SEAL Team ratings fall in week 2; Criminal Minds, Survivor, The Blacklist down

Ugh. After looking at the SEAL Team ratings and a whole lot more from Wednesday night’s lineup, that’s our reaction. This could be a tough night for ratings this year. There may be many shows in here we love covering at CarterMatt, but networks may need to examine closely what they’re doing on this night and if there is a way to turn things around.

Let’s start with the SEAL Team ratings mostly because their week 2 drop is one of the most notable aspects of last night. The David Boreanaz series drew just a 1.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic last night, which is worse than previous timeslot occupant Criminal Minds did almost the majority of its run last year. It’s also a drop of more than 20% from the premiere. If it can hold on to most of its audience (it already dropped more than we thought it would) it may have a chance of sticking around; otherwise, we’re not so sure. This timeslot seems ripe for the picking right now and CBS, like many other networks, may have made a misfire banking big on military shows this year. It’s like last year when time-travel was the big thing and Timeless is the only one of those shows still around … and it’s only here on the strength of its fans.

Elsewhere on CBS Survivor fell to a 1.6 while Criminal Minds sunk down to a 1.1. These ratings are on the low spectrum for both shows, but there aren’t any indicators out there that either one of them is in danger. (If Criminal Minds was posting that rating in its old timeslot that’d be an entirely different story.)

As for elsewhere on the night…

NBC – The Blacklist fell in its second week at 8:00 p.m. to a 1.0, while Law & Order: SVU (1.3) and Chicago PD (1.2) both declined versus their own premieres. We don’t think it’s a good thing for NBC that their top-rated show on Wednesday is one that is almost 20 years old. Shouldn’t they have figured out something better by now here?

Fox – Empire tied Modern Family for #1 on the night with a 1.9, but this rating is still somewhat stunning. Remember that the second episode of Empire season 3 drew an incredible 3.7 rating; clearly, this show has done something wrong to lose all of those viewers. STAR after the fact fell to a 1.4, as well.

ABC – We don’t really cover the comedies on the network extensively, but it’s worth noting that Designated Survivor, a show that’s clearly made some mistakes over the past year to lose viewers, is also now fractional with just a 0.9 rating. There was a time when its timeslot was ripe for the taking in its own way; not so much anymore.

What do you think about the SEAL Team ratings and more?

Sound off with some of your thoughts now in the comments! Of course, we’ll be back tomorrow with more of the latest ratings insight.

(Photo: NBC)