Ratings Report: Why a ‘Hawaii Five-0’ season 8 renewal is close to a lock
It was around this point a year ago we had a certain degree of fear regarding the renewal odds of “Hawaii Five-0.” This is what happens anytime you’ve got a show that you love, but the ratings are not exactly where you want them to be. We never got a sense that it was in huge danger of cancellation, but the fear was still there.
Luckily, at this point in season 7, there’s been a rather wonderful phenomenon that we’ve seen in relation to the live+same-day ratings: The numbers surging in a far more positive direction. It’s something that we talked about with showrunner Peter M. Lenkov last year: To date, the season is up almost 8% in the 18-49 demographic from last season, and in total viewers, it’s up slightly more than 10%, averaging upwards of 9.5 million a week. In the demo, the series is averaging roughly the same as it was back during season 5, and to date, it’s the most-watched season of the show since season 4.
Maybe it’s wrong for us to feel this confident, but at this point in the run, we don’t have as much of that fear that we did last year. There are a few different reasons why the ratings are doing better, and it is — at least in our mind — close to a lock to be coming back for an eighth season.
1. The lead-in – Having “MacGyver,” another action packed show produced by Lenkov, on Friday nights is proving to be a rather-nice boost. It’s not just about that show posting higher ratings than CBS had in their 8:00 p.m. EST timeslot last year; it’s also about the relationship between one show and the next. “Hawaii Five-0” and “MacGyver” are similar shows in terms of content and tone, and viewers who enjoy one are more than likely going to enjoy the other. We’ve made no secret of our love for “The Amazing Race,” but we’ve also never felt it was a great fit for Friday nights. Hopefully, CBS finds a better spot for it beyond this upcoming season and they continue to do what works for the shows they have on Friday night.
2. The story itself – This is probably the most character-focused season we’ve seen so far, and viewers are responding well to that. While there are still cases every week, we’ve also had a chance to learn more about romantic interests, families, and some of what motivates these characters. Chin’s arc with Sara is fantastic, and while tearful, Max’s exit was wonderfully executed. We feel closer to the Ohana than we’ve ever felt before.
3. Syndication – In the Netflix / streaming era it’s probably not considered as viable as it once was, but don’t diminish its impact too much. Its performance across multiple channels has brought more attention to the show, especially for people who may not have been aware of it previously. This happens especially for shows airing on Friday nights; people often are engaging in something else, and they don’t know much about what is airing unless someone tells them or they read about it somewhere.
CBS has until May to figure out whether or not to renew “Hawaii Five-0” for an eighth season, but it may not take that long for this show to get some good news. We know that one of the larger questions after the renewal could be the future of star Alex O’Loughlin beyond season 8, but there’s plenty of time to deal with that. Why not cross that bridge when we come to it?
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