ABC’s new comedies “The Knights of Prosperity” and “In Case of Emergency” got off to a slow start Wednesday, finishing fourth in the 9-10 p.m. hour, while CW’s “Beauty and the Geek” was hot in its Season 3 premiere.
But the night belonged to Fox, whose coverage of the Sugar Bowl topped the competition.
The debut of ABC’s “Knights” was anything but rich in the ratings. The heist comedy starring Donal Logue averaged 7.2 million viewers and a 3.0 rating/8 share in adults 18-49 and was beaten by a repeat of CBS’ “Criminal Minds” (11.9 million, 3.5/9) and NBC’s “Deal or No Deal” (11.3 million, 3.5/9), according to Nielsen Media Research.
“Knights” did build on its lead-in of “According to Jim” by 11%. “Emergency” (6.3 million, 2.7/7) fared worse, though the new comedies didn’t have the benefit of “Dancing With the Stars” as a lead-in as “Help Me Help You” did in the time period earlier this season.
The CW had good news with the two-hour season premiere of “Beauty,” which averaged 4.9 million viewers and a 2.2/6 in adults 18-49, hitting series highs in the female demographics, including women 18-34 (3.5/9).
The Notre Dame-LSU matchup on Fox averaged 14.6 million viewers and a 5.2/14 in adults 18-49. The game’s peak was at 10 p.m., when 15.3 million people tuned in, and it reached a 5.7/14 in the demo.
For the night, Fox had 14.4 million viewers and a 5.0/13 in the demo, followed by CBS (10.3 million, 3.2/8), NBC (9 million, 3.0/8), ABC (6.3 million, 2.5/7) and the CW (4.9 million, 2.2/6).
