ABC Takes 2nd on Tuesday With Solid Debuts for 'The Mayor' and 'Kevin (Probably) Saves the World'

With the premiere of its new Tuesday comedy lineup from 8:00-10:00 p.m. against NBC's "The Voice"/"This Is Us" and debut of "Kevin (Probably) Saves the World" at 10:00 p.m., ABC ranked No. 2 on Tuesday night in Adults 18-49 (1.3/5), beating CBS' "NCIS"-led drama lineup by 8% (1.2/5) and Fox's drama/comedy lineup by 33% (0.9/3 for "Lethal Weapon"/"The Mick"/"Brooklyn Nine-Nine").

"The Middle" (8:00-8:30 p.m. - 6.1 million and 1.6/6 in AD18-49):
At 8:00 p.m., the final season premiere of ABC's "The Middle" surged over its May finale (on 5/16/17) by 15% in Total Viewers (6.1 million vs. 5.3 million) and by 33% in Adults 18-49 (1.6/6 vs. 1.2/6) drawing its largest audience since March and tying its top rating since January - since 3/7/17 and 1/17/17, respectively. "The Middle" was Tuesday's top comedy.

"Fresh Off the Boat" (8:30-9:00 p.m. - 4.5 million and 1.3/5):
At 8:30 p.m., ABC's "Fresh Off the Boat" jumped from its May closer (on 5/16/17) by 25% in Total Viewers (4.5 million vs. 3.6 million) and by 30% in Adults 18-49 (1.3/5 vs. 1.0/4) to its most watched telecast on the night in 1 year, while topping its last 13 originals on the evening in young adults to earn its highest rating of 2017 - since 10/11/16 and 1/3/17, respectively.

"black-ish" (9:00-9:30 p.m. - 4.7 million and 1.5/5):
Building on its lead-in at 9:00 p.m. (+15%) and moving from Wednesday following "Modern Family" for the first time in 3 seasons to anchor ABC's Tuesday comedy block, ABC's "black-ish" grew over its May finale out of "Modern Family" (on 5/10/17) by 15% in Adults 18-49 (1.5/5 vs. 1.3/5), outrating its last 5 originals on Wednesday night - since 3/29/17. Dominating its comedy competition in the half-hour, "black-ish" beat out Fox's "The Mick" by 89% in Total Viewers (4.7 million vs. 2.5 million) and by 67% in Adults 18-49 (1.5/5 vs. 0.9/3).

"The Mayor" (9:30-10:00 p.m. - 4.1 million and 1.2/4):
At 9:30 p.m., ABC's series debut of "The Mayor" delivered solid retention of its strong "black-ish" lead-in (87%/80%) to more than double Fox's competing "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" with Total Viewers (+116% - 4.1 million vs. 1.9 million) and beat it by 71% in Adults 18-49 (1.2/4 vs. 0.7/2), respectively. "The Mayor" drew ABC's biggest in-season series audience to the time period in 2 years and its best young adult number since December 2015- since 10/6/15 and 12/8/15.

"Kevin (Probably) Saves the World" (10:00-11:00 p.m. - 4.2 million and 1.0/4 in AD18-49):
Building on its Total Viewer lead-in at 10:00 p.m., ABC's opener of "Kevin (Probably) Saves the World" scored ABC's most watched series debut (4.2 million) in the hour in 4 years and its top-rated with Adults 18-49 (1.0/4) in over 2-1/2 years - since 9/24/13 and 2/25/14, respectively. In addition, the show delivered ABC's best results with a drama telecast in the hour since March 2015 in viewers and since September 2016 in Adults 18-49 - since 3/31/15 and 9/20/16, respectively. The new ABC drama tied CBS' "NCIS: New Orleans" for No. 2 in the hour among Adults 18-49.

Projections Rationale:
Lifts vs. L+SD are based on the 2016-17 season for premiere telecast or an average for originals (excluding the premiere).
Returning shows: Profile based on same show (either premiere or averages for originals).
New Series: Based on similar series.

Source: The Nielsen Company, Fast Affiiliate Live + Same Day Ratings, 10/3/17.

Photo: ABC