Ratings Report: ‘Lovecraft Country’ Debuts With Ratings Increases

Broadcast: On August 12, Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD ended its seven-season long journey at ABC. Having traveled through time and space, Agents of SHIELD have lost its initial power among the audience over the past two seasons. The final two-episode finale had 1.461 million total viewers, 16.88 percent increase from previous episode, and 350,000 in the 18-49 demo, 34.62 percent increase from the week before. The airing of the finale ended with the highest ratings of the season. 

Cable: Over at Showtime, The Chi wrapped up its third season with underwhelming turnout in the demo, only 100,000 viewers from age 18-49, the lowest of in the season; It had 382,000 viewers in total, slightly under the season average. HBO’s I May Destroy You has one of the best season finale this summer, with 121,000 total viewers and 50,000 in the demo, both close to the season average. As we bid farewell to I May Destroy You, HBO introduces us to a new horror series, Lovecraft Country. It premiered on August 16 and averaged 230,000 viewers in the demo and 814,000 total viewers in the past two weeks.

International: Over in Korea, for the week of August 17-23, the viewership ratings are as followed: Once Again (KBS)-32.7%; The Good Detective (JTBC)-6.75%; Forest of Secrets 2 (tvN)-6.7%; Graceful Friends (JTBC)-4.4%; Flower of Evil (tvN)-3.7%; Memorials (KBS)-2.9%; When I Was the Most Beautiful (MBC)-2.65%; Was It Love (JTBC)-1.75%.

In the UK, Coronation Street is once again the most watched series with 6,654,000 viewers, followed by Emmerdale with 5,343,000 viewers.

New Cable: HBO’s original horror series Lovecraft Country premiered on August 16, starring Jurnee Smollett-Bell and Jonathan Majors. Created by Misha Green, Lovecraft Country is a new take on Lovecraftian lores told with Black voices. The audience is praising Green for this series skillfully reflecting on brutalization and violence of being Black in this country. The “visceral, exciting and polished” series scored a 73% with the audience on Rotten Tomatoes.