ABC’s American Crime got off to a decent start on Thursday, debuting to a 2.0 rating with adults 18-49 and 8.4 million total viewers at 10 p.m., winning its timeslot in both measures, according to Nielsen overnight numbers.
While it was a solid start for the John Ridley-created series, it was behind what How to Get Away With Murder – one of this season’s top newcomers – had been drawing in that time slot. Murder is behind only Empire as the season’s top-rated rookie, premiering to a 3.8 rating in September and wrapping its first season last week with a 2.8 rating.
Earlier, Grey’s Anatomy was up two tenths to a 2.4 and Scandal returned from a week off down 9% to a 3.0, ABC tied with CBS for the lead on Thursday with an overall 2.5 rating/8 share.
In its third week, CBS’ The Odd Couple remained strong, improving from last week by 7% to a 3.0, behind The Big Bang Theory, which rose 4% to a 4.7. Following a repeat Big Bang, Mom improved a tenth to a 2.2. Elementary dipped two tenths to a 1.3.
On Fox, American Idol earned a 2.1, down 5% from last week, while Backstrom rose 11% to a 1.0. Fox was in third with a 1.6/5.
NBC was in fourth on Thursday with a 1.1/3. The Slap improved a tenth to a 0.8, while The Blacklist dipped two tenths to a 1.7. Allegiance was steady with last week’s 0.8 rating.
The CW aired repeats.
