Ratings: ‘Castle’ season 8 improves; ‘Scorpion’ finale, ‘Blindspot’ rise
The ratings are officially in for all of primetime now, and after a little bit of gloom-and-doom lately for some of these shows, isn’t it nice to have something a little bit more positive to report?
The good news – Probably our biggest surprise here is seeing “Castle” recover, despite all of the devastating headlines at the moment, to a 1.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic for Monday night’s new episode. This ties the show’s best number since October, and it’s a number that the show has matched many times over. Other than a couple of airings in February season 8 has been remarkably consistent, which is probably why ABC was considering a season 9 in the first place. It is possible the show adjusts down, as “Dancing with the Stars” rose this week to a 1.8.
Elsewhere, the finale of “Scorpion” (1.8) improved despite having a repeat as a lead-in, and “Blindspot” (1.4) also improved from its recent low outing.
The bad news – Despite moving from a Friday to a Monday, “Reign” (0.3) still managed to be very low Monday night. Also, the return of “Mike & Molly” (1.3) was low as CBS burns off the remainder of the Melissa McCarthy series, and “The Voice” was lower than last week with a 2.1.
The good news as least for “Reign” is that it has already been renewed for a fourth season, so there is no real reason to worry about what the numbers are at the moment. The same goes for “Jane the Virgin,” which was at least reasonably steady with a 0.4.
Leo
April 26, 2016 @ 7:08 pm
Fans don’t make the financial connection , the drop from 2.4 demo and 12.62 mil viewers of S6 to 1.1 demo and 6.35 mil viewers of S 8 is a huge loss of revenue. SK’s contract for this season was unsustainable financially. Cuts had to be made, like it or not.For those who hadn’t noticed many of the familiar faces of the extras have vanished from the precincts background.
Jamie
April 27, 2016 @ 4:25 pm
Thank you, finally someone with some brains who understands how this stuff works. Networks are still businesses, not charities. It’s an expensive, aging show with steep ratings drops from S7 to S8.
Buddy
April 26, 2016 @ 6:53 pm
Yes I believe it will be the highest rated episode in season 8 because:
1) most of the other episodes were not rated very highly and most were rated the same which means that the only people watching we’re the die hard fans who would watch almost anything named Castle,
2) some people will watch just to see if it results in Beckett will get killed,
3) many people will watch just to see if it will give any indication that there will be a season 9
4) people will watch to see if there is any indication of the format change predicted for a series 9
5) people will watch to see if and what role Ryan and Espisito might have if they return
6) and, finally, many people will watch just to see if ABC is really that stupid.
Leo
May 1, 2016 @ 4:59 pm
It’s not stupidity , it’s about $$$$. If a program can’t produce the Benjamins, it gets cancelled , like it or not. Like Jame said the studios are not charitable organizations .
Leo
May 1, 2016 @ 6:29 pm
Be glad this isn’t NCIS otherwise Beckett would take a bullet between the eyes.
Leo
April 26, 2016 @ 6:12 pm
The season finale will probably be the highest rated episode of this season dispite all the hysteria .
georgee
April 26, 2016 @ 9:08 pm
I was glad to see Castle go up .1, most of the fans watched to see Beckett one more time . And this time see had more than 5 minutes, why the show runners could not do that from the first episode God only knows. Now for episode 20 ( Castle and the fireflies) we do not even know if she is with Rick at all. I hope she shows up as a guest, that way she and Rick can spend more time together. I see today ABC Corp gave Kelly Ripa an apology for not telling her about Strahan, isn’t that the same problem Stana had with ABC no one told her until , Your not needed your fired and don’t let the door hit you in the butt on the way out. The big difference Stana was a producer of Castle. Do you think she will get a apology. Has anybody heard anything from the two show runners since 4/18? Must still be hiding in the tall grass. In the list that Buddy has 6 fits the best.
Jamie
April 27, 2016 @ 4:23 pm
It’s ridiculous that ABC even apologized to Kelly Ripa in the first place. She threw a temper tantrum, just because she wasn’t informed. News flash, when these kinds of deals are being worked out, they can’t say anything until the announcement is made. If I walked out of my job and refused to show up for work, simply because I wasn’t told my co-worker was leaving, I’d be fired. Anyone would, and she makes $20M per show. She acted like a toddler. And, people have blown the whole Stana thing out of proportion as well. It’s not the end of the world, it’s a tv show. Start living in the real world, people. There are more important things to be angry about than this.
Leo
April 27, 2016 @ 5:00 pm
ABC let her come back because looking for a new host is a pain in the ass. But had she stayed out 1 or 2 days more she would’ve been out of her $20 mil a year job, and I’m sure she was reminded of that fact.