Ratings: ‘Hawaii Five-0,’ ‘Blue Bloods’ numbers show CBS holiday mistake
From one standpoint, we were somewhat appreciative to see that CBS was running new episodes of both “Hawaii Five-0” and “Blue Bloods” on Friday night for everyone sitting at home. In a sea of repeats, there was something new to watch!
But, at the same time you get the feeling now that this was probably a mistake after seeing some of the official ratings come in. The only way to say this is that these shows were not exactly ratings home runs with so many people preparing for the holidays, traveling, or simply doing the typical Friday thing and going out with friends.
Overall, “Hawaii Five-0” ended up drawing a 1.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic on the night, whereas “Blue Bloods” itself managed to pull a 1.1. Where things get interesting is that these shows do still have a massive viewership … just not where it counts to advertisers. “Blue Bloods” was watched by more than 10 million people, while the Hawaii-set drama was just under that. If total viewers was what networks looked at first and foremost, there would be no questioning that both of these shows would be around for a very long time.
But as it is, is either one of them really a lock to be coming back for another season? Personally, we feel like either one of them could be in trouble now. They’ve each made it far enough to get to syndication, and CBS does make a habit out of canceling their lowest-rated Friday shows every year. Personally, we do want to continue to see more of “Hawaii Five-0” in particular, given that we do see an effort here to bring in interesting guest stars, and the show seems to have an active community who cares about what happens every week. We just wish that it registered a little bit more.
Photo: CBS
Linda M. Stein
December 22, 2013 @ 7:18 pm
I agree it is way to early to pull the sheet over either one of these shows. If CBS chose to air new episodes this late in the season they MUST have known what the numbers would be like on the Friday before Christmas when everyone is scrambling to get Christmas shopping and prep completed not to mention office Christmas parties and the like. I’d like to think that CBS has enough faith in these shows and their Friday night placement to say “what the hell, everyone else will be airing re-runs, lets give people something new to watch”.
I don’t think CBS will be upset with the numbers because they were probably just what they expected them to be, if not better than expected. Everyone knows both these shows skew to an older demographic anyway. I understand advertisers want that golden 18-49 demographic but close to 10 million viewers is nothing to sneeze at.
Just my opinion, of course, but the move to Friday seems to have done wonders for Five-0’s numbers. I hope they stay there for years to come.
Thanks for the review and Mele Kalikimaka! :-)
jlopie1
December 22, 2013 @ 6:35 pm
I personally feel it’s a bit premature to toss either of these shows to the wind for next season, simply because, just as you say, it’s the holiday season and very few people in the almighty demo were home on Fridays to watch live. I don’t know why CBS chose to air new episodes this late, but I don’t think CBS usually makes mistakes about this.
You can’t say any of the other networks’ Friday night shows have done much better in the demo (except for Shark Tank, which I can’t fathom, but to each his own viewing, I guess.
Moving H50 to Friday night has certainly improved it’s viewership, although obviously not their demo. I would like to wait until the new shows return in January and February before attempting to guess which, if either show, will be in trouble. I do think CBS has some other areas that might be more worrisome than these two shows.
Thanks for reviewing H50 and giving some of it’s fan a place to read about our show! Happy Holidays!