ABC's Opener of "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D" Is TV's #1 Drama Debut in 4 Years

In the 8pm hour, ABC's series debut of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D opened a strong #1 in the time period with Adults 18-49, defeating NBC's Tuesday premiere of The Voice by 15% and CBS' season premiere of NCIS by 35%, to qualify as TV's highest rated drama debut in nearly 4 years - since 11/3/09. It was Tuesday's #1 TV show in Adults 18-49 (tie) and across all key Men demographics (M18-34/M18-49/M25-54). Despite the strong competition, the self-starting ABC drama gained young adults from its first half-hour to it second half-hour.

Please Note: On top of its big Live + Same Day numbers, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D is expected to get a big lift from TV playback, considering its young-skewing audience. Well ahead of its debut this past weekend, the new show surpassed 1 million Facebook fans.

The season's #1 new comedy in Adults 18-49, the series premiere of The Goldbergs at 9pm beat Fox's New Girl by 52% and topped last fall's premiere of Happy Endings in the half-hour hour by 78%. It was TV's top-rated comedy debut in over 1 year and ABC's highest-rated in 2 years - since 9/11/12 and 10/11/11, respectively.

At 9:30pm among Adults 18-49, the debut of ABC's Trophy Wife defeated Fox's The Mindy Project by 53% and outdelivered the year-ago fall premiere of Don't Trust the B---- in Apt 23 by 35%.

...more to come

Quick Take for Tuesday, September 24, 2013 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

Up 45% Year to Year, ABC Delivers its Best Season Opening Tuesday in 3 Years

Ranking No. 1 on the Night, ABC's "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D" Qualifies as TV's Top-Rated Drama Premiere in Nearly 4 Years

ABC's "The Goldbergs" is TV's Highest-Rated Comedy Debut in Over 1 Year

"Trophy Wife" Dominates its Comedy Competition on Fox and Boosts its Time Slot

"Lucky 7" Grows over ABC's Most-Recent Drama Premiere in the Time Period

Tuesday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.)

With its Tuesday debuts, ABC was up by 45% in Adults 18-49 over the year-ago night (2.9/8 vs. 2.0/6) to deliver its strongest performance on the opening Tuesday of a season in 3 years - since 9/21/10.

"Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

In the 8:00 p.m. hour, ABC's series debut of "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D" opened a strong No. 1 in the time period with Adults 18-49 (4.6/14), defeating NBC's Tuesday premiere of "The Voice" by 15% (4.0/12) and CBS' season premiere of "NCIS" by 35% (3.4/10), to qualify as TV's highest rated drama debut in nearly 4 years - since 11/3/09. It was also Tuesday's No. 1 TV show in Adults 18-49 (tie) and across all key Men demographics (M18-34/M18-49/M25-54). And despite the strong competition, the self-starting ABC drama gained young adults from its first half-hour to its second half-hour.

Please Note: On top of its big Live + Same Day numbers, "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D" is expected to get a big lift from TV playback, considering its young-skewing audience. Well ahead of its debut this past weekend, the new show surpassed 1 million Facebook fans.

"The Goldbergs" (9:00-9:30 p.m.)

The season's No. 1 new comedy in Adults 18-49 and the top-rated comedy of the night, ABC's series premiere of "The Goldbergs" (3.2/9) at 9:00 p.m. beat Fox's "New Girl" by 52% (2.1/6) and topped last fall's premiere of "Happy Endings" in the half-hour hour by 78% (1.8/5 on 10/23/12). It ranked as TV's top-rated comedy debut in over 1 year and ABC's highest-rated in 2 years - since 9/11/12 and 10/11/11, respectively. In addition, "The Goldbergs" posted ABC's highest rating in the half-hour with entertainment programming since Fall 2011 - since 11/22/11.

"Trophy Wife" (9:30-10:00 p.m.)

At 9:30 p.m. among Adults 18-49, the debut of ABC's "Trophy Wife" (2.3/6) defeated Fox's "The Mindy Project" by 53% (1.5/5) and outdelivered the year-ago fall premiere of "Don't Trust the B---- in Apt 23" by 35% (1.7/4 on 10/23/12).

"Lucky 7" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

During the 10 o'clock hour, ABC's debut of "Lucky 7" was up over the Net's most-recent drama premiere in the time period by 8% in Adults 18-49 (1.3/4 vs. 1.2/3 for "Body of Proof" on 2/19/13).

A note about increasing DVR penetration and year-to-year rating comparisons: Year-to-year rating comparisons based on the Live + Same Day data stream are distorted by the level of DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample, which has jumped up to 48% currently, from 45% at the same point in 2012. More viewers are watching shows on their own timetables, which may not be reflected in the overnight next day numbers. The only truly valid year-to-year comparison would be one based on the Live + 7 Day metric, once those stats are released by Nielsen.

Source: The Nielsen Company (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings), 09/24/13.