Ratings: The CW’s ‘Kung Fu’ Premiere Has a Bit of a Kick to It

Wednesday’s “Kung Fu” premiere kicked a little ass for The CW last night — at least, it did for that network in that time slot. While ABC’s “Home Economics” debut did better numbers, it did not come out of the oven so hot for the higher-rated ABC.

“Kung Fu” posted The CW’s largest audience in Wednesday’s 8 p.m. hour since an October 2018 “Riverdale” episode. It had the broadcast network’s largest total-viewer tally for a Wednesday debut since “The 100” bowed seven years ago.

All told, “Kung Fu” had CW’s third-best premiere of the season, including returning series, behind just “Walker” and “Superman & Lois.” It also boosted “Nancy Drew” at 9 p.m. to its largest audience since December 2019. Last night marked the young-and-digital-skewing channel’s best Wednesday in nearly one year.

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OK, so what did “Kung Fu” actually get? The 8 o’clock series launched to a modest 0.2 rating among adults 18-49 and a 2 share, but it drew a rounded 1.4 million total viewers, which is very solid for The CW.

“Home Economics” at 8:30 on ABC had a 0.5/4 and 3 million total viewers. That’s OK, but it was down a bit from its lead-in, “The Goldbergs.”

Anyway, neither network was really a factor. NBC and Fox tied for first in the key demo’s ratings last night. NBC, which aired its “Chicago” shows, was No. 1 in total viewers.

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NBC and Fox tied for first in ratings, both with a 0.8 rating in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic. NBC had a 6 share, Fox got a 5. NBC was first in total viewers with an average of 6.3 million, according to preliminary numbers. Fox was second with 3.4 million total viewers

For NBC, “Chicago Med” at 8 p.m. landed a 0.8/6 and 6.6 million total viewers. At 9, “Chicago Fire” earned a 0.7/5 and 6.4 million total viewers. “Chicago P.D.” at 10 received a 0.7/5 and 5.7 million total viewers.

For Fox, “The Masked Singer” at 8 posted a 1.1/8 and 4.5 million total viewers. At 9, “Game of Talents” got a 0.6/4 and 2.4 million total viewers.

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ABC was third in ratings with a 0.5/4 and fourth in total viewers with 2.8 million. “The Goldbergs” at 8, which included a tribute to the late George Segal, had a 0.6/4 and 3.2 million total viewers. After “Home Economics,” at 9, “The Conners” received a 0.6/4 and 3.2 million total viewers. A second episode of the “Roseanne” spinoff at 9:30 got the exact same Nielsen numbers. At 10, “A Million Little Things” closed out primetime with a 0.4/3 and 2.2 million total viewers.

CBS and Univision tied for fourth in ratings, both with a 0.4/3. CBS was third in total viewers with 3.2 million, Univision was fifth with 1.3 million.

For CBS, “Tough as Nails” at 8 had a 0.4/3 and 2.9 million total viewers. At 9, “SEAL Team” got a 0.4/3 and 3.5 million total viewers. “S.W.A.T.” at 10 received a 0.4/3 and 3.1 million total viewers.

The CW and Telemundo tied for sixth in ratings, both with a 0.2. Telemundo had a 2 share, CW got a 1. The CW was sixth in total viewers with 1 million, Telemundo was seventh with 926,000.

For The CW, following “Kung Fu,” 9 p.m.’s “Nancy Drew” episode drew a 0.1/1 and 666,000 total viewers.

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