The Flash series premiere and the Supernatural season 10 premiere combined was the most-watched Tuesday night since 2008 and most watched night of primetime on the CW since 2010.
The CW released a press release, touting the outstanding ratings for the Arrow spinoff and the network’s most veteran drama:
THE FLASH Debut Scores The Most Watched Telecast of Any CW Series Since 2009
The 10th Season Premiere of SUPERNATURAL Delivers the Series’ Highest-Rated Premiere in Adults 18-34 Since 2010
THE FLASH and SUPERNATURAL Combine for The CW’s Best Tuesday Night in Over Six Years
UPDATED WITH NATIONAL RATINGS: October 8, 2014 (Burbank, CA) – The CW’s highly anticipated new series THE FLASH zoomed out of the gates last night. Tuesday’s series debut of THE FLASH (8:00-9:00 pm) marked The CW’s most watched (4.79 million) and highest-rated series premiere in adults 18-49 (1.9/6) in more than five years, since THE VAMPIRE DIARIES bowed in 2009, according to national Live Plus Same Day Nielsen ratings for Tuesday, October 7, 2014.
THE FLASH is The CW’s second most watched series premiere ever, behind only THE VAMPIRE DIARIES, and is the network’s third highest-rated series premiere ever in adults 18-49, following only THE VAMPIRE DIARIES and 90210.
In fact, THE FLASH debut was the most watched telecast of any CW show since the series premiere of THE VAMPIRE DIARIES on 9/10/09.
Competitively, THE FLASH ranked second in its 8:00-9:00pm time period among adults 18-34 (1.6/6), behind only NBC, and beat both ABC and Fox in total viewers. For the night overall, The CW ranked #2 in adults 18-34 (1.3/5) and topped ABC and Fox with adults 18-49 (1.5/5).
THE FLASH premiere posted The CW’s largest audience in the Tuesday 8:00-9:00p.m. hour in more than seven years (GILMORE GIRLS series finale on 5/15/07) and best adults 18-49 in the hour in more than six years (90210 on 9/2/08). THE FLASH scored the network’s best ever performance in the time period in men 18-34 (1.9/8).
In the local markets, THE FLASH ranked #1 in its time period among adults 18-34 in New York, Chicago, Charlotte, Houston, Detroit, Miami, San Francisco, Cleveland, Baltimore, and Dallas, and also #1 in adults 18-49 in New York, Chicago, Charlotte, and Orlando.
At 9 o’clock, the tenth season premiere of SUPERNATURAL turned in the series’ best premiere since 2010 among adults 18-34 (1.1/4). SUPERNATURAL also tied ABC’s “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” in the hour among adults 18-34, and drew more total viewers than Fox’s comedy block in the hour.
THE FLASH and SUPERNATURAL combined to give The CW its most watched (3.67M) Tuesday night in more than six years (90210 premiere on 9/2/08) and best Tuesday ratings in adults 18-49 (1.5/5) since 9/9/08. This was network’s best Tuesday night EVER in men 18-49 (1.7/6) and ties The CW’s best Tuesday ever in men 18-34 (1.6/6).
Overall, last night marked The CW best night of primetime (on any night) in more than four years (5/12/10) among viewers (3.67M), and best night among adults 18-49 (1.5/5) since 9/9/10.
The Live+7 projections for last night estimate that THE FLASH will add an additional +28% in total viewers, +35% in adults 18-34, and +36% in adults 18-49, and SUPERNATURAL adding +43% more total viewers, and increase +46% in adults 18-34 and +48% in adults 18-49.
It looks like The Flash lived up to its hype as one of the most highly-anticipated series of the season, while Supernatural remains a consistently strong performer despite going into its tenth season.
With Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) making a cameo in the Flash premiere, Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) is set to appear in tonight’s Arrow season premiere, promoting the shared universe between the two series. Episode 8 of each show is also set to be a two-hour crossover event.
The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET, followed by Supernatural at 9:00 p.m. ET, on The CW.