On a night that produced few fireworks across the board, ABC was the broadcast leader in young adults Sunday with finales of its drama series “Once Upon a Time,” “The Family” and “Quantico.”
According to preliminary national estimates from Nielsen, ABC was paced Sunday by the two-hour season finale of “Once Upon a Time” (1.2 rating/4 share in adults 18-49, 4.1 million viewers overall), which started at the earlier time of 7. It was down sharply from its year-ago closer from 8 to 10 p.m. (1.8 in 18-49, 5.5 million) but was up a tick week to week to match its best demo score (as well as its largest total-viewer count) in nine weeks.
The finales of “The Family” (0.8/3 in 18-49, 3.3 million viewers overall), which ABC opted not to renew for a second season, and “Quantico” (1.0/3 in 18-49, 3.7 million viewers overall) were also up a tenth week to week. “Quantico,” which will return to the Alphabet next season, is broadcast TV’s biggest percentage gainer this season in full-week playback, more than doubling its same-day 18-49 average (1.3) in Live+7 (2.7).
Fox was steady to up slightly with its comedy lineup of “Bordertown” (0.5/2 in 18-49, 1.3 million viewers overall), a repeat of “The Simpsons” (0.7/3 in 18-49, 1.6 million viewers overall), an original “The Simpsons” (1.2/4 in 18-49, 2.8 million viewers overall), “Bob’s Burgers” (1.0/3 in 18-49, 2.3 million viewers overall), “Family Guy” (1.3/4 in 18-49, 2.7 million viewers overall) and “The Last Man on Earth” (0.9/3 in 18-49, 2.2 million viewers overall). “Bordertown” and “The Simpsons” were up a tick from last week, but “Last Man on Earth” merely held steady for its finale, which aired after the night’s top broadcast in 18-49 (“Family Guy”).
At NBC, “Dateline: On Assignment” (0.7/3 in 18-49, 4.2 million viewers overall) looked a little more respectable in its second week, rising 0.2 from its premiere. It was followed by a repeat of “Little Big Shots” (0.9/3 in 18-49, 5.8 million viewers overall), original comedies “The Carmichael Show” (0.8/3 in 18-49, 4.1 million viewers overall) and “Crowded” (0.7/2 in 18-49, 3.0 million viewers overall) and “Dateline” (0.9/3 in 18-49, 4.2 million viewers overall). “Carmichael Show,” which earned a third-season renewal earlier on Sunday, ticked up week to week despite a repeat lead-in this time around.
CBS opened as usual with “60 Minutes” (1.0/4 in 18-49, 10.7 million viewers overall), which was the night’s most-watched program overall, and followed it up with a special second edition (1.0/3 in 18-49, 9.5 million viewers overall) devoted to the career of longtime correspondent Morley Safer, who recently announced his retirement. Closing out the night were an original episode of “Undercover Boss” (0.9/3 in 18-49, 5.8 million viewers overall) and a repeat “NCIS” (0.6/2 in 18-49, 5.0 million viewers overall).
