With the Olympics done like borscht, the real TV Games have begun. This week, several new and returning shows aired series as well as season premiere episodes. Here is a sampling. (Keep in mind as we move deeper into the PVR, Live+7 era these estimated, overnight numbers are a bit like reporting only the first two periods of a hockey game):
MONDAY Global’s new medical drama Remedy had a so-so delivery with 754,000 estimated overnight viewers. That’s about half what the network averaged a few years ago with their last attempt at a doctor show, the co-pro casualty Combat Hospital. Global hammocked the home grown entry between two simulcasts, Almost Human (1,086,000) and The Blacklist (1,245,000). Competition at 9 Monday was far from killer, with The Following drawing 895,000 on CTV and comedies Mike & Molly (835,000) and Mom (853,000) on City. The Voice spoke to another 946,000 over two hours on CTV Two. CBC had the mid-season premieres of Mr. D (344,000) and The Ron James Show (338,000) following a hidden camera Gerry Dee Substitute special (464,000).
TUESDAY saw Global dominate as usual with new episodes of NCIS (2,232,000), NCIS Los Angeles (1,847,000) and Chicago Fire (1,067,000). CTV has a new episodes of Person of Interest at 10, which drew 1,431,000. The Voice results hour was heard over at CTV Two (959,000). CBC had steady nights from the Rick Mercer Report (921,000) and 22 Minutes (825,000) with Arctic Air landing another 573,000.
Global did not miss Glee, which premiered to 353,000 on its new home, City.
WEDNESDAY saw the two-hour season premiere of Survivor: Brains vs. Brawn (1,933,000). Global followed with another Windy City saga, Chicago P.D. (856,000). CTV had a mixed night with its pre-release of Mixology (610,000) followed by Arrow (1,104,000). Law & Order SVU (1,345,000) and Criminal Minds (1,868,000) were strong in simulcast. Once mighty American Idol slipped down to 775,000 on CTV Two. CBC had Dragon`s Den (738,000) followed by the debut of Carlo Rota`s new foodie series Recipes to Riches (506,000). A Detroit-Montreal game on TSN drew 559,000. Remember Cougar Town? With Super Fun Night done, the Bill Lawrence comedy snuck back onto City’s schedule (215,000) behind a new Modern Family (590,000). Revolution (348,000) and Nashville (216,000) cannot get any traction.
THURSDAY: CTV’s big night started with The Big Bang Theory (3,254,000) followed by Two and a Half Men (1,549,000). Grey’s Anatomy pulled 2,029,000. The season finale of CTV’s Canadian medical drama Saving Hope drew 1,361,000. American Idol (625,000) seems lost on CTV Two. More people tuned in for the Season Two premiere of Vikings on History (685,000). Beating both over on SportsNet Ontario was the Leafs first game since the Olympic break (785,000). Buried on a slow night on City was Eva Longoria’s animated comedy Mother Up (103,000). Shouldn’t this be on Teletoon?
As always, you can find these and other numbers faster by following me on Twitter @BillBriouxTV.
