New Girl is a hit!! Starring the likable Zooey Deschanel is a hit here with us here at ToT. the series was given plenty of lead-in support from free release on iTunes for couple of weeks to build word of mouth and from the musical dramedy Glee — and ended up surpassing it.
Per the fast affiliate ratings, the series premiere of New Girl attracted a very healthy 4.7 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 10.08 million viewers. It actually built on Glee’s numbers (down 32% year-to-year) by a very impressive 24% and was first in its timeslot in the all-important demo. That’s no easy feat considering it had to square off against very tough competition on the other networks — NCIS: Los Angeles, The Biggest Loser, and the Dancing with the Stars results show.
New Girl performed 34% better than last year’s debut of Raising Hope in the same timeslot, and that was back when Glee was a whole lot stronger than it is theses days. With New Girl as a lead in, Raising Hope had one of its strongest nights to date.
We were worried here at ToT that the iTunes free premiere might hurt the shows ratings, thankfully that did not occur. Deschanel has as strong supporting cast and the writing of the show is great. Her character reflects a lot of Zooey’s own quirky style and personality. I love NCIS LA, like many, of you but even if you are the manliest of guys, you own it to yourself to at least DVR New Girl once. You will be hooked.
