Did ‘The Bachelorette’ finale put dent in ‘UnREAL’s’ ratings?

One of the things that we’ve been most curious about over the past few weeks when it comes to “UnREAL” is just what the crossover audience is between this show and the one that inspired it in “The Bachelor” / “The Bachelorette.” Even earlier this week, show host Chris Harrison boldly accused the Lifetime series of riding the franchise’s coattails while also (wrongly) proclaiming that it is “terrible” to watch. In reality this is one of the year’s best shows and would highly recommend it to anyone.

So did the end of the dating show actually hurt “UnREAL” at all? The simple answer is that it did. The series tied its previously series low in the 18-49 demographic on Monday night with a 0.2 rating, and with just over 570,000 viewers. This was the least “live” watched episode since the fourth episode, which had been made available in advance online. The DVR ratings will probably prove to be an asset after the fact, as we assume that some watched the “After the Final Rose” special and then came over to watch this and this marks the only time this season that the two shows have competed directly against one another.

While “UnREAL” did lose some viewers, these ratings to us do still represent that the majority of the audience for the show (think around 80%) is more interested in watching this show live than checking out a special on ABC that is arguably their realest of the entire season because it is actually live.

Ultimately, it is not like the ratings matter too much anyway, given the fact that Lifetime has already renewed the show for a second season and there is really not that much to worry about.

If you did not see Harrison’s comments previously, be sure to head over to this link in order to check them out! Also, you can sign up here if interested in getting some more TV updates on just about all we cover, courtesy of our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: Lifetime.)