‘The Blacklist’ shatters DVR record for NBC, proves most people are still watching

After the ratings for “The Blacklist” dropped a decent number in between the premiere and this past episode, the critics rushed out from their little critic-caves with all sorts of commentary about how this was the signal that this was the show becoming “Revolution” 2.0. The ratings were only high because of “The Voice,” nobody cared after the premiere, and that the series was good, but not good enough to last. These were some of the excuses thrown around to suggest why NBC had failed yet again to get a series that would have some sort of long-standing viewership.

Well, we have learned now that most of the viewers watching “The Blacklist” for the premiere last week did actually stick around … they just didn’t watch the second episode live. The show has surged up to a 5.0 rating in the 18-49 demographic for the live+3 measure, which for TV newbies is “live plus 3 days of viewing.”  Basically, it was only a tenth off of the premiere number when you consider this data. This is pretty amazing for a brand new scripted drama and the network has to be happy with these kind of numbers.

In terms of viewership, “The Blacklist” is the first show in broadcast history to gain five million viewers courtesy of folks watching after the fact, which brought it to 16.4 million vs. 16.9 million for the premiere when you look at the same measure.

Might this be a reason why the show was already handed a full-season order? You better believe it. While episode 2 was hardly jump-out-of-your-chair awesome, it was solid, and we’re getting more and more of a feel for what this show will be. Every week, there will be some case where James Spader makes the government look like a bunch of idiots; then, Liz will learn something new about her past and about her guy who was supposedly so sweet and gentle.

Photo: NBC