Going up against the final stretch of a well-watched, double-OT Rose Bowl followed by the Sugar Bowl, ABC’s The Bachelor opened Season 22 on Monday night with 5.5 million total viewers and a 1.5 demo rating, dropping 17 and 29 percent from a year ago to easily mark all-time premiere lows, yet leading the night’s broadcast-TV programs in the demo.

ESPN’s coverage of the Rose Bowl drew 26.8 million viewers, up 39 percent from last year’s Peach Bowl and nearly matching the College Football Playoff Semifinals high set in 2015. With 21.1 million viewers, the Sugar Bowl was up 10 percent vs. last year’s Fiesta Bowl.

Elsewhere….

FOX | Lucifer (3.1 mil/0.7) and The Gifted (2.5 mil/0.7) respectively slipped two tenths and one tenth, both hitting series lows.





NBC | Leading out of The Wall (4.3 mil/0.8), a double pump of Better Late Than Never averaged 4.2 mil and a 0.7, down from both its recent Season 2 preview (5.5 mil/1.) as well as its Season 1 average (7.3 mil/1.6, leading out of America’s Got Talent).

THE CW | Leading out of a Supergirl rerun (900K/0.2), Valor resumed its season with 790K and a 0.2, on par with its last fresh outing.

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