Latest News TV

‘Roseanne’ Hit Massive Numbers With Return To Television After 30 Years

ABC is probably breaking out the 20-year-old bag of pot in celebration of Roseanne‘s return.

The revival’s Tuesday premiere earned a mind-boggling 5.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic and over 18 million viewers, according to TV by the Numbers, which makes it the biggest premiere of the 2017-18 broadcast season and one of the biggest non-sports or news shows on TV.

More people watched it than watched the original series finale in 1997, which was seen by 16.6 million people on initial broadcast. And that was before ratings eroded in the streaming/DVR era. So after time-shifting gets factored in, the final number of Roseanne premiere watchers is going to be well over 20 million at a time when very little cracks 20 million viewers.

Revival ratings are usually high, but Roseanne tops them all. E! reports that Will & Grace‘s return last year earned a 3.0 rating and 10.2 million viewers, and added another five million or so in delayed viewing, while The X-Files‘ first return in 2016 netted a 6.1 rating/16.2 million viewers and ended up at 21.5 million viewers after delayed viewing.

According to Variety, the only scripted show to draw bigger numbers than Roseanne this season was the post-Super Bowl episode of This Is Us, which earned a 9.3 rating and 26.97 million viewers. The Wrap has further historical context for just how big this premiere is, like how it’s ABC’s most-watched episode of a scripted show since a Desperate Housewives premiere in 2008.

It will be a challenge for Roseanne to keep the numbers that high for the whole nine-episode run, but after a night like that, the revival will almost certainly get a second season if the cast decides they want to do another one.

Roseanne premiered with two back-to-back episodes, and the fan response was as polarized as the Conner family’s politics.

Roseanne airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on ABC.

 

 

 

By Liam Mathews

ZayZay.Com Newsletter!

Be the first to hear,
first to see, first to win!

Don’t worry, we really hate spam.
Your email is safe. 🙂

Social Media Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com