All hail Kathy Bates. The Oscar-winning veteran’s return to broadcast TV with CBS‘ Matlock delivered Live+Same Day linear viewership numbers we rarely see anymore.
The “sneak peak” premiere of Jennie Snyder Uraman’s reimagening of the Andy Griffin classic with Bates as the eponymous attorney averaged 7.73 million viewers Sunday in time adjusted Fast National L+SD Nielsen ratings.
That was CBS’ largest audience for a non-post-Super Bowl series premiere in five and a half years, since The Code‘s April 9, 2019 debut after NCIS.
While benefitting from some Steelers-Chargers halo effect (and free promotion via Chargers star Scott Matlock’s jersey), Matlock did not immediately follow the game — it aired behind its lead-out, newsmagazine 60 Minutes.
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