TV Ratings: ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Tops Monday, ‘One Day at a Time’ Starts Small

A highly competitive Monday night ratings race was narrowly won by ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars,” as “One Day at a Time” went low with its broadcast debut.

“Dancing With the Stars” came in even on last week with a 0.9 rating among adults 18-49 last night, drawing around 6.1 million total viewers in the process. “Emergency Call,” the new docu-series hosted by Luke Wilson, ticked down for the second week straight to a 0.4 rating and just under 3 million total viewers.

“Big Brother” also delivered a 0.9 rating and 3.9 million viewers for CBS, which represents the same rating and a 15% audience bump from last Monday night. However, despite its strong lead-in, the broadcast debut of “One Day at a Time” could only manage a 0.3 rating and 1.3 million total viewers. The network announced back in August that it planned to air “ODAAT” and “Star Trek: Discovery” for the first time to help fill its COVID-19 scripted hole. Later on, “Manhunt: Deadly Games” scored a 0.2 rating and 1.4 million viewers.

Meanwhile Fox’s coverage of the MLB playoffs game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Atlanta Braves averaged a 0.8 rating and around 3.2 million viewers, leading the network to an overall Monday night win.

Over on NBC, “American Ninja Warrior” scored a significant boost from last week, averaging a 0.6 rating (tied for its season high to date) and 3.1 million total viewers. “Dateline” followed with a 0.5 and 2.9 million pairs of eyeballs.

Telemundo notched a 0.4 averaged rating, with the finale of “Exatlon Estados Unidos” scoring a 0.5 rating and 1.5 million total viewers. Univision was led by “Medicos” and “Imperio De Mentiras,” both of which came in at a 0.4 rating.

The CW averaged a 0.2 rating across the night, thanks to new episodes of “Whose Line Is It Anyway” and “Penn & Teller: Fool Us.”