After taking a hit in the ratings in its third outing last week, CBS’ Halle Berry-fronted sci-fi drama “Extant” is moving back an hour, starting this week. The move will enable the show to avoid going head-to-head with summer’s No. 1 show, NBC’s “America’s Got Talent.”
“Extant,” which had been airing Wednesdays at 9 p.m. behind “Big Brother,” will swap timeslots with repeats of “Criminal Minds.” The vet drama will now air at 9 p.m., its regular fall timeslot anyway, and will serve as a lead-in for “Extant.”
While “Big Brother” is a strong demo performer for CBS, it hasn’t always meshed well with scripted programming behind it, and the Eye would like to see how “Extant” fares with a more compatible — scripted drama — lead-in.
CBS tried a similar timeslot switch earlier this month with its Sunday dramas — and it has paid off. The new “Reckless,” which had been performing meekly at 9 p.m. behind “Big Brother” on Sundays, traded timeslots with the established “Unforgettable.” The Poppy Montgomery drama has increased its ratings at 9 p.m., while “Reckless” has held steady in the demo while gaining in total viewers at 10 o’clock.
The “Extant” timeslot move also allows the series to avoid a head-to-head showdown with “America’s Got Talent.” Last week, the first time an original “Talent” faced “Extant,” the NBC program trounced “Extant” in 18-49 (2.6 to 1.1) and total viewers (11.09 million to 6.48 million).
In updated Nielsen estimates released Monday by Nielsen, the series premiere of “Extant” jumped 50% in adults 18-49 (2.4 from 1.6) and 31% in total viewers (12.57 million from 9.58 million) when comparing its “live plus same-day” results to “live plus-7” (a full week’s worth of DVR playback).
