TV Ratings: ‘Single Parents,’ ‘A Million Little Things’ Premiere to So-So Numbers

A pair of new ABC series premiered to mediocre ratings Wednesday, and returning scripted shows continued the premiere-week trend of coming in below their debuts a year ago.

A couple things didn’t change, however: Fox’s Empire remained the No. 1 show on Wednesday among adults 18-49, and Survivor put up fairly consistent numbers.

ABC’s new comedy Single Parents earned a 1.3 in the demo, lower than American Housewife in the same spot last year (1.6) but also retaining more than its Modern Family lead-in (82 percent vs. 76 percent). Modern Family itself (1.6) was off 24 percent year to year, and American Housewife (1.2 at 8:30 p.m.) slipped 25 percent; The Goldbergs fell 22 percent year to year, from 1.8 to 1.4.

At 10 p.m., A Million Little Things premiered to 1.1, even with the season two debut of Designated Survivor in 2017.

Empire scored a 1.9, off 21 percent vs. a 2.4 for its 2017 premiere but a little ahead of its 2017-18 average of 1.8. Star (1.5, down 17 percent vs. 2017 premiere) likewise came in ahead of last season’s average.

Survivor opened with a 1.6 on CBS, down 11 percent from its fall 2017 premiere but close to its 1.7 average for the full season. Big Brother scored a 1.7 for its finale, 0.2 above its season average.

NBC’s all-Chicago lineup earned consistent ratings across the night, with Med, Fire and P.D. all drawing 1.2 ratings in the demo (NBC also led the night in total viewers). Chicago Med and Chicago P.D. were in line with their 2017-18 averages, and Fire was slightly above.

The CW’s Burden of Truth drew a 0.1.

Fox and CBS tied for the primetime lead among adults 18-49 at 1.7. ABC was third at 1.3, a little ahead of NBC’s 1.2. The CW averaged 0.1.