FBI ratings plunge without NCIS; The Conners season 1 finale rises
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Let’s start things off here with this — clearly, FBI is still fairly ratings-dependent on airing after new episodes of NCIS. It has performed rather well in tandem with that show, but without it last night, it posted a 0.8 rating in the 18-49 demographic and just over 7.3 million viewers. These are the lowest ratings we’ve seen for the show in both measures, and it’s really not all that close.
We still don’t think that there is any reason to sound an alarm about a potential cancellation though — mostly because the original plan here had nothing really to do with airing new episodes of FBI or NCIS: New Orleans (which also posted a 0.8) last night. This was a contingency plan that came about because of a Presidential Address earlier this month. CBS had to air new episodes of these shows last night in order to ensure that all three shows kept the same exact pace.
We were rather surprised in some ways that FBI fell as hard as it did, but there was a more pleasant surprise elsewhere — Roswell, New Mexico kept the entirety of its 0.4 rating that it had for the premiere. It didn’t get off to the greatest start in the history of The CW, but in looking at that performance, you do have a reason to have hope for its future.
One other weird thing comes courtesy of The Gifted, which actually posted better ratings last night (led by a 0.5) following a repeat of Lethal Weapon than it did following some recent new episodes. This shows that these two shows are virtually independent of each other.
Good news for The Conners
Last night’s season finale generated a 1.5 rating in the demo, which allows it to go out on a high note — while it wasn’t the top-rated show of the night (that went to This Is Us with a 1.9), this is still a great performance for a show that was largely a toss-up without Roseanne Barr in the cast. Discussions for season 2 are still underway and it seems, at least for now, like it’s something that could end up happening.
Related News – Check out some more news regarding FBI, including more details on what’s ahead
What do you think about the ratings for Tuesday night’s primetime lineup? Be sure to share right now in the attached comments. (Photo: CBS.)