Airing for the first time without NFL lead-in support, Thursday’s “The Orville” predictably suffered a substantial episode-to-episode ratings drop.
According to live+same-day data posted by Showbuzz, Thursday’s “The Orville” drew a 1.1 adults 18-49 rating and averaged 4.05 million overall viewers.
The numbers trail the 2.2 adults 18-49 rating and 6.63 million viewer mark posted by the September 17 episode and the 2.7 rating and 8.56 million viewer figure drawn by the September 10 premiere. Those episodes, as noted, aired directly after NFL games.
This week’s episode aired out of the season premiere of “Gotham,” which drew a 1.0 rating and 3.21 million viewers in its new Thursday at 8PM timeslot.
Despite the steep episode-to-episode decline, “The Orville” gave FOX first place in adults 18-49 for the 9PM hour. A 9-9:30PM “The Big Bang Theory” re-run drew a stronger 1.2 rating, but the 9:30-10PM “Mom” re-run (0.9) reduced CBS’ average for the full hour.
Granted, “The Orville” faced minimal competition this week. CBS, ABC, NBC and The CW all aired re-runs. It also faced an unassuming Thursday Night Football game — a matchup between the 49ers and Rams that aired on NFL Network rather than a major broadcast network.
It will be interesting to see how “The Orville” holds up as competition intensifies.
