The return of American Ninja Warrior led NBC to an easy win among broadcasters Wednesday, the net scoring a 1.5 in adults 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and a 6 share. Next up was Fox at 1.0/4, then CBS at 0.9/3, ABC at 0.7/3 and The CW at 0.2/1.
The broadcast schedules featured several repeats.
Ninja Warrior did a 1.7, off 6% from last year’s premiere, while its 6.3 million total viewers was up. The new season of Night Shift scored a 1.1, down 8% from its second season closer.
Fox had MasterChef at 1.1, down 8% from last season’s debut, and Wayward Pines at a flat 0.9.
CBS was in repeats, including Undercover Boss and Criminal Minds.
ABC featured 500 Questions at 0.8, down 11% from last week, and repeated comedies 10-11 p.m.
On CW, iHeartRadio Summer Pool Party did a 0.2, down 33% from last year’s airing, before a repeat of Supernatural.
The broadcasters were competing with the third installment of the History/A&E/Lifetime special Roots, among other things.
Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.
