Ratings: ‘Bachelor in Paradise’ and ‘After Paradise’ surge to new highs

Who knew that with this cast, “Bachelor in Paradise” would start to become the breakout hit of the summer?

The numbers are in from Monday night’s TV lineup, and the dating show managed to set a new series high for itself in a 1.8 rating in the 18-49 demographic. As far as we are aware, there were no major preemptions for primetime football on ABC, so even if this drops a tenth in the finals it will still be a new high. “After Paradise” followed suit, rising to a new high in 1.1. The longer this show stays on the air, the more successful it will probably be as the producers figure out what works. (No phone calls! They all repeat more or less what as already been discussed.)

We feel like there are two primary reasons why Paradise in general experienced such surges last night.

1. The announcement in “After Paradise” that Ben Higgins was the next Bachelor. More viewers may have opted to watch the two hours live rather than have someone else spoil the fun.

2. The drama this season, which includes all the craziness for Joe Bailey and Samantha Steffen.

Clearly, something is working here, and while it is not official yet, you can go ahead and schedule in a third season of “Bachelor in Paradise” for next summer. We’re not as bullish yet on “After Paradise,” but we think it’s likely even with smaller ratings given how cheap the show is to make and how it is another great extension of the franchise as a whole. We imagine that more official news on this will come later in the summer.

We’re going to have soon our latest “Bachelor in Paradise” podcast here at CarterMatt, so be on the lookout for that at this link! Also, you can sign up here to get some other updates on all we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: ABC.)