Ratings: ‘Crossbones’ off to so-so start for NBC, defeats ‘Hannibal’ finale

Did anyone expect “Crossbones” to be a smash hit on NBC? We doubt it. This is a summer show airing on a Friday night, which is as conducive for success as an ice cream store hosting a grand opening at Christmastime. It’s hard to find success there.

With all this being said, the show had a slightly better debut that we were expecting. While a 1.1 in the 18-49 demographic is not amazing by any means, it is the highest ratings NBC has gotten in the timeslot in a few months. It defeated the “Hannibal” finale, and managed to amass a nice total viewership of almost 5 million (the show skewed much older than the Bryan Fuller series).

The problem with all of this? There’s a big chance that these viewers will drift away at sea. “Hannibal” has a loyal audience who checks it out week in and week out, and we wouldn’t be shocked if next week “Crossbones” falls to a 0.8 or so.  The premiere was pretty to look at and had its moments (read our review here), but it failed to provide that gripping TV you need in order to convince prospective viewers to stay home rather than go out and do other things on the night.

The biggest test for the show will come around week three, and it it is consistently still drawing a number between 0.8 and 1.0, we’ll say that it has a shot of getting renewed if NBC wants more of it. Otherwise, it’ll be walking the plant later this summer just as “Dracula” was permanently shoved back in its coffin.

We will have some more ratings updates on all of this later, so be on the lookout for that! Also, sign up today to get a storm of TV news sent to your email every Sunday.

Photo: NBC