Update: As it turns out, the overnights did not properly forecast the numbers this week. “Chelsea” only garnered a 2.3 adults 18-49 rating, while “Whitney” was good for a 2.1.
While these are not terrible–and represent a slight improvement over what NBC had been doing in the timeslot this fall–they are also not great ratings for a season and mid-season premiere, especially since the competitive “American Idol” did not air last night.
For the more-detailed fast nationals, click here.
New comedies, especially ones with mountains of hype, always face a challenge when it comes to holding onto premiere viewership. A solid–or even a strong–premiere is never a guarantee the show will still be deemed successful a month later, let alone a season later.
But for now, it at least looks like NBC avoided another dead-on-arrival launch with “Are You There, Chelsea?” According to TV Media Insights, it posted a 4.6 overnight metered market rating. While not dazzling for an overnight number (since it aims to measure the household rating rather than young adult demographic viewership), given the typically-young skew of NBC’s comedies, this number suggests the more-important adults 18-49 rating will at least be respectable and probably “very good” by network standards.
It also grew out of very compatible lead-in “Whitney,” which had its second best rating of the season (4.4) in its relocated 8:30PM timeslot on Wednesday. By comparison, “Whitney” premiered behind Thursday staple “The Office” in September and garnered a 5.0 overnight rating (its only superior overnight rating this season), which translated to a 3.2 adults 18-49 demographic.
On the unfortunate horizon for these two shows is next week’s launch of FOX monster “American Idol.” Even if it premieres down from last year, as many fear could be the case, it will provide significantly more intense competition than the very poorly-rated “Mobbed” that aired this week.
