Ratings: ‘Hannibal’ season 3, ‘Mistresses,’ ‘Under the Dome,’ ‘Beauty and the Beast’ all at lows

It was pretty easy to telegraph the that Thursday night was not going to be a particular great one when it comes to the ratings. After all, there were only two days between this and the Fourth of July, and there is a mass tendency for viewers to be off doing a variety of other things on the holiday rather than sitting around and looking at what TV ratings are going to be.

So as a whole, we really cannot say that we’re shocked that the majority of new programming last night actually ended up posting series-low numbers. Let’s begin with “Hannibal,” which continues to struggle following its NBC cancellation. Last night, it posted only a 0.4 rating in the 18-49 demographic. After looking that the equally bad ratings for “Mistresses” (0.6) and “Rookie Blue” (0.6), we could see a complete bloodletting when it comes to summer programming.

Why are so many people bailing on these shows? It’s because it’s summer, and it is also because there are so many other ways to watch TV now rather than just sitting down live. That’s why these numbers are so deceptive, and we’re someone who chooses to watch many things no on network players or Hulu after the fact. Those things still matter since they are monetized, but are harder to chart.

Also last night, “Under the Dome” slid to a series low 1.0 rating (no surprise there), while “Beauty and the Beast” matched the 0.2 it has scored previously. These numbers are enormously disappointing for networks no matter how you look at them, but at least the latter show has already been renewed. There’s a little less to worry about there.