Of 2022’s 50 best TV shows so far, as ranked by Metacritic, only one is on the Big Four of television networks: ABC’s Abbott Elementary. The rest is all streaming or cable. But Abbott Elementary isn’t just an Emmy-winning critical favorite: it’s also a huge hit. According to Deadline, the season two premiere is “now ABC’s highest-rated comedy telecast in three years,” since the Modern Family series finale.
After 35 days of multi-platform viewing, the September episode is now up to a 4.12 rating among the 18-49 demographic, according to the network. That’s 73 percent higher than the Season 1 premiere’s 2.38 rating and 623 percent higher than the episode fared in live+same day. It marks the largest delayed-viewing increase for any ABC comedy in terms of demo ratings.
Deadline also reports that “the episode has managed to collect an additional audience of 7.5 million, which is more than double its 2.9 million live+same day viewers,” meaning it’s up “10.4 million viewers across linear and digital platforms.” Abbott Elementary is a hit among both traditionalists who still watch TV live and modern cord cutters; that’s something few comedies (or any non-NCIS show, honestly) on network TV can claim.
Abbott Elementary is off this week, but it will return with a new episode on the 16th.
(Via Deadline)