The CW debuted the first of its two new fall series on Tuesday with The Flash, which raced to the network’s best numbers for a debut since 2009’s The Vampire Diaries.
The spinoff of fellow CW drama Arrow notched 4.5 million total viewers at 8 p.m. and a 1.8 rating in the adults 18-49 demo, according to Nielsen overnight numbers. The 1.8 rating was nearly a full point higher than what The Originals debuted to on that night last fall and more than double its total viewer count (1.92 million).
Compared to Arrow’s debut in 2012, The Flash tracked 38% higher in the demo and a more modest 9% among total viewers. The Flash now ranks as the second highest series debut in CW history in the demo and third-most watched behind Vampire Diaries and 90210.
Supernatural returned for its 10th season at 9 p.m., drawing a 1.2 rating, which was even with last year. In the net’s targeted adults 18-34 demo, Flash drew a 1.5 and Supernatural notched a 1.1.
Overall, The CW finished third in the 18-49 demo with a 1.5 rating/5 share, topping both Fox and ABC.
In their second week, ABC’s comedies Selfie and Manhattan Love Story fell even further from their weak debuts, with Selfie falling 31% to a 1.1 and Manhattan Love Story tumbling 40% to a 0.9 (should be noted that last week’s ratings went up more than normal in the nationals).
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. continues to struggle behind those soft lead ins, dropping another two tenths from last week to a series-low 1.6 (being outrated by Flash) at 9 p.m. Forever lost another tenth to a 1.3 rating. ABC finished in fourth with a 1.3/4.
NBC led the night despite airing a recap episode of The Voice from 8-10 p.m. with a 2.3/7. Chicago Fire lost only two tenths to a 2.1 despite the weaker lead in (2.4 rating).
CBS took second with a 2.2/7, but easily led among total viewers with 14.1 million. Both NCIS and its newest spinoff NCIS: New Orleans were even week-over-week with a 2.6 and 2.3 rating, respectively. At 10 p.m., Person of Interest fell two tenths to a 1.6.
Fox rounded out the evening with a 1.0/3. New Girl was even with last week’s 1.3 while The Mindy Project dipped a tenth to a 1.0. An encore of Family Guy’s crossover episode with The Simpsons aired at 8 p.m. in place of the displaced Utopia, improving that time slot by a tenth to a 0.9.
