TV Ratings: ‘Marlon’ Starts Solid on NBC

The series debut of NBC’s comedy “Marlon” scored the second most-watched new summer comedy premiere on the Big 4 broadcast networks in 10 years, according to Nielsen overnight data.

Airing at 9 p.m., “Marlon” averaged a 1.3 rating in adults 18-49 and 5.4 million total viewers. That is one of the best premieres for a summer comedy series since CBS’ “Creature Comforts” nabbed 6.2 million viewers in 2007. Earlier this summer, the Tuesday timeslot debut of ABC’s “Downward Dog” drew 5.7 million viewers, but that series was ultimately canceled. A second episode of “Marlon” at 9:30 p.m. dropped to a 1.0 and 4.1 million viewers, losing approximately 23% of its audience in the key demo and 24% in total viewers.

Earlier on NBC, “America’s Got Talent” (2.1, 10.7 million) was the highest-rated and most-watched show of the night.

On CBS, “Big Brother” (1.9, 6.3 million) was even. A new episode of “Salvation” at 9 p.m. (0.5, 3.1 million) was also even, while a second episode at 10 p.m. (0.4, 2.8 million) dipped in both measures.

ABC aired only the music special “CMA Fest” (1.2, 5.7 million), which was approximately even with last year’s broadcast.

For Fox, “MasterChef” (0.9, 3.1 million) was even, while “The F Word” (0.6, 1.8 million) was up in both measures.

The CW aired only repeats.

NBC won the night with a 1.3 and 6.1 million viewers. ABC was second with a 1.2 and 5.7 million viewers. CBS was third with a 0.9 and 4.1 million. Fox was fourth with a 0.8 and 2.4 million. The CW averaged a 0.2 and 675,000 viewers.

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