Update 2: Per time adjusted fast national ratings, the series premiere of “Madam Secretary” drew a 2.0 adults 18-49 rating with 14.70 million viewers.
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Update: Due to delays stemming from the Seahawks-Broncos overrun, current ratings data from CBS’ “Madam Secretary” premiere is very subject to change.
What it does signal, however, is that the old-skewing new CBS series drew a mammoth viewership average but a modest adults 18-49 rating.
Current fast national data, which is neither adjusted for different time zone airings nor able to account for four minutes of “60 Minutes” overrun, says that “Madam” drew a 1.9 adults 18-49 rating with 14.3 million viewers.
Corrected data will be released shortly.
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Going into Sunday, there was no denying that CBS put its “Madam Secretary” premiere in a very enviable position. The new Tea Leoni vehicle was booked to air just an hour after the culmination of a Super Bowl rematch between the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks.
The actual scenario became particularly rosy when the tightly contested game ended up spilling into overtime. That assured that “60 Minutes,” which led out of football and into “Madam,” would have an immensely large audience to spill into the new drama premiere.
Consequently, “Madam Secretary” began its run with a very impressive household audience.
Following football (19.4 overnight household in the 7PM hour) and “60 Minutes” (12.6 in the 8PM hour), “Madam Secretary” drew a 10.3 overnight household audience. While it is expected to join dramas like “The Good Wife” in skewing towards less advertiser-friendly older viewers, there is no denying the impressive magnitude of that household audience.
The aforementioned “Good Wife” drew an 8.2 in the 10PM hour.
It is worth noting that the latter three shows started 4 minutes into their respective timeslots, so each hourly rating includes some overrun data from the previous program.
Updated numbers, including those assessing performance in the adults 18-49 demographic and total viewership, will go to print early this afternoon.