Ratings Report: Fall Has Arrived
Network: Moving into its third episode, CBS’s Bob Hearts Abishola maintains the majority of its viewership, only facing a slight decline. September 30th’s episode had 5.364 million viewers which is an 8.87 percent decrease from the premiere. October 7th’s episode saw only a 1.29 percent decrease which amounted to 5.295 million viewers. All Rise has dropped below its initial 6 million viewer premiere. The following episode had a 6.90 percent decrease which gave the episode 5.614 million viewers. The most recent episode had a 6.07 percent decrease ending with 5.273 million viewers. Over on ABC, Mixed-ish suffered a slight decline in viewership. Despite this, the show still has not dropped below 3 million. The second episode, which occurred on October 1st, had a mild decline of 10.32 percent. The episode had 3.510 million viewers. The most recent episode only had a 2.42 percent decrease which left the show with 3.425 million viewers. There seems to be a general trend of decline in viewership which may have to do with the shows themselves or continually changing viewing habits of younger generations.
ABC
Cancelled: ABC has officially decided to cancel the hot summer drama Grand Hotel. The show began with a strong 3.685 million viewers and 5.53 million total viewers. The final viewership number was 2.172 million viewers or 3.79 million total viewers. Although there is a clear decline in viewership, the actual numbers suggests more of an ebb and flow. Sprinkled throughout its first season, there are small spikes in viewership despite an overall decline. The decline does not seem particularly large to justify a cancellation. The show was one of the few scripted series available during the summer. It was indeed a summer show and its possible the network thought it would continue to underperform more drastically in the fall or winter. Would it have performed better on a cable network? It’s difficult to know, but the ratings results would certainly have been less strenuous considering the amount of viewers that cable shows typically amass. Overall, the decision to cancel seems somewhat strange. Summer content is generally sparse and the show seemed to maintain a moderately high viewer count despite this.
Cable: Own’s David Makes Man is moving on up in viewership. October 2nd’s episode had a minor decrease of 3 percent, ending with 291,000 viewers. The most recent episode erupted with an unprecedented 27.15 percent increase giving the show a substantial and much needed boost. The latest episode had 370,000 viewers. Greenleaf continues this upward trend with its October 1st episode gaining a 9.91 percent increase in viewership. The episode had 1.076 million viewers. The following episode had a slight increase of 0.74 percent ending with 1.084 million viewers.
ETV
International: TVSA’s top rated shows for August are now available. For SABC 1, the drama Uzalo refuses to be dethroned. The show pulled 10.143 million viewers, placing it in the number one spot. Not too far behind is Generations: The Legacy with 9.238 million viewers. Skeem Saam came in third with 7.307 million viewers. Each of these shows tend to maintain their position each month which speaks to the devoted viewership each show brings in. Over on SABC 2, Muvhango holds its first place position with 5.033 million viewers. 7 De Laan returned to its second place position with 2.424 million viewers. The top rated television for ETV is the original scripted content which sits comfortably above the many American films. Scandal has stayed at the top of the list with 6.244 million viewers. Imbewu: The Seed brought in 4.276 million viewers, putting it in second place. Rhythm City came in third place with 4.274 million viewers.
The top shows in Korea for late September show strong turnouts. The top shows in Terrestrial TV (KBS2, MBC, SBS) are as follows: When The Camellia Blooms-9.1%, Vagabond-8.4%, Golden Garden-8.3%, Rookie Historian Goo Hae-Ryung-5.3%, Welcome 2 Life-5.3%, Secret Boutique-4.8%, I Wanna Hear Your Song-3.6%.
The top cable TV (JTBC, OCN, tvN) are: Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency-3.4%, Pegasus Market-3.4%, Miss Lee-2.9%, Melting Me Softly-2.8%, Strangers From Hell-2.3%, The Great Show-2.2%, Be Melodramatic-1.6%, The Running Mates: Human Rights-1.1%.
Streaming: Dennis Liu’s 2015 comic and short film Raising Dion is now available to stream on Netflix. The show stars Alisha Wainwright, Ja’Siah Morgan, Michael B. Jordan, and Jason Ritter. The show has been met with warm reviews, but still has a bit of growing to do. Critics are hopeful for a stronger second season with more careful guidance to allow important themes to be explored more fully.