Fall TV season is in full swing, and one of the most ambitious new series to hit the airwaves is Manifest on NBC. The show's premiere spun a mystery that has the potential to drive the story for a long time, and it's difficult to guess where that story is going next. A big question was whether the mystery was teased well enough in the trailers for folks to tune in. Well, the numbers are in, and it turns out that enough folks tuned in for Manifest to break a ratings record already.
Manifest is officially the top time-shifted series premiere on record for NBC. The show already got off to a strong start with Live+Same day viewership of 10.41 million people. Thanks to delayed viewing and time-shifting for the Live+3 day calculations, Manifest added more than 5.7 million people to its total. The total viewership is currently 16.13 million, making Manifest's first episode the most-watched series premiere in Live+3 day calculations in six years. Back in 2013, The Blacklist delivered 16.94 million in Live+3. NBC has a lot to be happy about with Manifest.
That's not even the only record broken by Manifest's series premiere! The 5.7 million viewer bump marks the biggest for any NBC premiere in measurement history. Given that measurement history dates back to May 2007 and NBC has had some high-profile hits over the past decade, Manifest has some serious bragging rights. The previous record was held by the premiere of the Will & Grace revival, which could boast a bump of 4.6 million viewers in Live+3 day and broke records of its own.
In case solid rankings on NBC aren't enough for you, there's more. The Manifest premiere currently ranks as the show with the third highest bump from Live+Same day to Live+3 day viewership in all of broadcast and cable television. It falls behind two series premieres of ABC shows: the 2018 premiere of the short-lived Roseanne will a boost of 6.59 million and the 2014 premiere of How to Get Away with Murder with 5.93 million. Throw in the fact that Manifest's premiere is fourth all-time for the biggest bumps in Live+3 in broadcast and cable TV for premieres and other episodes, and we can probably count on Manifest not going anywhere any time soon.
As for ratings in the key 18-49 age demographic, Manifest can claim the second biggest lift of any NBC series premiere to date with a bump of 1.47, from 2.16 to 3.63. The show that can claim the very biggest lift is the Will & Grace revival. Congratulations to Manifest and any viewers who were already hooked after the premiere! If the ratings continue to deliver in the coming weeks, we can probably count on the mystery being solved, even if only bit by bit.
To catch new episodes of Manifest, tune in to NBC on Mondays at 10 p.m. ET. There are plenty of other options for viewing this fall, so if Manifest's mystery doesn't appeal to you, you can make another choice.
