NBC’s ‘Dracula’ Shows Some Ratings Bite in Premiere Friday

Jonathan Rhys-Meyers drama, season opener of 'Grimm' put the Peacock on top in young adults

NBC waited until Halloween week to launch its spooky Friday dramas, and it paid off, with “Grimm” returning to good numbers and newcomer “Dracula” winning its timeslot among young adults.

According to preliminary national estimates from Nielsen, NBC won Friday in adults 18-49 behind the night’s top two scripted programs, “Grimm” (1.8 rating/6 share in adults 18-49 and 6.1 million viewers overall) and “Dracula” (1.6/6 in 18-49, 5.3 million viewers overall).

“Grimm,” now in its third season, opened 13% above its year-ago Friday premiere (1.6) and placed second in its 9 p.m. timeslot in 18-49 to ABC’s “Shark Tank” (2.0/7 in 18-49, 7.3 million viewers overall). This is NBC’s best demo result in the Friday-at-9 hour in nearly one year.

It was followed by the series premiere of Jonathan Rhys-Meyers drama “Dracula,” which won its hour in 18-49 and 25-54 (2.4/7). Excluding the night that the Boston bombing suspect was captured, this is the Peacock’s best in-season demo delivery in the 10 p.m. hour since January. A year ago, the Friday premiere of “Dateline” in the 10 p.m. hour did a 1.3 rating in 18-49.

“Grimm” was the last Friday drama premiere on any network to draw a higher rating than “Dracula’s” 1.8 (a 2.1 in October 2011).

Elsewhere, ABC’s “Shark Tank” ruled as the night’s No. 1 show in 18-49 (2.0/7) and 25-54 (2.6/7), while CBS’ “Blue Bloods” (1.3/4 in 18-49, 11.0 million viewers overall) and “Hawaii Five-0″ (1.4/5 in 18-49, 9.3 million viewers overall) led the way as Friday’s most-watched programs overall.

This was the largest-ever audience for “Shark Tank,” which led into above-average numbers for “20/20″ at 10 (1.5/5 in 18-49, 6.7 million viewers overall).

In the night’s opening-hour reality show battle, CBS’ “Undercover Boss” (1.6/6 in 18-49, 8.6 million viewers overall) prevailed over Fox’s “MasterChef Junior” (1.4/5 in 18-49, 3.8 million viewers overall), though the latter could pull ahead in 18-49 with DVR playback.

At CW, it was a modest second-season premiere for “The Carrie Diaries” (0.3/1 in 18-49, 0.8 million viewers overall).

Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: NBC, 1.6/6; ABC and CBS, 1.4/5; Fox, 1.1/4; CW, 0.3/1.

In total viewers: CBS, 9.6 million; ABC, 6.1 million; NBC, 5.8 million; Fox, 2.9 million; CW, 0.8 million.

Source: variety