• by Wayne Friedman , October 4, 2019

Through nearly two weeks of the new TV season -- 11 days -- only eight of 56 scripted broadcast network TV shows have posted overall viewership gains, looking at Nielsen's live program plus-same day time-shifted viewing measure.

CBS has seen four of 19 scripted entertainment shows on the air currently witnessing viewing improvements versus a year ago: “NCIS” rose 3.6% to 12.5 million, while “FBI” is up 1% to 9.1 million, “Seal Team”  is up 4.4% to 5.2 million, and “Magnum PI” is up 7% to 6.4 million.

“NCIS” is CBS' most-viewed show overall and the highest-rated non-sports TV series among all broadcast TV shows.

The top overall broadcast networks in Nielsen-measured 18-49 viewing are: Fox’s “The Masked Singer," with a 2.3 rating; CBS’ “60 Minutes” with a 1.80; and NBC’s “This is Us"  with a 1.78 rating.

At ABC, three of seventeen scripted shows have seen hikes: “A Million Little Things” is 17% higher to 5.0 million; “Black-ish” is 1% more to 3.3 million; and “Bless This Mess” is 16% higher to 3.9 million. Of four unscripted series, “Shark Tank” is 3.6% higher to 3.3 million.

The highest-rated show overall is “Dancing with the Stars” -- down 1.5% to 7.0 million.

Only one of nine scripted/entertainment shows on Fox has posted an increase: “9-1-1”, up 20% to 7.3 million. The most-viewed show overall is Fox’s reality singing show, “The Masked Singer, at 7.7 million -- down 6%.

For NBC -- the overall broadcast leader in viewership, largely due to “Sunday Night Football” -- none of its 11 scripted shows on its schedule have improved over its viewership a year ago.

The highest-rated show for NBC -- “The Voice” (Monday) -- is down 4.5% to 8.8 million, while “The Voice” Tuesday edition is 4.8% lower to 8.7 million. Of its three unscripted shows, “Dateline NBC” is 8.4% higher to 3.6 million.

Four of the top new shows this season are from CBS: “The Unicorn”, 6.04 million viewers; “All Rise”, 6.03 million, “Carol’s Second Act”, 6.0 million; and “Bob ♥ Abishola”, 5.9 million.

The best newbie for ABC is “Stumptown” at 4.61 million. NBC's top new show: “Bluff City Law” is at 4.6 million. At Fox, “Prodigal Son” is averaging 4.0 million.