Bull season 3, Legends of Tomorrow winning big in DVR ratings

We’ve said many times over the years that live+same-day viewing is the most important way to judge a show’s success or failure. Yet, at the same time there is always a little something more that is a part of the equation. That is the case here with Bull, such as it seems to be right now for Legends of Tomorrow.

Related Video – Check out one of our latest ratings discussions regarding Bull at the bottom of this article! remember that you can also subscribe to CarterMatt on YouTube for more scoop and be sure to visit our official Ratings Watch playlist for more.

According to a new report via Forbes today, it was revealed that Bull averages 4.9 million DVR viewers weekly this season in live+7 numbers. (For those unaware, live+7 includes seven days’ worth of DVR viewing.) That means that Bull has the fifth-best DVR audience on network TV behind such established hits as Manifest, The Good Doctor, This Is Us, and New Amsterdam. All of those shows are considered to be hits, and we don’t think that it’s any coincidence that three of them all air at the same time — Mondays at 10:00 p.m. Eastern. This is a signal that viewers are interested in more than one show in that timeslot and are having to pick and choose.

For Bull, though, this news is great since it helps to squash any fears that were out there about the show’s future — while the live ratings are down for season 2, remember that it’s airing on a new night, without as strong of a lead-in, and also in what is obviously a super-competitive timeslot. It is clearly going to be just fine — even if it was in greater danger — syndication will help to push it forward towards a season 3.

Now, this brings us to Legends of Tomorrow, a show that is pulling off a feat that is absolutely incredible in its own right. This is a show that is actually averaging more DVR viewers weekly than it is live viewers — this is the only show on the air at the moment that is doing this, at least for network TV. The next closest series to this is ABC’s A Million Little Things. We’ve admittedly been worried about the future for Legends of Tomorrow for a while, but with DVR ratings like this, can this show really be in any danger? It’s hard to think of the justification.

So why are so many of these shows with big DVR numbers new? A part of that may be due to investment. Nobody is so involved in them just yet that there is pressure to watch live in fear of being spoiled. The viewing habits could change a couple of years down the line — or possibly not in this current era, where more and more viewers are turning to streaming services.

What do you think about the DVR output for some of these shows? Be sure to share right now in the attached comments. (Photo: CBS.)