Major Crimes season 5 ratings suffer after Wednesday move
We wanted to have hope that the Major Crimes season 5 ratings would stay solid on Wednesdays, but through one episode, it’s not the case. As a matter, it feels fairly safe to proclaim that TNT bungled this one pretty bad.
Before we move forward, let’s submit that being a network programmer is a tough job. You have to balance many different things, and there are going to be occasions in which you’re in a no-win situation. We know that there were some other nights that were unavailable for original programming at around this time for the network, and we certainly think that they want the show to succeed. If they didn’t, why order a season 6?
Unfortunately, the ratings on Wednesday (through one episode, so small sample size) are lower than they’ve ever been. This past episode drew just a series-low 0.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic and also 1.93 million viewers. This is the first time that the show’s ever been below the 2 million viewer mark in terms of the live+same day figures.
Silver linings
The big thing that you have to remember here is that we’re in an era now where more and more people are recording shows, and we anticipate the live+3 / live+7 increases for this show to be some of the biggest ever. We also know that many shows do suffer gradual declines over time, and cable shows often do when they go from summer arcs to winter / fall arcs when they air against more competition. A decline is natural for Major Crimes, given that it’s happened many times before.
Still, it felt like a mistake from the jump to air the show against Criminal Minds and Law & Order: SVU. These are three shows that all tackle criminal cases, and cater roughly to the same group of people. There are obviously Major Crimes diehards who will always watch the show before any others, but then there are also viewers who just watch whatever is on. They’re already hooked on watching one of the aforementioned shows live and don’t want to change up their schedule.
Here’s to hoping things pick up, and that some Major Crimes viewers simply did not realize that the show was back on the air. For those of you who did miss the premiere, you can read our review for it now over here.
Why do you think we saw a Major Crimes ratings drop? Share some of your thoughts on the subject below! (Photo: TNT.)
Naomi B.
February 26, 2017 @ 6:51 pm
Matt, you keep talking about the ratings for SVU and CM. Have you paid attention to the ratings for those two shows, PARTICULARLY IN DEMO? These two shows WITHIN A SEASON have lost the range of 1 million viewers in demo alone combined.Besides NBA on TNT, I truly believe the network is trying to capture some of that or I am giving them too much credit to think that far out. Haven’t figured out which it is yet.
MC is coming off a 5 month hiatus…into not only a brand new time slot, but a brand new day AFTER 12 YEARS. What is missed that even with all of this working against them, this show still won most scripted for the night. While not optimal, consider it pretty dang good.
Again, the fact that there was outrage on twitter and facebook regarding the lack of TNT promotion of the new day/date time and hiatus ending, my guess is that this didn’t reflect well on the network.
As I have said numerous times, if TNT wanted this show gone…it would be gone. James has admitted they were preparing for it. Don’t believe that, just ask Rizzoli and Isles if TNT phased them out. Murder in the First can give some input to that one, as well. To me, more of what is going on is that to focus on the new direction and that this show and its fan base (who, by the way, the only one Reilly has referenced on numerous occasions) is the ONLY stalwart for this network, they put all efforts into the new shows. I am reminded of companies treating their loyal customers like garbage and bowing down to those they are trying to woo. The problem is that the network doesn’t realize how this show can be leveraged to bring these new demo audiences in. Go figure…it is TNT!
Can we please not do a doomsday scenario of “the sky is falling” UNTIL we see a trend in these low ratings?
quinquin
February 26, 2017 @ 6:51 am
I think you’re rather optimistic, Matt. I am not so sure about the “… and we certainly think that they want the show to succeed…” part. If so, they show it in a very peculiar way. The promotion of the show is close to zero and largely left to cast, crew, and the very active fangroups on social media platforms. No wonder the occasional viewers dropped out. My best guess is, a lot of potential viewers simply didn’t know it’s back and when it was to air.
I, too, hope for the +3 and +7 ratings. So far, TNT only managed to reduce one of their most successful shows to the ratings they’ve gotten used to from their other shows. If this is some kind of accomplishment in a larger business plan… Maybe I just don’t get it…. But I have some doubts there…
On the bright side: There are 7 more episodes yet to air in the ongoing season. As you said:”Here’s to hoping things pick up, …”