Tuesday, May 15, 2018

10 Ratings Blurbs: 5/15/18 Edition


A lot of decisions were made in the past few days. There were some I couldn't squeeze in (like the renewal of How to Get Away with Murder), some I creatively squeezed in, and others that are very consequential, but I choose to hold off talking about until next week.

1. Black Ink Crew (1.116 million 0.6)- 21 episodes is a lot of episodes for a reality show to air in one season. Episode counts that high tend to show up in the Real Housewives shows and Dance Moms (the shows that air continuously) or shows that air random batches of episodes throughout the year (think Ridiculousness). It’s a little rare because the network has to trust that the show won’t get stale after spending roughly 5-6 months on air. VH1 seems to have gotten there with this show. It’s possible that they may still be interested in at least one more spinoff, but nothing is set is stone yet and all they have are the two shows to anchor Wednesday nights. It’s working for them.

2. Chicago PD (6.343 million 1.2)- A couple of themes appear to be emerging so far in the upfronts this week. The first has nothing to do with this show. It’s that networks are getting a little more ambitious on Friday nights. The second is that the networks would rather depend on known entities for the fall and save their new content for winter and spring. The schedules released so far have been very light on new shows and loaded with veterans. The most surprising move so far is that NBC has decided to consolidate all three Chicago shows on Wednesday night. On paper, it makes sense only because of the increased crossover potential and the fact that all three shows are basically getting the same numbers. What’s troubling is that all 3 shows are hitting low 1 demos now. If there’s a typical season-to-season decrease. At least one of these shows will be flirting with 0.8-0.9 demos after November and that’s sure to bring discomfort because NBC probably won’t have the option to make midseason changes without making a mess of their entire lineup.

3. Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (1.637 million 0.6)- What I said a few weeks ago about this show still applies. The numbers are slightly above average and nothing to complain about. The show will return for another season. It will be up to the producers to decide if they want the cast to stay together. For a show like this. I’m of the mindset of not changing anything as long as the fans aren’t turned off.

4. Braxton Family Values (858,000 0.3)- Now that the show has ended for the season, I have to believe that barring some unforeseen off-season drama, the show should be safe to return. It is a very strong performer for WE and they can’t afford to lose it. That won’t stop them from trying to find new hit shows, but most of the shows that they consider to be keepers are not performing as well as this one.

5. Fear the Walking Dead (2.464 million 0.9)- A surprising effect to the decline in ratings of The Walking Dead last season is the silence over this show’s ratings. The TV landscape in general seems to be running out of steam. Shows are getting renewed across the board with lower average ratings. When you see a cable show getting numbers like this, it’s a no brainer that the show is doing well and looks to be more than safe as far as future prospects go.

6. Basketball Wives (1.866 million 0.9)- 2-3 months ago, I would have found It weird to see VH1 waste the Monday 9pm timeslot on a show that has its own audience and has aired on a night by itself. Now, it’s not the worst strategy. They didn’t hit their expectations with the last cycle of 9pm shows and unlike recent years, they don’t have an upcoming scripted show to try to launch for the summer. It’s another example of networks opting to go with what they know over trying something new.

7. Real Housewives of Potomac (976,000 0.4)- This is down from last week. It’s a little puzzling because I expected last week’s episode to take the bigger hit. Because Sunday was Mother’s Day, there’s a chance these numbers come back up next week. If that happens, it’s a sign that the numbers are actually holding pretty firm so far this season.

8. Little Women LA (639,000 0.2)- This isn’t on the list for the ratings. This is on the list because by default, this has now become Lifetime’s signature franchise. Over the last two years, the network got aggressive with growing the franchise. It was successful in the fact that unlike Dance Moms, a viable franchise could be spawned from this show. Where it fell short was the numbers. Project Runway was always the stronger franchise. Now, Project Runway is gone (the main show is returning to Bravo. No word on the All Stars or Junior versions just yet, but the rights to the entire franchise were acquired by Bravo's parent company). Little Women is now Lifetime’s signature franchise and while in the short-term, that’s actually a good thing for all the shows, it puts the network in a curious position because their roster has gotten quite thin as of late.

9. Elementary (4.431 million 0.6)- In the flurry of TV news last week, it was slipped in that CBS renewed this show. I thought the renewal was shocking only because I thought CBS would have wanted to see some summer numbers before making a call. No one expects this to land on the fall or winter schedule for next season. It would make another spring debut if it turns out to be another year of drama messes for CBS to clean up.

10. Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars Family Edition (569,000 0.2)- This is one of the shows that I was insinuating as being a keeper. I expect it to return in some form because the numbers aren’t horrible for Friday nights. I’m just of the belief that the days of this averaging above 750k for the season are well behind the show and the numbers are not coming back up no matter what kind of cast they try to assemble.

Broadcast Shows:

The Voice (Monday)- 8.705 million (1.6)

American Idol- 8.525 million (1.7)

Dancing with the Stars: Athletes- 7.684 million (1.0)

The Voice (Tuesday)- 7.255 million (1.3)

Chicago P.D. (Finale)- 6.343 million (1.2)

Chicago Fire (Finale)- 5.953 million (1.0)

Empire- 5.022 million (1.6)

Elementary- 4.431 million (0.6)

Star- 3.720 million (1.2)

Once Upon a Time- 2.257 million (0.5)

Gotham- 2.211 million (0.7)

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.- 1.938 million (0.5)

The Flash- 1.740 million (0.7)

Supergirl- 1.534 million (0.5)

Supernatural- 1.298 million (0.4)

Arrow- 1.003 million (0.3)

Riverdale- 1.000 million (0.4)

The Originals- 756,000 (0.3)

Cable Shows:

Fear the Walking Dead- 2.464 million (0.9)

Love & Hip Hop Atlanta- 2.021 million (1.0)

Basketball Wives (Premiere)- 1.866 million (0.9)

Jersey Shore Family Vacation- 1.759 million (1.1)

The Haves and the Have Nots- 1.739 million (0.5)

Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (Reunion Part 3)- 1.637 million (0.6)

Vanderpump Rules (Reunion Part 2)- 1.462 million (0.6)

Real Housewives of New York City- 1.444 million (0.5)

Teen Mom 2- 1.208 million (0.7)

Black Ink Crew (Finale)- 1.116 million (0.6)

Real Housewives of Potomac- 976,000 (0.4)

Braxton Family Values (Finale)- 858,000 (0.3)

Teen Mom: Young & Pregnant- 818,000 (0.5)

Hip Hop Squares (10:00)- 739,000 (0.4)

RuPaul’s Drag Race- 723,000 (0.4)

Hip Hop Squares (10:30)- 673,000 (0.3)

The Americans- 671,000 (0.2)

Little Women LA- 639,000 (0.2)

Marriage Boot Camp Reality Stars Family Edition (Finale)- 569,000 (0.2)

Teen Mom 2 (Aftershow)- 544,000 (0.3)

Untucked- 525,000 (0.3)

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