The Media Research Center is hate-watching the “Murphy Brown” revival, and the headline of a Dec. 18 post by Scott Whitlock declared the show a “Toxic Ratings Bomb.” Whitlock ranted that “Week after week, the far-left Murphy Brown revival continues to plummet in the ratings for CBS,” adding: “According to the Hollywood Reporter, ‘Murphy Brown hit a season low in adults 18-49 in ratings,’ managing a paltry 0.7 ratings in the 18-49 demo.”
But Whitlock is omitting relevant information from that Hollywood Reporter article that add context to those numbers. The winner in “Murphy Brown'” timeslot was an NFL game that blew away all competition with a 12.4 rating. The article noted that “Murphy Brown’s” CBS lead-in, “Mom,” got a 1.2 rating and that other CBS shows like “The Big Bang Theory” were in reruns, then looked at the broadcast competition:
The CW’s Supernatural (0.4) and Legacies (0.3) each came down a tenth week to week but are in line with their season averages.
Superstore hit a season-low 0.7 for NBC, while an earlier showing of I Feel Bad was steady at 0.4. A rerun of A Saturday Night Live Christmas took up the rest of the evening.
The Great American Baking Show drew a 0.6 for ABC, off a bit from its premiere last week, after a 0.7 for holiday special Disney Prep & Landing.
Fox easily led the night among adults 18-49 with a 3.4 rating, pending updates for its live NFL broadcast. CBS took second with a 0.8, followed by ABC, 0.6; NBC, 0.5; and The CW, 0.4.
In other words, it appears that “Murphy Brown” was the second-highest-rated show in that overall timeslot that wasn’t football or a rerun — which would seem to make it far from the “toxic ratings bomb” Whitlock insists it is.