NBC's 'Shades of Blue' Provides Network With Valuable Ratings Win

It was a warm welcome for Jennifer Lopez during a particularly cold time of year Thursday night as NBC’s “Shades of Blue” had a solid debut.

The Comcast Corporation CMCSA owned network saw its freshman cop drama win the timeslot among the investor valued 18-49 demographic for the first time since March 2010.  The series also marked seven year highs among viewers and a rare victory over original programming from rivals ABC and CBS. 

“Shades” was watched by 8.6 million viewers and pulled a 1.8 demo rating. It also improved by 13 percent on its lead-in “The Blacklist,” which itself was up 7 percent from its last new episode in November.

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The early success of “Shades” is welcome news to NBC which saw that timeslot’s previous inhabitant; the Wesley Snipes fronted “The Player,” falter early on. “Blacklist” was moved to Thursday’s last spring to help anchor a new night of programming for NBC and open up space for the network to launch a new drama following Monday night mainstay “The Voice.”

NBC’s previous attempt to use “Blacklist” as a ratings-starter was the Russian spy drama “Allegiance” which immediately cratered. The network, which struggled to launch any real hit shows over the previous 2014-2015 season (and during the winter season in general), already has two success under its belt with “Blindspot” and “Chicago Med.”

If “Shades” holds those numbers in subsequent airings, Comcast’s main TV division could be positioned to win the coveted ratings crown for a third straight year.