It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s . . . Krypton’s Ratings!
Syfy’s Superman prequel series Krypton had its debut on Wednesday and posted a 0.42 rating based on same day viewing for the 18-49 demographic with 1.3 million total viewers. And while coming in at below half a ratings point may not seem like much of an accomplishment to some, that is the highest ratings score the network has seen for one of its scripted shows over the past year. Happy! bowed in December with a 0.40 score, and The Magicians returned for its third season in January posting a 0.30 rating. So Krypton is currently soaring over all of the rest of Syfy’s original offerings. Of course, comic book / superhero TV series tend to have strong debuts as they draw a fair number of curious onlookers, then they typically trend downward after the premiere. We saw that with Happy! (which is based on the Grant Morrison comic) after its numbers dropped by more than half for its second episode, and we have also seen that over the past few years with shows like Agents of SHIELD, Gotham, and Supergirl when it aired on CBS (in contrast, The CW’s superhero offerings tend to be more steady with their viewership). But if Krypton holds above a 0.20 rating, which I believe it will based on the positive feedback it has been getting, then it should be a lock for a second season renewal. This is a high-profile series for Syfy, and I am guessing they want to try an keep it around for a while. We will see how this one trends over the coming weeks, but it definitely looks like the network has found success with another comic book based show after Happy! performed relatively well in its first year.
Ratings Results of Interest: Shadowhunters Returns Down
On Tuesday, Freeform’s Shadowhunters returned with it Season 3 premiere and posted a 0.19 rating based on same day viewing for the 18-49 demographic with 490K total viewers. That was down by half from its second season premiere which posted a 0.38 score and also down from its season average from last year. Freeform’s shows have been struggling of late, so it is hard to say if this is good or bad at this point. But Shadowhunters demonstrated that it had a loyal fanbase over the past seasons, so they need to get active on the social networks to bring this show more attention.
On Wednesday, FOX’s The X-Files improved slightly to a 0.9 rating with 3.4 million total viewers for its season finale. All indications are that this is also the series finale, and it has not pulled strong enough ratings this year for FOX to be that interested in bringing it back. On Thursday, FOX’s Gotham improved slightly from the series low it posted last week as it pulled a 0.7 rating with 2.4 million total viewers. There is no guarantee that one will be back for a fifth season, and FOX may have to think long and hard about it if it stays around these levels.
Be sure to follow the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for the latest results and to stay tuned as we approach the countdown to season end in May. Ratings Source: ShowBuzzDaily
