Blue Bloods season 9 ratings expectations: How will it fare?
Moving into season 9, we definitely do think that the CBS series is in a pretty interesting spot when it comes to the numbers … and it’s certainly not a spot that it is altogether familiar with. Why is that? Well, a big part of it has to do with the fact that over the years, Blue Bloods has shown itself to be incredibly consistent, with viewers watching year in and year out without too many substantial drops. That changed in season 8.
Last year, Blue Bloods averaged a 0.9 rating in the 18-49 demographic alongside more than 9 million viewers. That’s a drop of more than 25% in the demo and also more than 13% in viewers. What in the world happened? We do think that a part of it has to do with the drop in viewership that comes with the increase of rivals like Netflix and Amazon, but another part of it may be story-related — think in terms of Linda Reagan’s exit. This is a show that relies heavily on family, and it is worth noting when one of those family members departs. It’s understandable that there are going to be some people out there who get upset over the prospect of losing someone they care about.
Ultimately, we’d like to see Blue Bloods moving into season 9 bring in a 0.8 rating in the demo and over 8 million viewers — we’re accounting for a potential drop since that almost always happens, but we are getting near the point where the viewership needs to stay reasonably steady. We’re later in the run, and with that shows tend to become more expensive. That’s probably especially true for a show like Blue Bloods that has both big names and also films in a city that is fairly expensive.
What do you think the Blue Bloods season 9 ratings should be on CBS? Be sure to share right now in the attached comments!
(Photo: CBS.)