Ratings: ‘Nikita’ season 3 hits high, easily improves season 4 chances

“Nikita” fans may not be the largest support base out of any show on TV, but they are clearly one of the most passionate. They have stuck by the show despite time and night changes, and their support on Friday night may have been the big boost The CW needed to order another season of the show.

For the first time all season long, the Maggie Q drama soared Friday on its way to a 0.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic, which for the same of comparison is the same sort of number that “The Carrie Diaries” and “Gossip Girl” have drawn on the network on Monday nights. (In other words, “Nikita” does not look so bad by comparison.) Did the show have some things going in its favor this week? It aired against almost entire repeats, and in February it will have much more of a challenge again when everything else picks back up.

Nonetheless, we have said ever since May that if “Nikita” received a third season, it would likely receive a fourth just to make to it to the 88 episodes that the syndication gods like to smile at. Plus, there’s not much else on The CW’s lineup (save for maybe “Supernatural”) that they would be both willing to move to Fridays and would perform this well. It’s better to just take a somewhat-consistent viewership now, develop the rest of your schedule, and give “Nikita” a proper send-off a little later to make good for your fans.

While you can mock The CW for having bad ratings across the board, this is one thing that they respect: they do try to allow shows to reach a creative conclusion. For examples, see “Gossip Girl,” “Smallville,” “One Tree Hill,” and possibly what they are going to do with “90210” next year. The only real exception to the rule last year was “The Secret Circle,” and that ended due to a sharp ratings drop that the network did not predict.

What do you think about the “Nikita” ratings gain? If you want to read up on what The CW has planned for pilot season at the moment, you can do so here.

Photo: The CW