Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists ratings sink in episode 2
Wednesday’s new episode drew just a 0.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic and only 235,000 viewers, a pretty steep drop-off from the premiere. This is a sign that either a bunch of people caught the first episode and didn’t particularly love it, or that a number of people decided that they’d rather watch it on their DVR. It’s for the latter reason that we can’t rule out The Perfectionists just yet despite the lower-than-anticipated ratings — we are talking here about a demographic that doesn’t watch a lot of traditional television. These are people who like to stream after the fact and view things on their own terms. That means that well over half of the show’s viewers are probably not watching it live within just a week’s span alone.
Of course, with this said the streaming numbers are going to be pretty incredible in order to keep this show around. Freeform in general is at an interesting crossroads at the moment, largely in that they’ve gotta figure out where to find their next big hits at a time in which television is overall fairly saturated. They managed to find two solid shows last year in Siren as well as Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger, but they are ending Shadowhunters and with Good Trouble, we can’t say that the numbers are incredible even if there is a core group of people who are watching it and enjoying it.
In the end, we do think that one of the best things that they could do for themselves is try to find a way to put some more episodes of their show online for everyone … but that’s probably not possible since it would invalidate the cost of a Freeform or cable subscription at large. They’re kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place, and they are going to have to figure this out in the event that they want to eventually make it to the other side and get that renewal so many people are hoping to see. Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists did already miss a golden opportunity to get a renewal earlier this week at a network summit, one where the return dates for Siren as well as grown-ish were announced.
For now, let’s just put a pin in the future of the show, and try to see some of where things go in the present. If there are enough shocking twists, or the series finds more of an audience interested in watching live, maybe it will be easier to have some more optimism in the future.
For some more news when it comes to the ratings…
Be sure to visit the link here for our full take on the premiere numbers!
Do you still think that there’s a chance for Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists to turn it around? Be sure to share right now in the comments. (Photo: Freeform.)