Ratings: The strength of Criminal Minds, Survivor, Law & Order: SVU

In this edition of Wednesday ratings we’re celebrating strength in consistency for Criminal Minds, Survivor, and more. One of the things that most major television networks want to see in 2017 is that their shows are going to perform well and withstand whatever is thrown at them. It’s great to get big ratings one week, but can you keep that steady for 22 episodes over a season? We’re getting some good examples of that in the latest numbers.

Criminal Minds – We want to start here just because it was so easy to dog the crime drama for having its lowest-rated premiere episode ever earlier this fall. Yet, this is a show that moved to a later timeslot, and expectations are naturally lower because of that.

The crime procedural drew a 1.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic last night, and so far this show has managed to hit this threshold four straight weeks. In the 2017-18 season, CBS only saw a performance like this four times all season in this timeslot. The season 13 premiere rating was the best for the network since February 2016. Criminal Minds has matched its previous rating for the past two weeks, and so long as this continues it’s hard to see the show going anywhere.

Also, it’s worth noting that Criminal Minds actually performed better last night than its lead-in SEAL Team with a 1.0 — we’re starting to wonder why CBS went ahead and gave the show a full season given this recent performance.

Law & Order: SVU – Meanwhile, the long-running crime series also performed rather well on its way to drawing a 1.2 rating, which is even to what it had the week before. SVU, 19 seasons in, is still NBC’s top-performing Wednesday show at the moment. At one point we weren’t sure it would match the original Law & Order and make it all the way to that impressive 20-season mark, but we’re now starting to very much feel as though it’s possible.

Survivor – Finally, let’s spend a moment here at CarterMatt discussing the reality juggernaut. With a 1.7 rating last night the show is staying pretty steady week to week, and despite being on the air almost as long as SVU it’s still performing amazingly well! It’s also very close to dethroning Empire at this point for #1 in its timeslot. There was a time in which Empire was virtually unstoppable; now, it’s come back to earth and is simply a solid entry in Fox’s overall schedule.

Why do you think Criminal Minds, Survivor, and Law & Order: SVU are showing such great longevity at the moment? Share some of your thoughts on that subject below!

(Photo: NBC.)