B Positive debuted on CBS as Chuck Lorre's latest comedy offering, and it received a prime slot between the Season 4 premiere of Young Sheldon and Season 8 premiere of Mom (both of which Lorre co-created). The Thomas Middleditch- and Annaleigh Ashford-starring sitcom was set up for success in primetime, and the numbers for the November 5 series premiere are in to reveal how well B Positive did in the ratings in its first outing.
The series premiere of B Positive at 8:30 p.m. ET scored an 0.6 rating in the key 18-49 age demographic in Live+Same day calculations, according to Showbuzz Daily, with a total audience of nearly 5 million viewers. It lands between the numbers for Young Sheldon at 8 p.m. ET and Mom at 9 p.m. ET, with the Big Bang Theory spinoff (which included a Big Bang Theory reveal in the Season 4 premiere) winning an 0.7 rating and audience of 6.5 million. Mom's first episode without Anna Faris scored a rating of 0.6 to match B Positive but an audience of only 4.7 million.
While none of the Chuck Lorre comedies managed to beat ABC's The Bachelorette on its special night with its 1.4 rating or Thursday Night Football on Fox, they were the highest-rated three comedies on the night of November 5, beating the game-changing 100th episode of Superstore. B Positive starting with an 0.6 and nearly 5 million viewers isn't too shabby at all!
That said, the numbers for the Chuck Lorre comedy block may have been disappointing for CBS. While the shows did turn in some of the best scripted ratings and viewership of the night, both Young Sheldon and Mom dropped significantly from their respective third and seventh seasons. Young Sheldon dropped 0.3 from the beginning of Season 3 to Season 4, while Mom dropped 0.2 from its Season 7 premiere. On top of those drops, B Positive's 0.6 was 0.2 lower than The Unicorn, which premiered on CBS last fall.
All of this said, it's worth noting that the night of November 5 was out of the ordinary when it comes to primetime, and not just because Fox aired football the whole night. Presidential election coverage has dominated the airwaves this week, and the big three networks all aired at least an hour of special election coverage on Thursday night. Even though the election coverage didn't start until 9 p.m. ET on NBC and 10 p.m. ET on both ABC and CBS, it's possible that the election coverage impacted the comedy ratings earlier.
Another variable is the fact that The Bachelorette aired on a special night this week due to ABC filling that show's usual Tuesday night slot with election coverage, so none of the CBS comedies will be up against The Bachelorette starting next week. The bad news for B Positive and the other shows' potential ratings is that Thursdays are about to get a lot more crowded. Station 19 and Grey's Anatomy will be back on ABC on next Thursday, November 12, with a huge crossover event. Competition on Thursday nights may only get stiffer.
You can catch new episodes of B Positive on Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. ET on CBS, in between episodes of Young Sheldon at 8 p.m. ET and Mom at 9 p.m. ET. For some more of what you can watch and when to watch it, be sure to check out our 2020 fall TV premiere schedule.
