‘The Good Doctor’ Is Now Bigger Than ‘NCIS’ and ‘This Is Us,’ By a Hair — Ratings Watch
The Nielsen “Doctor” is in. After three weeks of the new season, the ABC drama “The Good Doctor” appears to be a bonafide hit for the network.
According to the latest Nielsen data covering three days’ worth of time-shifting (including DVR and video on demand viewing), “The Good Doctor” is averaging 16.42 million viewers — making it not just TV’s most-watched new drama, but TV’s most-watched drama, period. That’s because after three weeks, “The Good Doctor” is just a smidge above CBS’ perennial powerhouse “NCIS” (16.35 million) and NBC’s emotional juggernaut “This Is Us” (16.19 million).
The show, starring Freddie Highmore as a high-functioning autistic physician, is also the fall’s No. 1 freshman drama and top-rated 10 p.m. series among Adults 18-49 (3.7 rating).
Read More:‘The Good Doctor’ Is Destroying One Misconception About Autism at a Time
David Shore executive produces “The Good Doctor,” which is based on a South Korean format, and also stars Antonia Thomas, Nicholas Gonzalez, Chuku Modu, Beau Garrett, Hill Harper, Richard Schiff, and Tamlyn Tomita as Allegra Aoki. The series’ uplifting concept, just like last year’s breakout “This Is Us,” has been credited for some of its success. With the darkness of real-life headlines dominating public thought, “The Good Doctor” provides a bit of an escape for viewers (and also fits well with lead-in “Dancing with the Stars”).
Meanwhile, the third week of the new season (Oct. 9-15) saw the usual solid numbers for baseball playoffs and weekly NFL games. “The Big Bang Theory” was once again the leader with all viewers (16.8 million).
Here are this week’s rankers:
Adults 18-49 ranker, week ending Oct. 15, 2017:
RANK | SHOW & NETWORK | LIVE+3 RATING | WATCHED RATING |
1 | NFL Sunday Night Football: Giants vs. Broncos NBC | 5.6 | 5.6 |
2 | NFL Thursday Night Football: Eagles vs. Panthers CBS/NFL | 4.6 | 4.6 |
3 | This Is Us NBC | 4.3 | 2.8 |
4 | The Big Bang Theory CBS | 4.1 | 2.9 |
5 | NFL Monday Night Football: Vikings vs. Bears ESPN | 3.8 | 3.7 |
6 | The Good Doctor ABC | 3.6 | 2.0 |
7 | Grey’s Anatomy ABC | 3.2 | 2.1 |
8 | The Voice (Monday) NBC Will & Grace NBC | 2.9 2.9 | 2.4 1.8 |
10 | The Voice (Tuesday) NBC | 2.8 | 2.4 |
11 | Empire Fox Modern Family ABC | 2.7 2.7 | 2.0 1.8 |
13 | 60 Minutes CBS | 2.3 | 2.3 |
14 | Survivor CBS MLB AL Division Series: Yankees vs. Indians (Oct. 11) FS1 | 2.2 2.2 | 1.7 2.2 |
16 | The Gifted Fox Scandal ABC The Goldbergs ABC American Housewife ABC Chicago PD NBC MLB NL Division Series: Dodgers vs. Diamondbacks (Oct. 12) TBS MLB NLCS: Dodgers vs. Cubs (Oct. 15) TBS | 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 | 1.2 1.2 1.5 1.4 1.2 2.0 1.9 |
23 | The Orville Fox Star Fox The Middle ABC NCIS CBS Criminal Minds CBS American Horror Story: Cult FX Law & Order: SVU NBC Chicago Fire NBC | 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 | 1.0 1.5 1.4 1.4 1.1 1.0 1.2 1.1 |
Adults 18-49; ratings points. Source: Nielsen Media Research |
Total viewers ranker, week ending Oct. 15, 2017:
RANK | SHOW & NETWORK | LIVE+3 | WATCHED |
1 | The Big Bang Theory CBS | 16.82 | 13.14 |
2 | NCIS CBS | 16.40 | 13.61 |
3 | The Good Doctor ABC | 16.31 | 10.69 |
4 | NFL Sunday Night Football: Giants vs. Broncos NBC | 16.22 | 16.16 |
5 | This Is Us NBC | 15.33 | 11.02 |
6 | NFL Thursday Night Football: Eagles vs. Panthers CBS/NFL | 14.70 | 14.60 |
7 | Bull CBS | 13.92 | 11.26 |
8 | 60 Minutes CBS | 13.86 | 13.34 |
9 | The Voice (Monday) NBC | 12.71 | 10.91 |
10 | The Voice (Tuesday) NBC | 12.62 | 11.09 |
11 | Blue Bloods CBS | 12.47 | 8.98 |
12 | NCIS: New Orleans CBS | 11.94 | 9.52 |
13 | Hawai’i Five-0 CBS | 10.90 | 8.52 |
14 | NCIS: Los Angeles CBS | 10.87 | 8.65 |
15 | Grey’s Anatomy ABC | 10.73 | 8.08 |
16 | Dancing with the Stars ABC | 10.69 | 9.25 |
17 | Seal Team CBS | 10.44 | 8.02 |
18 | NFL Monday Night Football: Vikings vs. Bears ESPN | 10.40 | 10.36 |
19 | Survivor CBS | 9.71 | 8.03 |
20 | Will & Grace NBC | 9.70 | 6.16 |
21 | Wisdom of the Crowd CBS | 9.28 | 8.04 |
22 | Chicago Fire NBC | 9.27 | 6.16 |
23 | Chicago PD NBC | 9.25 | 6.07 |
24 | Madam Secretary CBS | 8.94 | 6.36 |
25 | Criminal Minds CBS | 8.82 | 5.87 |
Total viewers; in millions. Source: Nielsen Media Research |
Here is this week’s Xfinity On Demand ranker:
Top 20 TV Series, Oct. 9-15, 2017:
RANK | SHOW | NETWORK |
1 | This Is Us | NBC |
2 | Game of Thrones | HBO |
3 | The Good Doctor | ABC |
4 | Will & Grace | NBC |
5 | American Horror Story: Cult | FX |
6 | Outlander | Starz |
7 | Curb Your Enthusiasm | HBO |
8 | Rick and Morty | Adult Swim |
9 | The Big Bang Theory | CBS |
10 | The Simpsons | Fox/FXX |
11 | Ray Donovan | Showtime |
12 | The Voice | NBC |
13 | Empire | Fox |
14 | The Gifted | Fox |
15 | Grey’s Anatomy | ABC |
16 | The Orville | Fox |
17 | Designated Survivor | ABC |
18 | The Deuce | HBO |
19 | Teen Mom 2 | MTV |
20 | Chrisley Knows Best | USA |
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