 million viewers.
Over on CBS, new series “The Defenders” got off to a soft–but respectable–start in the 10PM timeslot. Its 2.9 rating with 12.1 million viewers made for a fine performance, although it was down from where “CSI: New York” opened last season. Granted, “CSI: NY” was slipping to around this level by season’s end, so if “The Defenders” can hold, it will be viewed as a successful launch.
How the debut of “Law & Order: Los Angeles” affects “Defenders” will also be a point of interest; it is not a scientific certainty that “LOLA” will perform identically to this week’s two-hour “SVU.”
Other CBS shows included “Survivor” (12.5 million viewers, 4.0) and “Criminal Minds” (14.1 million, 4.0). FOX devoted its evening to “Hell’s Kitchen” (6.6 million, 2.9).