‘Ghosts’ on CBS Earns Massive Win Across Broadcast With Debut Season

CBS’ hit comedy Ghosts closed out its debut season with a major ratings win. After winning praise from fans and critics alike, the Rose McIver and Utkarsh Ambudkar-led series ended Season 1 as the top-rated comedy on all of broadcast for the soon-ending traditional September to May 2021-2022 broadcast TV season.

Ghosts‘ Season 1 success was revealed in a Tuesday report from Variety that cited Nielsen’s “most current” data through May 8 in the 18-49 age demographic, the demo considered key to advertisers and the overall longevity of most series. In that demographic, Ghosts averaged a 1.0 rating for its 18-episode debut season, which kicked off in October and concluded in April. That put it tied as the top-performing comedy this season alongside fellow CBS comedy Young Sheldon. Overall, those two comedies ranked No. 5 along with FBI and Law & Order: Organized Crime in the ratings. With a 1.0 rating, those series fell just behind Grey’s Anatomy and Chicago Med, tied for fourth with 1.1; 9-1-1 and Law & Order: SVU, tied for third with 1.2; Chicago Fire and Chicago PD, tied for No. 2 with 1.3; and This Is Us, which ranked as the highest-rated scripted series with a 1.4 rating.

An adaptation of the U.K. comedy of the same and created as a part of Lionsgate’s partnership with BBC Studios in Los Angeles, Ghosts stars McIver and Ambudkar star as Samantha and Jay, a married couple who move into their dream home. It doesn’t take long for them to learn that their new residence is filled with ghosts, all of whom Samantha can see and hear after surviving a near-death experience. Asher Grodman, Richie Moriarty, Sheila Carrasco, Danielle Pinnock, Brandon Scott Jones, Rebecca Wisocky, Roman Zaragoza, and Devan Chandler Long star as the ghosts, who come from various time periods and are stuck living in the mansion. The U.K. version of the series was created by Mathew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard, and Ben Willbond, with Joe Port and Joe Wiseman developing the U.S. version.

Since its debut, Ghosts has been widely praised. The series currently has a 91% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 77% audience score. Given its popularity, it came as little surprise in January when CBS officially greenlit a Season 2 renewal for the comedy. It was confirmed earlier this week that Paramount+ will be the exclusive streaming home for Ghosts, Tanya Giles, chief programming officer at Paramount+, noted that the series “is one of the biggest comedy hits in years and one of the most talked-about shows.”