USA moves Briarpatch away from The Sinner season 3
In a new post on Twitter, showrunner Andy Greenwald confirmed that the Rosario Dawson series is moving from Thursdays following The Sinner to Mondays at 11:00 p.m. Eastern time. It’s an unusual move to air a scripted drama series outside of primetime, but as Greenwald notes, this move has more to do with a potential ratings opportunity than USA trying to bury the show. The truth is that wrestling is some of the network’s most-popular programming and the network wants to do what it can to boost the numbers.
So far, the numbers for Briarpatch are far from stellar — season 1 has averaged a 0.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic and more than 400,000 live viewers a week. It’s probably getting more DVR viewers, but it just needs a larger pool of potential people willing to check it out. The problem with new network/cable shows in 2020 is that there are SO many options — it’s hard in order to get a show to stand out. With streaming options, cord-cutters, and difficult timeslots, there are only so many ways to get attention. Maybe this move does help, even if you are dependent on viewers staying up a little bit of late.
In general, we do think that USA is facing a somewhat-uncertain future when it comes to its lineup of scripted programming. The ratings for season 3 of The Sinner are down, Suits and Mr. Robot are over, and while Queen of the South is still going strong, this is a network that needs more hits. This may explain on some level why they’re willing to take some risks. This is a chance to make something happen here — and if you do have that enormous wrestling audience, it does make sense to come up with some good ways in order to use them.
Are you enjoying Briarpatch season 1 at the moment?
Are you worried about the move? Be sure to share in the comments, and also remember to stick around for some more news. (Photo: USA.)