The new fall TV season officially kicked off this week in English Canada. Which network got off to an early ratings lead? Global’s got it.
The Corus-owned network had a strong start Monday in the overnights. Their revamped prime time lineup went like this: 9-1-1 returned at 8/7c with an estimated 1,469,000 followed by the premiere of new import drama Prodigal Son at 1,151,000. Closing the night was Bull at 898,000.
Prodigal Son is about a New York City police profiler, played by Thomas Payne (The Walking Dead), who is the son of a serial killer, played by Michael Sheen (Masters of Sex). One week does not a hit make, but look for a release declaring it the “break out show of the season.”
Earlier, bumped out of simulcast at 7:30 p.m., the Cedric the Entertainer comedy The Neighborhood played to an estimated 368,000 on Global.
Keep in mind that all of these numbers will likely grow 20 to 30 per cent once the Live+7 totals are added later.
CTV lagged behind early but finished strong with a mix of comedy and drama. Last season’s No. 1 new sitcom in Canada, The Conners, returned to an overnight, estimated 923,000 viewers. The new Chuck Lorre sitcom Bob Hearts Abishola drew a respectable 863,000. THe brand new courtroom drama, All Rise, stepped down to 790,000. Roaring back at 10 p.m. was last year’s imported CTV hit, and top show of the night, The Good Doctor at 1,598,000.
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Citytv stayed competitive the first two hours with Dancing with the Stars (647,000) but shut down at 10 p.m. with Jimmy Smits new legal drama Bluff City Law (227,000). CTV2 made some noise with a two hour The Voice at 8 (437,000) followed by Criminal Minds (162,000).
The full brunt of all those well publicized imports put a dent in CBC’s schedule Monday. Week two of their season went like this in overnights: Murdoch Mysteries 651,000, Frankie Drake Mysteries 490,000, The National 394,000.
