Ratings Bubble Report: Looking towards Madam Secretary and its possible season 5 future
Should Madam Secretary be renewed? We’re not even speaking here from a biased point of view when we say that it should. This may be a show that does face some various hurdles and roadblocks, but at the same time there are reasons why CBS should want to keep it around beyond just making its viewers happy.
Understanding the latest Madam Secretary season 4 ratings
The series is averaging to date a 0.7 rating in the 18-49 demographic plus also close to 6.2 million viewers. While these live ratings are down around 25% in both measurements versus the third season, there are two major caveats to consider. For one, Madam Secretary is airing an hour later than it did during season 3, and at times it has been forced to premiere at around 10:30 p.m. Eastern because of NFL football. Also, it has a worse lead-in than it did in the past; it’s still NCIS: Los Angeles, but with that show not supported as well by a lead-in its ratings are also down.
One other thing worth noting: Madam Secretary is up a few tenths of a point in the demo versus how Elementary performed in this same timeslot last year; meanwhile, it’s drawing a larger audience by more than a million people a week.
Why Madam Secretary could be renewed for season 5
As referenced, year-to-year timeslot growth is important, but there’s also something else going on here that is extremely beneficial to Madam Secretary as a whole — syndication. This is a show that can start to sell of its episodes in a wide array of different forms, and that’s essential towards its long-term stability on the network. While it may not feature an iconic character like Sherlock Holmes for Elementary or come from a franchise like NCIS, we do think there is a constant interest in politics and the show’s non-partisan nature helps it to be appealing to most people who are out there.
Why Madam Secretary could be canceled
Maybe the international sales or revenue aren’t as high as Elementary — everyone seemed to be aware that the ratings for the Jonny Lee Miller series last year were far from great, but it was brought back because of how much money it was making in other venues. Unless Madam Secretary is doing something similar there could be some trouble it’s facing in the near future.
Beyond that, there is of course another concern just in that it’s one of CBS’ lowest-rated shows regularly on the schedule. While Wisdom of the Crowd is almost certainly a goner, there isn’t any other drama series on the schedule we feel all that bad about.
Related – Breaking down the surprising Madam Secretary departure
Our verdict: Madam Secretary is a show to be concerned about, but it should pull a renewal off
The worst-case scenario we see for the show is a shortened season 5 similar to what Elementary has for season 6. The problem in canceling it is that it’s not like CBS has some other show buried underneath the surface that is going to somehow perform better in its timeslot. This is just not a place where shows tend to perform well. Keeping a known quantity around is good for stability and with whispers of a possible Elizabeth McCord Presidential run, there’s also a good story for season 5 / down the road planted.
Do you think Madam Secretary will be renewed? Share in the comments or the attached poll!
Meanwhile, be sure to like CarterMatt on Facebook to receive more updates on Madam Secretary and other shows we cover. (Photo: CBS.)