Neil deGrasse Tyson’s ‘Cosmos’ premiere ratings: 40M first week?

Was “Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey� a red giant in the TV ratings or more of a white dwarf?

Well, that depends on whom you ask.

The science-minded people at Fox predict that Sunday’s premiere of “Family Guy� producer Seth MacFarlane’s reboot of the classic Carl Sagan docu-series — this time hosted by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson — will be seen by more than 40 million total viewers this week, according to Nielsen numbers.

How did the network arrive at that figure? Nielsen estimates that a total of 8.5 million watched Sunday on a total of 10 Fox-owned networks, including Fox broadcast, National Geographic and FX. Throw in foreign territories and time-delayed viewing via DVR, and supposedly you’ll quintuple that figure by week’s end.

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That sounds a bit blinded by science, though. “Cosmos� failed to throw off much light on Fox Sunday, gathering fewer than 6 million total viewers despite heavy promotion. It was trounced by ABC’s premiere of “Resurrection,� a life-after-death drama that animated more than 13 million.

Fox points out that “Cosmos� aired against some heavy competition, which besides “Resurrection� included AMC’s zombie smash “The Walking Dead� (12.7 million) and HBO’s season finale of the critically acclaimed crime drama “True Detective� (3.5 million).

Which is all true enough, but then again there are people who do TV scheduling for a living and Fox knew what the whiteboard looked like when “Cosmos� was put there. But we still have 12 more episodes to see if “Cosmos� catches on.

What do you think of the show?

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