ABC Is Having a Moment, As Nostalgia for ‘Roseanne’ and ‘American Idol’ Pays Off — Ratings Watch

ABC ended the week of April 1 as the No. 1 network among adults 18-49, and it’s not hard to see why: “Roseanne” dominated over all, and just got bigger when time-shifted results came in. The show averaged a 7.3 rating among adults 18-49 after three days of DVR and VOD usage, which then bumped up to an 8.1 rating after seven days usage.

According to ABC, the “Roseanne” premiere pulled of the largest-ever Total Viewer Live + 7 increase for any single telecast on any network, adding 8.81 million viewers over its same-day tally. That gives it an average of 27.3 million total viewers after seven days of delayed viewing.

A few more stats from ABC:

— “With lifts of +8.81 million viewers and +2.9 rating points, ‘Roseanne’ delivered the largest playback gains for any single telecast of the season so far in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, topping the L+7 increases of NBC’s post-Super Bowl broadcast of ‘This is Us’ (+6.45 million and +2.3 rating points).”

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— “‘Roseanne’ opened with TV’s biggest numbers for any comedy telecast on any night in over 4 years with Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 – since Fox’s Super Bowl-led ‘New Girl’ on 2/2/14.”

— “‘Roseanne’ delivered Tuesday’s top entertainment telecast in more than eight years in total viewers and in seven years with adults 18-49 – since Fox’s ‘American Idol’ on 2/9/10 and 3/1/11, respectively.”

— “‘Roseanne’ stands as the season’s No. 1 premiere in Live + 7 with adults 18-49, as well as the No. 1 series telecast on any network on any night this season, excluding only the post-Super Bowl episode of ‘This Is Us.'”

But ABC’s solid performance for the week ending April 1 also came from a Tuesday night halo effect that helped boost “Black-ish” and newcomer “Splitting Up Together.” The network also had the finale of “The Good Doctor,” and ABC’s two editions of “American Idol” are also performing decently for ABC. If the show wasn’t so expensive for the network, it would probably be deemed an even bigger success for ABC.

As a result, ABC scored ten slots on the top 25 ranker of adults 18-49 shows for the week ending April 1. Also helping its cause: An even playing field. While ABC faces three rivals with lucrative football deals in the fall, it’s this time of year — now that the Olympics are over, and the Super Bowl long gone — where ABC can finally enjoy a sports-free zone on its competitors. That’s particularly true this year, with the NCAA March Madness Final Four games on TBS instead of CBS.

In other ratings news, NBC’s “Jesus Christ Superstar Live In Concert” earned mostly critical praise, and did quite well for the network, averaging 10.6 million viewers.

Over on Xfinity’s ranker of top video on-demand shows last week, “Roseanne” also scored high, premiering at No. 1.

Here are this week’s rankers:

Adults 18-49 ranker, week ending April 1, 2018:

Total viewers ranker, week ending April 1, 2018:

Here is this week’s Xfinity On Demand ranker:

Top 20 TV Series, March 26-April 1, 2018:

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