DVR ratings: 'New Girl' Leads The Season's New Shows

[Brian Damage]

Nielsen's DVR ratings usually follow this pattern: If a scripted show draws strong ratings on the night it airs, it tends to do pretty well in delayed viewing too.

That's holding true this season for veteran shows -- "Modern Family" and "Two and a Half Men" add the most viewers on average and are two of the Top 3 gainers in adults 18-49 (along with "Grey's Anatomy"). Among new series so far this season, however, the results are a little bit more mixed.

Several of the most-watched freshman shows -- "Person of Interest," "New Girl," "Once Upon a Time" and "2 Broke Girls," for instance -- are all among the 10 biggest gainers for new shows in Nielsen's Live +7 ratings (through Nov. 20, the latest week available). But less-watched shows like "Pan Am" and "Prime Suspect" are also doing healthy DVR business, each adding close to 2 million viewers per episode.

Middle-of-the-pack series like "Revenge," "Terra Nova" and "Grimm" are also getting pretty healthy gains via delayed viewing. "Terra Nova," in fact, is second among new shows in both viewers and adults 18-49 ratings gains.

We should note that the DVR numbers for a show like "Pan Am" won't necessarily help the show when it comes time to make renewal decisions in the spring. The same-day ratings for a show tend to track more closely with the "C+3" ratings that are a key tool in setting ad rates. But in terms the total audience watching each new episode of "Pan Am" and "Prime Suspect," the picture isn't quite as bleak.

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