NBC’s number one show, This Is Us, continues to be the little show that could. In Tuesday’s episode, viewers learned the fate of Toby (Chris Sullivan) after his heart attack in the fall finale and got to see how Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) and Rebecca (Mandy Moore) found out they’re having triplets.
On Wednesday, the ratings for the episode came out and they were the best ratings for the show in its short 11 episode run. The fast nationals, which are released early in the morning the day after a TV show airs, had This Is Us earning a 2.6 rating in the 18 to 49 demographic and was watched by 9.07 million viewers, according to TV by the Numbers.
However, because there were multiple showings of the same episode in order to accommodate people on the East Coast and West Coast after Pres. Obama’s farewell speech, there was a possibility that the final rating and viewership total would be different than the fast national number.
The final number did in fact improve. According to TV by the Numbers, the show ended up getting a 3.0 rating and was watched by 10.48 million viewers. The final number includes the 10 p.m. ET airing of the show and both the 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. PT airing, as long as there were unduplicated viewers in the second airing of the exact same episode on the West Coast.
Deadline reported that Tuesday’s episode was up seven percent from its Dec. 6 fall finale episode.
Not only is the 3.0 rating and 10.48 million viewers enough to warrant celebrating from NBC, but it’s enough to meet some records at NBC. This Is Us scoring a 3.0 is the first time that a show that aired on a Tuesday night at 10 p.m. has been at or above a 3.0 rating since an episode of Parenthood that aired on March 2, 2010, scored a 3.1 rating, Deadline reported. The site also said that it’s the most viewers that NBC has had at any 10 p.m. timeslot since the season 10 finale of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit that aired on June 2, 2009, was watched by 11.56 million viewers.
Currently, there’s no word about a second season, but NBC has their panel for the 2017 Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour scheduled for Wednesday, Jan 18, which could be where news about a second season renewal is announced.