‘Shifting Gears’ Premiere Scores Record Streaming Audience For ABC, Up 173% In 7 Days Of Viewing
Tim Allen comedies are still a big draw, apparently, because the premiere of his latest series Shifting Gears has set an audience record for ABC.
In the seven days since it debuted on January 8, the first episode has amassed nearly 17M multi-platform viewers across ABC, Hulu, Hulu on Disney+ and digital platforms, Disney says. That’s a 173% lift over the episode’s already fairly impressive same-day audience of 6.2M.
It is now ABC’s strongest series debut since The Conners in 2018 as well as the broadcaster’s most-watched streaming debut to date (based on streaming-only numbers across Hulu and Disney+).
That 17M figure encapsulates linear encores, without which the episode is sitting around 12.5M viewers — still up 101% from the same-day audience.
The sitcom stars Allen as Matt, the stubborn, widowed owner of a classic car restoration shop. When Matt’s estranged daughter, Riley (Kat Dennings), and her teenage kids move into his house, the real restoration begins.
The cast also includes Seann William Scott as Gabriel, who also works at the shop, Daryl “Chill” Mitchell as Stitch, Maxwell Simkins as Carter and Barrett Margolis as Georgia.
Allen executive produces alongside Nader, Marty Adelstein, Becky Clements, Richard Baker, Rick Messina, John Pasquin, Jim Patterson, Bob Daily and John Amodeo. Pasquin also directed the pilot episode. Dennings is a producer.
The ABC series is produced by 20th Television, a part of Disney Television Studios.
