In my opinion, the premiere ratings for these broadcast shows have mostly been a dud. There are a few exceptions of course but I'll be the first to say that this list doesn't accurately reflect how underwhelming broadcast ratings have been as a whole (mostly because I try to keep the list as balanced as possible).

1. Empire (16.18 million 6.7)- To my understanding, this is higher than every previous episode except hour 2 of last season’s finale. These are the numbers FOX wanted and needed to see because my goodness, premiere week has been miserable for them.

2. Scandal (10.25 million 3.3)- This show returned as a glimmer of good news for ABC (though the whole Thursday night lineup wasn’t shabby for them). ABC has a lot of problems. This show isn’t a part of the problem and probably won’t be for several years. I guess the ratings might dip because premieres and finales are always higher with this show.

3. The Haves and the Have Nots (3.710 million 1.2)- This show is a winner for OWN. The people at OWN know it but I still get the feeling that it doesn’t get props for being a successful scripted cable show elsewhere. I guess it will just continue to be the gem no one talks about which may be a good thing because too much hype can ruin a show.

4. Big Brother (6.54 million 2.2)- This show managed to have a decent season. The ratings were nothing memorable but they stayed stable for the 3 days it aired on and it outperformed all of CBS’s scripted shows this summer. You can’t ask for more than that and I fully expect it to return next summer.

5. How to Get Away with Murder (8.38 million 2.6)- This is not the only veteran show across the broadcast networks that came back with noticeably lower ratings. A pass may be given here because the show hasn’t aired a new episode in 7 months but ABC is praying that these numbers stabilize quickly and avoid a repeat of what happened to Resurrection last year.

6. Once Upon a Time (5.93 million 1.8)- It’s my understanding that the beginning of last season had a storyline that wildly inflated the ratings and when the storyline ended, the show settled in this general area. The year-to-year premiere drop doesn’t look that great but ABC Sundays are still a partial mess (Quantico came in with a tenth better than this in the demo but Blood & Oil is almost DOA). I don’t think too many eyes will be looking at this show for cancellation unless it just takes some sort of weird nosedive that becomes hard to ignore.

7. Basketball Wives LA (1.458 million 0.7)- This show got renewed last week and it appears that VH1 decided to judge the show on the non-Monday scale (And also to possibly squash rumors of this show’s demise). I completely get it. This show is their highest rated show by a mile for all the shows they haven’t aired on Monday this year and the only show they have left to possibly challenge it is Mob Wives (for the record, I don’t believe Mob Wives will have better numbers than this show. That show hasn’t averaged at or above 1.3 million viewers since season 2).

8. Masters of Sex (605,000 0.1)- Luckily, Showtime took all the guesswork out of this early because the ratings have been terrible all season. Showtime is a forgiving and generous network when it comes to low rated shows so if they like a show, and clearly they like this one, then it will basically stay on until all parties decide it’s time to end the show.

9. Nashville (4.91 million 1.2)- Before ABC made their renewals in May, I was one of those people who felt that whether ABC made it official or not, this was going to be the last season of the show. Now I can’t be so sure. ABC renewed a ton of horribly rated shows and their track record for finding freshman hits is not great (last year skewed the average because again, they renewed a ton of freshman shows that shouldn’t have returned). I don’t see this show at the front of the slaughterhouse line anymore. This show still could get cancelled next year but there are some factors, mostly how it performs in cable syndication since that has just recently begun, that could keep the show alive if the ratings manage to hold steady for the season.

10. Scream Queens (4.04 million 1.7)- Premiere week is always a highly anticipated week. I will say that for the most part, premiere week across all networks (excluding The CW since their shows are still more than a week or two away) has been underwhelming. This show was one of the shows expected to cash in on a huge wave of hype and the show didn’t deliver at all. Keep in mind that these numbers are a major improvement for FOX on Tuesdays but this is a drama (or comedic drama that I’ve heard) and the drama threshold on FOX is higher than that of their comedies. This show is on the line so any declines will not be good for this show.