Update: The overnights were not misleading: NBC’s “Welcome to the Family” was a flop.
The Mike O’Malley-starrer opened to a paltry 1.1 adults 18-49 rating and 2.99 million viewers. Down even from its absymally-rated “Parks and Recreation” lead-in (1.2, 3.14 million), the “Family” premiere did not make spin duty easy for NBC’s publicity team.
In premiering to a 1.4 with 4.43 million viewers, “Sean Saves the World” was also a major disappointment for the Peacock.
Week two of “The Michael J. Fox Show,” meanwhile, drew a 1.7 with 5.35 million pairs of eyeballs in its regular 9:30PM timeslot.
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While verdicts on “The Millers” and “Sean Saves the World” are unclear based on the overnights and early adults 18-49 numbers, it appears save to write “Welcome to the Family” off as NBC’s latest Thursday sitcom disappointment.
According to TV Media Insights, the premiere of “Family” delivered an abysmal 2.6 overnight metered market rating Thursday. SitcomsOnline adds that the show delivered a 1.4 adults 18-49 rating in the top 25 markets.
Both figures are bad.
While “Family” did slightly improve upon its “Parks and Recreation” lead-in in the overnight category (“Parks” drew a 2.5), the veteran NBC comedy is performing far too poorly for that comparison to mean anything. It would be tantamount to celebrating a D- because it wasn’t an F.
A more complete ratings picture, including adults 18-49 and total viewership numbers, will be available by noon.