‘Brilliant Minds’ Off To Promising Start On NBC As Premiere Surpasses 9M Viewers
Brilliant Minds is off to a good start for NBC.
Michael Grassi’s medical drama has attracted 9.2M cross-platform viewers to its premiere episode since the September 23 debut, NBCUniversal says. That’s up 138% from the live + same-day audience of 3.9M.
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The audience declined slightly for Episode 2, attracting 3.5M live + same-day viewers on Monday night, though that still was good enough to make it the top scripted show of the night across the broadcasters.
Actually, in the 18-49 demo, Brilliant Minds has seen the smallest Week 2 decline among the last five NBC drama debuts.
Brilliant Minds also had the third best debut for any NBC show on Peacock, coming in behind Found and Night Court — two shows that have demonstrated strong staying power since they premiered. In the six days post-premiere, Found had already surpassed 10M viewers after securing 3.8M in live + same-day.
With Brilliant Minds, Berlanti Productions now holds two of NBC’s top three Peacock launches (the company also produces Found).
In the coming weeks, it will become more clear whether Brilliant Minds will continue to perform for the network, especially as delayed viewing becomes more of a success indicator than same-day numbers.
Brilliant Minds, based on the revolutionary life of queer neurologist Oliver Sacks, follows Quinto’s Dr. Wolf and a team of interns as they use unconventional methods to help solve their patients’ ailments, all while wrestling with their own mental health and relationships.
The show, which got a series order last October, hails from writer and executive producer Michael Grassi and director/EP Lee Toland Krieger. Brilliant Minds is also executive produced by Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and Leigh London Redman for Berlanti Productions. DeMane Davis is also an executive producer.
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