Midseason TV can be a really exciting time for the major networks. A lot of new shows fail, but a select few always end up rising above and surprising the networks. Last year, this included shows like Lucifer and Little Big Shots. Although this season's winners have yet to be revealed in full, one new show premiered last night and really did not do well at the network. That show would be none other than the Katherine Heigl starrer Doubt.
The CBS drama was a big deal when it was pitched and landed at CBS, not only because the project was the type of court case of the week story that CBS loves but also because it would bring Katherine Heigl back to TV in her first big role since the flop that was State of Affairs on NBC. Unfortunately, the series was not hot out of the gate, with TV By The Numbers reporting that the show only earned a .8 rating in the advertising demo. A total of 5.3 million total viewers tuned in for the episode, which would be a reasonably sizable amount on other networks, but since CBS skews older, it's really not a great number for the Eye Network.
To give you an idea for how low that rating is compared to its total viewers, ABC's Match Game, which also airs in the 10 p.m. timeslot, did a .9 rating on Wednesday night with only 3.5 million total viewers tuning in. That doesn't bode particularly well for Doubt, as a show's premiere episode is often one of its highest-rated episodes. The numbers are likely to at least go down a little bit in the weeks to come and since a .8 is already low, things are looking, well, doubtful for Doubt.
It's hard to get people to tune in for shows at 10 p.m ET. It's a conundrum that NBC's The Blacklist has dealt with on Thursday nights and that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. deals with on ABC earlier in the week. Doubt's DVR numbers could end up being great and that could help the show somewhat. In addition, it could be one of those rare shows--think Empire during its first season--that actually improves in the ratings each week. Whatever happens, we'll be there to let you know.
In the meantime, it's also becoming a trend to wait to cancel shows and to renew the shows that are doing well earlier in the TV season. With that in mind, a whole slew of shows have already been greenlighted for the 2017-2018 TV season. If you'd like to take a look at our rundown of what has been renewed and cancelled already, head here. In addition, if you'd like to see what has yet to air, take a look at our midseason premiere schedule.
