‘The Orville’ vs. ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Ratings: The Battle of TV’s New Space Dramas Hits Warp Speed

In TV’s own star wars, both Fox’s “The Orville” and CBS’ “Star Trek: Discovery” launched into similar orbits.

The two shows opened solid, a few weeks apart, on their respective live, linear broadcast networks. But in live+3 ratings (which includes three days of DVR and video on-demand usage), both premieres scored an identical total viewer average: 10.6 million each.

Fox’s “The Orville” was at least a light year ahead in the adults 18-49 demo, however, opening to a strong 3.5 rating — compared to the decent, but less stellar, 2.1 rating for “Star Trek: Discovery.”

Both shows premiered on a Sunday, but it’s not quite an apples-to-apples comparison: “Orville” benefited from a direct NFL lead-in (on Sept. 10), while “Discovery” premiered behind “60 Minutes” (on Sept. 24). Also, “Discovery” has been promoted as a CBS All Access property, and the Eye’s digital platform generated record sign-ups in time for the launch of the latest “Star Trek” chapter — which means many fans probably watched it on that outlet.

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From this point on, ratings don’t really matter for “Discovery” any more — subscription levels and retention will be what CBS All Access is looking at. (They’ll be dissecting viewership internally, but much like Netflix, Amazon and Hulu, those ratings won’t be shared with the media or the general public.)

It’s a much different story for “The Orville,” which must now battle it out on Thursday nights. In its first regular time slot outing, on Sept. 21, the results were promising: The show averaged 6.3 million viewers in live+3, and a 1.8 rating with adults 18-49, making it Fox’s highest-rated Thursday 9 p.m. telecast in more than two years.

After two weeks behind football, “The Orville” will now settle in on Thursdays with a smaller lead-in and lower ratings expectations. But Fox execs are pleased with the sampling the show got at launch: According to the network, which recently saw the live+7 day (which includes a week’s worth of DVR and VOD usage) numbers, “The Orville” was Fox’s most-viewed drama debut since “Empire” in 2015, and the highest-rated drama launch among any broadcast network in adults 18-49 since ABC’s “Designated Survivor” last September.

Meanwhile, despite naysayers claiming NFL ratings have been damaged by #TakeAKnee, the top programs on TV for the week ending Sept. 24 were Sunday Night Football in both adults 18-49 and total viewers. FX’s “American Horror Story: Cult” continues to see massive time-shifted gains, jumping 102% between its live broadcast and three days later. And NBC’s “The Good Place” returned for Season 2 in a good place.

As for the latest on-demand viewership chart from Xfinity, it appears viewers were looking to catch up on “Will & Grace” on the eve of its return, and have also rediscovered HBO’s “Big Little Lies” after the limited-run series’ big Emmy win. Other new shows making waves: PBS’ “The Vietnam War” documentary series, Fox’s “The Orville,” and HBO’s “The Deuce.

Here are this week’s rankers:

Adults 18-49 ranker, week ending Sept. 24, 2017:

Total viewers ranker, week ending Sept. 24, 2017:

Here is this week’s Xfinity On Demand ranker:

Top 20 TV Series, Sept. 18-24, 2017:

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