Madam Secretary season 4: How much is football hurting the ratings?

Alas, Madam Secretary season 4 is not airing tonight on CBS — we wish that it was, but it’s fairly understandably why it’s not. It’s Christmas Eve! This is of course the time of year when many people are off doing other things, and with that it makes perfect sense that the network would opt to wait before putting more episodes on the air.

So far, season 4 has been one of change given that we saw the exit of Nadine Tolliver, the arrival of Kat Sandoval, and a few other changes when it comes to the hierarchy in the State Department. The most-recent episode ended with an interesting tease or two that Elizabeth McCord may consider a Presidential run someday.

Are enough viewers seeing the story play out? There’s an interesting debate to be had on that subject. The numbers for season 4 are so far bringing in a 0.7 rating in the 18-49 demographic, which is down just over 20% from season 3. It’s down a whopping 25% in total viewers. It’s fair to be bummed out by this, but you also have to remember that there are some reasons for the drop that the numbers don’t quite indicate.

First, blame the new timeslot. Last year Madam Secretary aired at 9:00 p.m. Eastern, a much more palatable timeslot for many viewers out there who have to get up early the next day. This 10:00 p.m. slot has long been a problem for CBS — one bit of good news that Madam Secretary fans should hold onto, at least for now, is that the Madam Secretary ratings so far this season are up slightly in the demo and considerably in total viewers from the numbers Elementary posted in this same timeslot last year.

Also, consider another factor here — the NFL. Because of football overruns there are some episodes of Madam Secretary this fall not airing until after 10:30 p.m. on the East Coast. Any perceived benefit that the show was getting because of football viewers is completely negated by it airing so late at night. If this show catered more towards young people and night owls, that probably wouldn’t be the case anywhere near as much. Yet, it caters to more of an older crowd who work more traditional jobs and schedules.

Are you disappointed that there is no Madam Secretary tonight on CBS, and what are you hoping for moving forward this season? Be sure to share in the comments below! Remember that the series will start airing new episodes again on Sunday, January 7.

Also, check out the link here for some more details on what’s next! You can also like CarterMatt on Facebook for additional updates regarding the CBS drama. (Photo: CBS.)