The Arrow-verse Crossover Delivers Diminishing Ratings Returns
The CW aired the four-series crossover “Crisis on Earth X” earlier this week, and that resulted in a boost to the ratings for all of its Arrow-verse shows, but not nearly as much as what they saw last year at this same time. In 2016 when the characters from the four shows came together, the lift to the ratings was notable with all shows at season highs and a combined 72% boost to their season average ratings as you can see in the chart below.
2016 Crossover Ratings:
This year, the crossover also delivered a lift to the show’s ratings vs. their season-to-date averages, but not nearly as high at only 51% across all four series. Of course, they are starting behind because they are all down in the ratings year-over-year by an average of 16%. But the lift from the mean just wasn’t as much this time around, and The Flash‘s crossover episode did not even match its season high (which was the 1.1 score it pulled for its Season 4 premiere). And the combined crossover ratings were down 27% year-over-year.
2017 Ratings Comparison:
This is just another sign of the impact of the Ratings-pocalypse as Peak TV continues to fracture the audience and same day viewing continues to declines (which is bleeding over to delayed viewing as well). I believe that some of this can be attributed to superhero-burnout, but it follows overall trends as well, so that is not the only issue here. How much longer the broadcast networks (as well as the cable channels) can remain viable with these dwindling viewership numbers remains to be seen. And the fact is that numbers typically drop even further in the Spring, so ratings have definitely not bottomed out for the season yet.
Netflix Gives Stranger Things Official Nod for a Third Season
The streaming giant Netflix confirmed today that their hit paranormal series Stranger Things will be returning for a third season. Of course, we have pretty much know that for a while. Back in August, the Duffer brothers–the show creators–indicated that the third season was pretty much a given and that a fourth (and possibly a fifth) season is likely as well. The announcement today just gives the official rubberstamp to that third season renewal. That show’s second season was released in October and it continues to draw a large audience to the streaming service (as confirmed by Nielsen). So expect this one to stick around at least a couple more years if not longer.
Ratings Results of Interest: Gotham Slips on Thursday
On Thursday, FOX’s Gotham slipped to a 0.8 rating based on the same day viewing for the demo with 2.6 million total viewers (according to the preliminaries), its lowest numbers of the season. That is another superhero show that is facing challenges this season as the viewership continues to contract. At the 9 PM hour, The Orville held steady with its last new episode at a 0.9 rating with 3.6 million total viewers, but that is below what it has been averaging this season. Over on The CW, Supernatural improved from last week’s Thanksgiving Day low with a 0.5 rating and 1.7 million total viewers, but it is below its season average as well. On Wednesday, USA’s Mr. Robot only managed a 0.17 rating with 444K total viewers as it also feels the pressure of the late Fall slump. The ratings for the Arrow-verse entries are detailed above and most of the other genre shows were in repeats or were preempted for the week.
Be sure to follow my weekly Sci-Fi TV Status Report column on Tuesdays which tracks the ratings results and renewal/cancellation prospects of the currently airing sci fi and fantasy shows. And you can get the latest ratings results at the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site.
From The Sci Fi TV Site:
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