Ratings: ‘Supergirl’ solid in CW debut; ‘Timeless’ falls; ‘Gotham,’ ‘Lucifer’ hold
Let’s be real when it comes to The CW: At this point in the network’s run, they were absolutely in need of a hero. The ratings for the first week came in, and they weren’t exactly stellar. While “The Flash” delivered strong numbers, it was down versus the start of season 2; meanwhile, “Arrow” struggled to maintain momentum, and newcomers “No Tomorrow” and “Frequently” both showed that they were quick disappointments. It makes us wonder further why they didn’t just give the controversial-but-interesting Archie adaptation “Riverdale” a chance in the fall.
Well, they can at least fly high for a moment over the start of “Supergirl” season 2.
The good news – The Melissa Benoist series, making its debut on The CW after one year at CBS, started off with a 1.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic. Sure, that is down significantly from its CBS debut, but that was expected given the network change. It makes the show one of the top two shows for the network, and that was the hope going in. To us, it feels pretty clear that the powers-that-be should be relatively satisfied with this.
Elsewhere, the news was good for a few other shows. “2 Broke Girls” (1.7) started off on CBS with slightly stronger numbers, while “Gotham” (1.1) actually improved despite having more competition. “Lucifer” (1.1) held steady, and “Dancing with the Stars” (1.6) took a step in the right direction.
The bad news – Typically for us, the hope for a new series is that it does not lose more than 15% of its premiere audience. Given that “Timeless” (1.5) lost over 18%, there are reasons to wonder what its future could be. “Scorpion,” meanwhile, slipped down all the way to a 1.3 for its first solo episode at 10:00 p.m. Eastern. That just shows the challenges of this timeslot; there is no other reason for the relatively poor performance here.
“The Big Bang Theory” won the night with a 3.3, which was a slight decline. “The Voice” finished in second with a 2.9, which is also a small drop.