‘9-1-1: Nashville’ Delivers Impressive Premiere Week, Drawing 12.4 Million Total Viewers

ABC’s newest first-responder drama, 9-1-1: Nashville, is off to an impressive start in its debut week, proving to be a strong new addition to Ryan Murphy’s popular 9-1-1 franchise.

The series set in Music City premiered on October 9 and racked up 12.4 million total viewers across ABC, Hulu, Hulu on Disney+, and digital platforms in the first seven days, indicating a 231% increase over its same-day audience of 3.75 million, Deadline reports according to Nielsen data.

Even excluding encores, the show brought in 7.8 million viewers, a 108% increase over same-day viewing, along with a 1.51 rating among adults 18-49 in the seven-day window. This data indicates that the show’s first episode was successful in drawing in key demographics.

ABC’s Second-Biggest Drama Premiere

These streaming numbers are already putting 9-1-1: Nashville in the spotlight. After its first week, the series ranks as ABC’s second-biggest drama premiere on streaming platforms alone. Disney reports that this ranks the show just behind the series, High Potential.

The success from the series’ premiere positions it as a standout addition to ABC’s Thursday night lineup, which also includes Season 9 of the flagship 9-1-1 and Season 22 of Grey’s Anatomy. Between both traditional broadcast and streaming numbers, 9-1-1: Nashville is shaping up to be a major hit for the network.

Season 1, Episode 1 Recap

Viewers who tuned into the first episode of 9-1-1: Nashville quickly learned that the series won’t be holding back on any of the drama. The premiere started off by introducing some of the main characters, like firehouse captain Don Hart (Chris O’Donnell), who leads Station 113 through multiple emergency situations around the city.

In between saving lives, a big family secret is revealed when Don unexpectedly encounters his second son, Blue Bennings (Hunter McVey), during an emergency situation involving a bachelorette pedal tavern. This jaw-dropping moment not only reconnects the local stripper with his father but also with Don’s other son and Blue’s half-brother, Ryan (Michael Provost). Ryan has chosen to follow in his dad’s footsteps and also works as a life-saving firefighter at Station 113.

The truth comes out when Don explains that Blue was born from a past fling with Dixie Bennings (LeAnn Rimes) that occurred while him and his current wife Blythe (Jessica Capshaw) were briefly separated.

In between the chaos with the families, the drama continues as the firefighters face a series of life-or-death emergencies, including rescuing a child trapped in a trailer dangling from a historic Nashville bridge and racing to save concertgoers when a tornado strikes a country music festival where Kane Brown is performing.

Other prominent cast members who appear in the episode includes dispatcher Cammie Raleigh (Kimberly Williams-Paisley), Taylor Thompson (Hailey Kilgore), Roxie Alb (Juani Feliz),

9-1-1 Nashville is set to return with a new episode and even more excitement to ABC on Thursday, October 23, and streaming the next day.