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EXCLUSIVE: ABC is flexing its muscle with strong performances from freshman series High Potential and Shifting Gears, which have bolstered the broadcasters primetime lineup quite a bit.
As Deadline previously reported, High Potential became a quick hit for ABC when it debuted in September and kept up the momentum since it returned for midseason. The network says the series has continued to perform well, averaging 11.53M viewers per episode after seven days of viewing, making it the third most-watched broadcast entertainment series of the season.
ABC notes that the series really started to find its groove after moving an hour earlier to 9 p.m. on Tuesdays. Since then, it has averaged 13.73M viewers per episode.
Shifting Gears is closing in on High Potential, though, with 11.4M viewers per episode in the seven-day window. This is both quite impressive and requires a bit of context, since Shifting Gears premiered recently, on January 8.
It’s clear that the series is attracting quite a large audience right out of the gate, though it will be interesting to see if it will sustain that as the season progresses. If it follows High Potential‘s trajectory, then even bigger audiences might be in store for the Tim Allen-led comedy.
High Potential and Shifting Gears are two of the three spots that ABC can currently claim among the top five broadcast entertainment series this season.
Will Trent, which returned in January, has also been performing quite nicely as well, is the third. The drama series is the No. 5 broadcast entertainment program of the season, averaging 10.34M viewers per episode after seven days.
Other returning series that, unsurprisingly, are continuing to do well are Abbott Elementary, Grey’s Anatomy, The Rookie and 9-1-1. With those, in addition to the three shows previously mentioned, ABC actually has seven of the top 10 broadcast series among adults 18-49. Shifting Gears is in the lead with a 2.43 rating after seven days, per Nielsen.
