Ratings: How did Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders fare with new lead-in?

The renewal status of Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders remains a prevailing mystery over at CBS. While it’s clear that the show is not going to be a ratings monster for them at any point in the near future, it’s also still very much clear that this is a show that is almost surely going to provide stable numbers.

The decision to renew it ultimately comes down to one thing: Are you okay with lower ratings? It’s possible that you could bring in a new midseason drama that gets better numbers, but you’d have to spend a lot of money marketing it and trying to get it off the ground. Then, there’s also that chance that it is Doubt 2.0, and the show doesn’t last longer than a few episodes.

Just in terms of last night’s ratings alone, Beyond Borders generated a 0.8 rating in the 18-49 demographic two episodes of Survivor: Game Changers, which easily won the night after averaging a 1.7. To date, Beyond Borders is averaging a 0.9 rating in the demo. That’s down only slightly from the 1.0 that Code Black averaged in the same timeslot in the fall, when there are typically a larger overall pool of viewers watching. The bad news here is that to date, Beyond Borders is down over 30% in the demo and over 25% in total viewers from what the show did during season 1. If it falls that much again for CBS next year, it’d basically be dead on arrival.

Ultimately, we think that CBS will have a tough decision on their hands, but this is a challenging season for them as a whole given that many of their series experienced some of the biggest ratings drops that they have in a long time, and the only thing that you can really blame it on is erosion of viewers, whether it be to streaming services or just their DVR. The interest in watching shows live simply continues to wane.

Overall, last night was quiet given that there really wasn’t a whole lot even airing. We will tell you that Shots Fired posted a 0.8 on Fox despite there being no Empire lead-in. Meanwhile, Designated Survivor rose up to a 1.0.

What do you think the Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders renewal changes are at the moment? Be sure to share in the comments!

Meanwhile, head over here to read our full review of last night’s new episode. (Photo: CBS.)