Among the new shows premiering last month, ABC’s “Quantico” NBC’s “Blindspot” and CBS CBS.A -1.04 % ’s “Limitless” saw the biggest audience growth when a week’s worth of delayed viewing is factored in.  The debut of “Quantico” went from 7.1 million viewers on Sunday, Sept. 27 to 12.2 million, a 70% gain when seven days of recorded viewing and three days of video-on-demand viewing is included. That figure will likely increase again when the remaining four days of video-on-demand data is available along with online viewing. “Quantico” also increased almost 80% among adults ages 18 to 49, a demographic coveted by advertisers.  NBC’s “Blindspot” went from 10.6 million viewers on Monday Sept. 21 to 16.6 million, a 56% increase in viewers, while its audience under 50 jumped by 61%. It was a similar story for Tuesday night’s “Limitless,” which grew 45% to 14.3 million viewers from 9.9 million on the day it aired, according to Nielsen data. Its 18 to 49 audience was up almost 70%.  Sitcoms and dramas continue to be the most-watched shows on delay, often showing increases in viewers in the 30% to 50% range. ABC’s “How to Get Away with Murder” grew 55% from its premiere while Fox’s “Empire” had a 37% bump.  The gains are much smaller for unscripted shows. NBC’s “The Voice” grew by 21% when time-shifted viewing is included and ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” increased its viewership by only 14%. ABC’s “Shark Tank” was up 30% and CBS’s “The Amazing Race” grew by nearly 40% but both have smaller base audiences.  As expected, live sports had the smallest amount of delayed viewing. Sunday Night Football on NBC got no lift from delayed viewing while Thursday Night Football on the NFL Network and CBS was up just 1%.  Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com
Shows such as ABC’s ‘Quantico’ and NBC’s ‘Blindspot’ registered big audience gains when viewing from digital video recorders and video-on-demand services is included.