Young Sheldon debuts to 17.2m viewers

The special debut of Young Sheldon last night was watched by 17.2 million viewers - the biggest audience for a comedy premiere in six years. The pilot episode of Young Sheldon, which followed the eleventh season premiere of The Big Bang Theory, retained a whopping 97.5% of its parent show's audience.

Young Sheldon had a 3.8/13 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic making it the highest-rated comedy premiere in four years. Young Sheldon ranked first in viewers and the key demos in its time period.

The Big Bang Theory posted its best ratings since December 2015 with 17.65 million viewers and a 4.1/16 rating in the demo. Compared to its tenth season premiere last year, The Big Bang Theory added 1.83 million viewers and three tenths of a rating in the demo.

Young Sheldon will return November 2 at 8:30/7:30c following The Big Bang Theory as it moves back to Thursday nights.