Ratings Report: Nielsen Debuts 'The Gauge' Streaming Report
Melonie Diaz, Madeleine Mantock, and Sarah Jeffery - Charmed/CW
Broadcast: The CW revival of one of the best moves the network has made in recent memory is back at it again and dominating the summer charts with numbers that are almost unheard of during the rating lows of the summer. This could be due to lack of competition as most of the CW’s lineup of shows are coming to an end for the season, and the only other direct competition is CW’s other show being filmed just about a block from myself in Austin, Texas: Walker. Whatever the reason may be, Charmed, the magic infused drama about a trifecta of witch sisters who get stronger only when they are together, has proven to be a hit no matter the decade. While currently airing its third season it was quickly renewed for a fourth season after showing strong numbers, most likely after it switched from a Sunday to a Friday air-day. Then it hit a stride that is encouraging to see for the fledgling ratings of most of the CW’s programs. Filled with a cast of non-household names still having this small amount of success should be noted, even with audience satisfaction not being very high (sitting at a 36% on Rotten Tomatoes), they are still tuning in every week. Over the past two weeks Charmed has garnered an average of 400,000 viewers per episode and will air its finale on July 16th, 2021 on the CW.
Meghann Fahy, Katie Stevens, and Aisha Dee - The Bold Type/Freeform
Cable: Freeform’s critical darling about the lives of several powerful women writing for a woman’s global magazine named Scarlett as the millennials live fabulous lives in New York City as they struggle in the changing media landscape and navigate their own complicated love lives. Averaging 386,000 viewers for a Freeform series that figure could be much much worse. This show thrives and every single season of this beloved show has been lauded by every major reviewing publication upon its debut and overall each season has extremely positive reviews. The Bold Type rests in having fun revisiting the genre vacated by Sex and the City while averaging over its past two weeks 386,000 viewers on Thursday nights, but like most smaller networks nowadays has a strong presence online to cover for its dwindling live cable viewership. The Bold Type has just recently aired its finale after a shortened penultimate season due to the pandemic and its fifth season becoming its final in the wake of plummeting viewership. Vulture in particular lauded the finale and discussed every one of its loveable characters' growth and endpoint.
Michael Cimino - Love, Victor/Hulu
Streaming: Hulu has been making great strides recently with their original drama series, though this one is not entirely original. Taking the framework from the box office success Love, Simon which told the story of a gay teenager coming out to his friends and family and dealing with the fallout during his formative years. Love, Victor follows the same vein of a younger student who gets advice from Simon, as Victor is still confused with his own sexuality. The show has been showered with praise from its main cast to its direction and writing. The second season just recently released to positive reviews and with the cliffhanger season ending it is uncertain if season three will be picked up to continue Victor’s story or if it will remain unresolved after only two seasons. Love, Victor is available to stream on Hulu.
Jung Kyung Ho, Jeon Mi Do, Jo Jung Suk, Kim Dae Myung, and Yoo Yeon Seok - Hospital Playlist 2/tvN
International: Hospital Playlist 2 had a monster of a premiere for it’s second season garnering a record numbers 3.3 million viewers to be precise. Appearing in the top 10 of tvN’s premiere list of all time ratings and surpassing the popularity of the first season. Following a team of five doctors working in a hospital in the ER center after coming up and graduating in the same medical school class. The relationships develop further and the romance is put center stage this season with the drama reaching all time highs in this hit from tvN.
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News: A recent study conducted by Nielsen has concluded with certainty that 26% more than a quarter of all television being watched is on streaming services with broadcast television now narrowly being edged out by the over the top providers. This is new, but not surprising information. More families have cut the cord (mine included) with cable ages ago and still pay much less for a bevy of options for their film and TV needs. What is new is that traditional broadcast companies have decided to launch services of their own to rival the juggernauts and get their shows and films out there to be viewed. In other, not completely shocking news, Netflix leads the bunch with 6% of total viewership along with YouTube leaving Hulu, Prime Video, and Disney+ making 3%, 2%, and 1% respectively giving the last 8% to make up for all the rest combined. Think Crunchyroll, Paramount+, ESPN+ and many others. This is large in part due to the pandemic which has allowed streaming services to expand as many people embraced streaming more while quarantined at home. The ease of on-demand viewing with large libraries of television and film to go through and with the sheer volume of different services that allow any and almost anything made within the past 30 years to be viewed within seconds is astonishing. This has convinced Nielsen that this is the new norm and they will be updating and covering the rise of streaming and its performance from this point on releasing a new look at the numbers every month called The Gauge.
POC Series Viewership
Notes: Ratings calculated based on the average of the last two episodes. Series featured are U.S. Based and must have at least one or more Non-white characters in main or leading roles.
