Roseanne Ratings Fall in Week Two, Still Huge

Sara Gilbert in Roseanne. Photo: Adam Rose/ABC

ABC’s Roseanne revival remains on track, at least in the ratings. Tuesday’s half-hour episode drew roughly 15.2 million same-day viewers and averaged a 3.9 rating among adults under 50, per preliminary Nielsen data. Final same-day numbers may shift a bit — it’s possible the episode will adjust up to a 4.0 in the demo rating— but the week two results offer little reason for ABC execs to regret their decision to quickly renew the show last week. Yes, the overall audience fell about 18 percent from last week’s one-hour opener, while the adults under 50 rating declined by 25 percent. But that’s well within the acceptable range of post-premiere declines for new shows these days, and a bit better than the week two outings for other recent high-profile resurrections such as Will & Grace and The X-Files. What’s more, DVR replays and streaming are likely to make up some of these losses, making the show’s overall decline smaller. One caveat: It’s possible that the Roseanne redux could continue to shed same-day viewers over the next few weeks, as both the novelty of its return wears off and later spring sunsets reduce overall linear TV consumption. But even if the show ends up with half of its premiere ratings, it’ll remain ABC’s top-rated comedy by a comfortable margin.

Roseanne Ratings Fall in Week Two, Still Huge