Live+3: ABC's Wednesday Premieres Post Big Playback Gains Across the Board

Live + 3 Day data for Wednesday, 9/23/15

ABC claimed 4 of the Top 5 gainers in TV playback on Wednesday among Adults 18-49 with Modern Family (+1.7 rating points) - #2, black-ish (+1.1 rating points) - #3 and The Goldbergs and Nashville (+0.9 rating points) tied at #4. All four shows towered over the Live+3 lifts of Fox's Rosewood debut (+0.4 rating points) and CBS' Survivor premiere (+0.6 rating points) and Big Brother finale (+0.4 rating points). In addition, ABC's Nashville was the night's biggest percentage gainer on the broadcast networks among young adults (+75%).

In the Live 3 ratings, the season premieres of black-ish (3.5 rating) and The Goldbergs (3.3) moved ahead of Survivor (3.1) to rank as the #3 and #4 shows, respectively, of the night in Adults 18-49. In addition, ABC's Modern Family premiere emerged as Wednesday's 2nd-most-watched TV show, leapfrogging over Survivor to lead by 14% (13.1 million vs. 11.5 million). In the 8pm hour, the season openers of The Middle and The Goldbergs delivered an average rating of 3.1 with Adults 18-49, beating Rosewood by 11% (2.8).

· The Middle soared to a 2.8 L+3 rating among Adults 18-49, growing over its year-ago season premiere by 4% (2.7 rating) and matching its highest-rated L+3 telecast in 2 years - since 9/25/13.

· With a +0.7 rating points gain over its L+SD rating, The Middle scored an all-time playback high among Adults 18-49.

· The Goldbergs shot up to a 3.3 with Adults 18-49 to match the series' 2nd-highest L+3 rating ever - its best since its series debut 2 years ago on 9/24/13 coming out of S.H.I.E.L.D. After holding steady in the L+SD ratings, The Goldbergs ended up growing over last season's premiere by 3% (3.2 rating) among young adults in the L+3 numbers.

· The Goldbergs delivered a larger L+3 lift this year versus last season's premiere (+0.9 rating points vs. +0.8 rating points), tying its biggest-ever playback increase.

· With a 3.5 among Adults 18-49, black-ish delivered its best L+3 rating since early-November - since 11/12/14.

· The season premiere of Nashville grew to a 2.1 L+3 rating in Adults 18-49, an increase of 5% over its season finale (2.0 rating) and its strongest L+3 number since March - since 3/4/15. With a 2.1 rating, Nashville came within 1-tenth of its year-ago opener (2.2) in the L+3 numbers.

· Catapulting +75% over its L+SD rating, Nashville posted a bigger L+3 lift than its year-ago premiere for the 3rd straight year among young adults (+39% - +45% - +57% - +75%).

Below are Total Viewers for ABC's Wednesday premieres including 3 days of online streaming and Live+3 TV playback:

The Middle - 10.1 million Total Viewers (from 8.2 million in L+SD)

The Goldbergs - 9.7 million (from 7.6 million)

Modern Family - 14.0 million (from 9.5 million)

black-ish - 10.6 million (from 7.3 million)

Nashville - 7.6 million (from 4.9 million)

Source: The Nielsen Company, as dated. Based on original telecasts only.