Ratings Progress Report: The state of ‘Bull’ on CBS
Before the season started, “Bull” was one of the few fall shows that we had the utmost confidence in — and it was pretty darn easy to figure out why. You had “NCIS” as an incredible lead-in, and a former “NCIS” star in Michael Weatherly. Dr. Phil McGraw, one of the most prolific men in daytime TV, is aboard as an executive producer. Everything about this show screams “winner.”
So is it? Everything’s looking good so far. The show has a full-season order from CBS and promise for the future, but that’s no guarantee for a season 2 renewal. For this edition of our Ratings Progress Report series (we’re going to be doing all month), let’s trace the season 1 progress as we look towards the long-term future.
The good news – The show’s averaging to date a 1.8 rating in the 18-49 demographic to go along with over 13 million viewers. It’s the most-watched new series of the season, and that statistic alone, if it stays steady, is enough to basically confirm a season 2 renewal. Unless CBS loses their mind and ratings no longer matter, why would they end their show at this point? If you want to draw a good comparison, it’s averaging almost exactly what “NCIS: New Orleans” scored in this spot on average during its season in this timeslot last year. That’s wonderful retention.
Also, remember we’re just starting to get to know Weatherly’s Dr. Jason Bull. There are more notable guest stars coming, and more than likely the best of the show is still very much to come.
The bad news – You can look to the show’s series-low 1.5 for its most-recent episode for an example of sagging ratings, or you can say that the show has an issue with so many cases feeling somewhat similar or with Dr. Bull winning the vast majority of the time. Personally, we don’t envision these being issues that will plague the show long-term, given that we’re still so early in the run and it sometimes takes weeks for new shows to find and figure out their voice.
Overall – There’s no reason to think “Bull” gets canceled this season unless this current hiatus for the World Series / the election causes it to fall of a cliff.
Do you want to see “Bull” renewed for another season? Share in the poll below! (Photo: CBS.)