A pair of primetime series produced by CBS News and ABC News debuted this week, to somewhat soft ratings.
Tuesday evening CBS News debuted “Brooklyn DA,” a docu-series chronicling life in the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office. The show debuted to an ok 4.99 million total viewers, though the 18-49 demo numbers (1 rating/3 share) left something to be desired. “Brooklyn DA” debuted second behind the series finale of ABC’s “Body of Proof.” For comparison, last year’s ABC News docu-series “NY Med” debuted to 5.4 million viewers.
Wednesday night ABC premiered its primetime “Nightline” program “The Lookout.” Final numbers will be in later, but Nielsen Fast Nationals show that it drew just over four million viewers, with an 1.1 18-49 demo rating and a 3 share. It also placed second, behind a rerun of “CSI.”
The good news for both shows is that with the big dramas and comedies done for the season, they have time to gain traction with viewers over the coming slow weeks. Whether they do so remains to be seen.
NBC’s “Dateline” drew nearly 7.1 million viewers, including a 1.6 18-49 rating, at 8 PM last night.