Ratings Report: ‘NCIS: Hawaii’ sees a surge in viewership, ‘Ginny & Georgia’ kicks off its sophomore effort with impressive audience engagement
Broadcast: NCIS: Hawai’i returned from its holiday hiatus on Monday, Jan. 9 in a new 9:00 PM EST/PST time slot and was rewarded with a major uptick in viewership. The tenth episode of the show’s second season rang in the new year by reaching nearly 3 million more viewers than its previous installment. Whereas this season’s ninth episode garnered a 0.34 rating with adults 18-49 (A18-49) and measured 4.52 million viewers overall, the tenth episode managed a 0.52 A18-49 rating and raked in an impressive 7.36 million total viewers. The mid-season boost comes after NCIS: Hawai’i moved time slots on CBS from 10:00 PM to 9:00 PM and marks a substantial increase in ratings for a season that has thus far averaged about 5.07 million viewers per episode.
NCIS: Hawai’i was created by Matt Bosack (SEAL Team, Warrior Nun), Jan Nash (NCIS: New Orleans, Rizzoli & Isles), and Christopher Silber (NCIS, CSI: NY). The show marks the fourth iteration in CBS’ hit NCIS franchise and follows a group of naval investigators solving major crimes in the Hawaiian island. The series stars Vanessa Lachey (Disaster Movie, Truth Be Told), Noah Mills (2 Broke Girls, Sex and the City 2), Alex Tarrant (Night Raiders, 800 Words), Jason Antoon (Minority Report, Two Weeks Notice), Yasmine Al-Bustami (The Originals, The Chosen), and Tori Anderson (Killjoys, No Tomorrow). NCIS: Hawai’i airs Mondays on CBS at 9:00 PM EST/PST.
Cable: Tyler Perry’s Sistas returned from its midseason break on Wednesday Jan. 4 with the twelfth episode of season 5 earning a 0.216 A18-49 rating and counting 1.014 million total viewers. In contrast, the episode from Dec. 21 garnered a 0.208 A18-49 rating and measured just over a million viewers overall. The steady audience engagement enjoyed by the BET comedy drama is also evident in the current season's 94% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. The series chronicles the private lives of a group of single Black women from all walks of life as they set out to find love in the modern world. Sistas was created by powerhouse executive producer Tyler Perry whose previous work in television includes long-running hits like House of Payne, The Haves and the Have Nots, and Love Thy Neighbor. The main cast features Kj Smith (Fatal Affair, The Family Business), Mignon (Sister Code, Furthest From), Ebony Obsidian (Hunters, If Beale Street Could Talk), and Novi Brown (The First Noelle, Alone in the Dark). Sistas airs on Wednesdays on BET at 9:00 PM EST/8:00 PM CT.
Streaming: Netflix released the second season of its mother-daughter coming-of-age drama Ginny & Georgia on Jan. 5 and rapidly rose to the number one spot on the platform’s most watched English language show chart. The series follows Ginny, a fifteen year old girl, as she faces the struggles of growing up while navigating her complex relationship with her thirty year old mother. In its first three days on Netflix, season 2 garnered 180.47 million hours in global viewership. The release of the show’s sophomore run also brought renewed interest to the first season, which also made its debut on the most watched list for the week of Jan. 2-8 at fifth place, raking in 44.37 hours of global engagement. Considering how much traction this season has gotten in its first week alone, it seems likely fans will be getting a third installment in the future.
Ginny & Georgia stands as the first writing and producing credit for series creator Sarah Lambert. Antonia Gentry (Candy Jar, Raising Dion) and Brianne Howey (The Passage, Plus One) lead the cast as daughter Ginny Miller and mother Georgia Miller, respectively. The cast also includes Jennifer Robertson (Schitt’s Creek, Twitches), Felix Mallard (All the Bright Places, Neighbours), Sara Waisglass (Holly Hobbie, Tainted), Scott Porter (Speed Racer, Dear John), Raymond Ablack (Narcos, Orphan Black), Katie Douglas (Every Day, Spooksville), and Chelsea Clarke (EZRA, The Protector). Both seasons of the hour-long comedy drama are available to stream on Netflix.
Samela Tyelbooi - Generations: The Legacy
International: South Africa’s top performing scripted drama programs witnessed a decline in ratings between November and December across all major networks. On SABC1, popular drama Uzalo counted 5.19 million viewers and earned a 13.41% audience rating (AR) for its Dec. 1 episode whereas its Nov. 3 episode measured 5.67 million viewers and received a 14.66% AR. Generations the Legacy and Skeem Saam— the networks second and third most popular programs— tallied 4.10 million and 3.58 million viewers, respectively, for their highest performing episodes of December. SABC2’s Muvhango also took a hit in audience engagement, dropping from 1.73 million viewers on Nov. 15 to 1.55 million viewers on Dec. 29. On the privately owned broadcaster eTV, the Dec. 1 episode of Scandal drew 4.07 million viewers and received a 10.38% AR and the Dec. 1 episode of House of Zwide counted 3.12 million viewers and garnered a 8.07% AR. Measurements for both programs fall short of November’s ratings on the network. One notable exception to last month’s downward trend is DStv’s Gomora, which earned a 2.22% AR on Nov. 9 and a 2.36% AR on Dec. 1. This ratings boost was also evident in sheer audience volume, which jumped from roughly 859,000 viewers to over 912,000 viewers. The second most popular series from DStv, Diep City, didn’t harness the same surge in engagement as Gomora, yielding a 1.43% AR in December in contrast to a 1.61% AR in November. The Broadcast Research Association of South Africa (BCRSA) releases limited ratings information every month for SABC1, SABC2, SABC3, eTV, and DStv.
