Monday Night Ratings: Blindspot Debuts Strong, Gotham Slightly Down

Overnight ratings don't mean what they once did, with accurate tracking now in place for time-shifted viewing from DVR, Hulu, and On Demand, but they're still the first metric to come out about how TV shows do.

Blindspot, the new series starring Jamie Alexander on NBC beat out other new series, with the strongest debut at a 3.1 rating/10 share and a total of 10.6 million viewers. The series is the latest from Greg Berlanti, the powerhouse producer behind the DC Comics collaborations at both The CW and CBS. It's the best NBC premiere in two years, since the hit Blacklist, and helped NBC win among brodcast networks for the night.

Of the other premieres, Life in Pieces did okay for a new family comedy at CBS, keeping 60% of the Big Bang Theory lead-in. Minority Report had a 1.1 rating/3 share with 3.1 million viewers, though scifi dramas typically do considerably better in the time-shift.

Gotham was the lead-in for the latter, hitting a 1.5/5 and 4.5 million viewers. That came in below its 1.9 winter-spring ratings average, and just about 300,000 less viewers than the season 1 finale.

The Big Bang Theory continues its overall dominance, with a 4.5/16, and 17.8 million viewers, though that's down a full point in ratings from last year's premiere, despite the much-vaunted wedding finally happening on the show.

Castle and NCIS: Los Angeles both debuted with series lows in ratings, though ABC had some pre-emptions for Monday Night Football. The matchup between the Colts and the Jets beat all comers with over a 9 rating.