Ratings: Solid Sampling for NBC’s ‘Superstore’; ‘Gotham’ Matches Fall High with Finale

DC Comics-inspired series “Gotham” and “Supergirl were on the rise Monday and finished in a draw in the key young-adults demo on a night carried by NBC with “The Voice” and solid sampling for its new comedy “Superstore.” Also of note, ABC did well with “A Charlie Brown Christmas” but only so-so with the debut of “The Great Holiday Baking Show,” while CW rookie “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” edged up to highs across the board.

NBC’s affiliate-based preliminary Nielsen numbers are expected to be revised down in the nationals due to preemptions for football in both Cleveland and Baltimore, but “The Voice” (2.9/9 in 18-49, 13.1 million viewers overall in the prelims) will remain Monday’s top entertainment series in 18-49. It was followed by back-to-back episodes of “Superstore” at 10 (2.2/7 in 18-49, 8.0 million viewers overall) and 10:30 (1.9/6 in 18-49, 6.1 million viewers overall), which led the 10 o’clock hour among the broadcasters in 18-49. It’s tough to make comparisons to previous comedy launches as this is in a special time period and opposite nothing-special competition, but NBC has to be happy that the workplace comedy starring America Ferrera and Ben Feldman has generated some decent interest in advance of its regular-timeslot premiere leading off the night in January.

ABC opened the night with “It’s Your 50th Christmas, Charlie Brown” (1.8/6 in 18-49, 7.2 million viewers overall), a 50th-anniversary special commemorating the holiday classic, which followed at 9 p.m. with a 2.0/6 in 18-49, 7.3 million viewers overall; combined, the programs did about what “Dancing With the Stars” averaged this fall in the time period. Closing out the night, “The Great Holiday Baking Show” opened with a 1.2/4 in 18-49 and 4.4 million viewers overall, matching the high-water demo mark in the 10 p.m. hour this fall with “Castle.”

At CBS, “Supergirl” (1.6/5 in 18-49, 8.0 million viewers overall) was up a tick from its low of last week; it gained a little more in total viewers (up about 800,000 or 12%), likely picking up older viewers who had been watching ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” in prior weeks. It was followed by decently performing repeats of “Scorpion” (1.1/3 in 18-49, 6.6 million viewers overall) and “NCIS: Los Angeles” (1.1/4 in 18-49, 7.5 million viewers overall).

In its fall finale, Fox’s “Gotham” (1.6/5 in 18-49, 4.5 million viewers overall) was up 0.2 to match its season high. Head-to-head with “Supergirl,” it prevailed in adults 18-34 (1.1 vs. 0.9), men 18-34 (1.3 vs. 0.8) and men 18-49 (1.8 vs. 1.6) while the CBS show led in 25-54 and female demos. Wrapping the night for the net, the series finale of “Minority Report” (0.7/2 in 18-49, 2.2 million viewers overall) matched its top demo score since September.

At the CW, “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” (0.4/1 in 18-49, 1.1 million viewers overall) matched or set highs in 18-49 as well as 18-34 (0.3/1), women 18-34 (0.4/1) and women 18-49 (0.4/1) and also spiked about 20% week to week to a high in total viewers. It was followed by a special repeat of the special “Greatest Holiday Commercials Countdown” (0.2/1 in 18-49, 0.8 million viewers overall).

ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” was expected to win the night as usual in 18-49, even if its Baltimore-Cleveland matchup averaged a season-low 7.4 overnight household rating, according to Nielsen; it peaked with an 8.5 for the final 15 minutes (11:30-11:45 p.m. ET). It was a matchup of two of the worst teams in the NFL, but the contest turned out to be a wild one (33-27) that was decided on the final play when the Ravens returned a field goal attempt by the Browns for the game-winning touchdown.

The football game did a combined 30.8 rating in Baltimore on WBAL-NBC (19.9) and ESPN (10.9). And in Cleveland, it earned a 29.8 rating on WKYC-NBC (21.8) and ESPN (8.0).

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