Ratings: Survivor: Ghost Island beats Modern Family, 911; Designated Survivor in trouble

There are a lot of different things worth discussing from Wednesday night, but let’s start with the Survivor: Ghost Island premiere ratings — which, unsurprisingly, were very impressive for a series airing its 36th season.

The first hour of the two-part premiere last night ended up drawing (in total) a 1.8 rating in the 18-49 demographic and also close to 8.6 million viewers. While the numbers dropped slightly for the second hour the first marks the best start to a Survivor season since Millennials vs. Gen X in the fall of 2016. Consider this to be a testament to a number of different things, whether it be an appealing title and having all-new players. (We don’t really think returnees move the needle all the much anymore.)

Survivor ended up winning the night Wednesday, and when you think about the television lineup the next few weeks we don’t anticipate that changing much at all until Empire comes back to the air a little bit later.

Elsewhere, the other big winner is 911, which continues to perform very well even on the other side of a hiatus. Its 1.5 rating was strong enough to easily allow it to be the second-most-popular show on the night.

Is Designated Survivor doomed?

If CarterMatt were to look at the future of the ABC show based solely on what it is bringing in so far, it looks like it’s going to be in trouble. With just a 0.6 rating for its midseason premiere, (and that’s with the buzz of Alex Kirkman’s death) it feels as though the odds of there being another season of the show at this point are fairly close to slim unless some sort of miracle happens and everything starts to dramatically change over the remainder of the season.

We do have slight concerns elsewhere — SEAL Team drew just a 0.8 for an episode that aired at 10:00 p.m. Eastern — but for now, Designated Survivor is the show that has us the most concerned for its future.

What do you think about the Survivor: Ghost Island premiere ratings, and the state of Wednesday night’s performance as a whole? Be sure to share right now in the comments!

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