Ratings Report: ‘The Wonder Years’ Reconnects With Its Fans And ‘Never Have I ever’ Finishes Strong
Broadcast: After spending over a year off the air, The Wonder Years returns for its second season with satisfying results. Its season 2 premiere, which aired June 14th on ABC, brought in a total of 2.094 million viewers with a rating of 0.67. When compared to the previous season’s finale, the series saw a slight increase in viewership by a total of 40,000. However; where the series saw a decline was in its viewers in the P18-49 group. This key demographic had a 0.33 rating in last year’s finale with a total of 431,000 viewers, whereas the season 2 premiere saw its rating drop to 0.22 with a P19-49 viewership of 290,000. Episode 2 aired on June 21st and demonstrated a growth in viewership with an increase in both total viewers and viewers in the 18-49 age group, rising to 1.896 million and 326,300 respectively.
The Wonder Years is a remake of the original 1988 series by the same name. The key difference between these two series is that the original focused on a White suburban family, whereas this reimagined remake focuses on the life of a Black middle class family. Set in Montgomery, Alabama during the late 1960’s, this rebooted series tells the story of the Williams family from the perspective of their twelve year old son, Dean, as portrayed by Elisha Williams. Dule Hill (Psych, The West Wing, Suits) plays Dean’s father, Bill Williams, and Don Cheadle (Crash, Hotel Rwanda, Avengers: Infinity War) serves as the series’ narrator as well as Dean’s future self. By utilizing the power of nostalgia and touching on topics and discussions that were rarely covered in the time in which its set, The Wonder Years may just be able to hold its place amongst ABC’s lineup for seasons to come. The Wonder Years was created by Saladin K. Patterson who has written on such shows as Psych, The Bernie Mac Show, and Frasier.
Cable: Tyler Perry’s Sistas continues to perform well and maintain its status as BET’s #1 most popular series as it progresses further into its sixth season. Episode 3, which aired June 14th, managed to just surpass a million viewers with 1.014 million and a rating of 0.32. Its P18-49 demographic pulled in a total of 274,100 viewers with a rating of 0.21. Episode 4, which aired the following week on June 21st, saw a slight dip with the total viewers dropping to 981,000 with a rating of 0.31. Viewership in the P18-49 group, however, remained consistent, pulling in the same exact numbers as the previous week with 274,100 viewers. Its this consistent viewership that makes Sistas such an appealing series for BET.
Sistas follows a group of single friends living in Atlanta, Georgia who support one another as they each navigate their own dating lives as well as their careers. It is one of the many projects developed by Tyler Perry and his production company that aim to create Black centric content for a primarily Black audience. In addition to Sistas, Tyler Perry currently has four other series airing on BET. These include House of Payne, Assisted Living, The Oval, and most recently Zatima, which serves as a direct spin-off to Sistas. Sistas first premiered on October 23rd of 2019. It found immediate success with its audience and after only four short years is already well into its sixth season. Its success can likely be attributed to its relatable themes that demonstrate an understanding of its primary audience, and its ability to transcend genres throughout any given episode. With stories that tap into a wide range of emotions, some episodes will make an audience laugh, some will make them cry, and some will make them do both. Sistas main cast consists of Kj Smith (Power Book III, The Family Business, Fatal Affair), Ebony Obsidian (Wu-Tang: An American Saga, Hunters, If Beale Street Could Talk), and Devale Ellis (A Christmas Fumble, Single Black Female, Bigger).
Streaming: First released on Netflix on June 10th of 2023, Never Have I Ever returns for its fourth and final season. Following the trend of its previous seasons, season four continues to top the streaming charts. The week of June 12th to 18th saw the new season hold the #1 spot with a total of 56.400 million hours streamed. Additionally, the release of the new season has reignited interest in the earlier seasons, with both season one and three finding their way onto Netflix’s top 10 as well. During the week of June 19th to 25th a dip in hours viewed was recorded, dropping to 24.600 million hours. Additionally the season fell to the #2 spot on the Netflix Top 10. However, with it’s third straight week on the Top 10 list (Since the seaon was released) there is plenty of reason to claim the final outting as a hit.
Never Have I Ever first released on April 27th of 2020 with a 10 episode season. Loosely based on the life of one its creators, Mindy Kaling (The Mindy Project, The Sex Lives of College Girls, Four Weddings and a Funeral), the series is about a first-generation Indian-American teenage girl living in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles who must face all the challenges of high school while dealing with the sudden death of her father. With its emotional yet comedic story, a diverse cast that is relfective of the contemporary societal landscape, and its universal coming of age themes, the series is able to resonate with a wide range of audiences, becoming one of Netflix’s most popular shows. Never Have I Ever stars Maitreyi Ramakrishnan (Turning Red, My Little Pony: Make Your Mark), Darren Barnet (Love Hard, Gran Turismo), and Poorna Jagannathan (The Night Of, Big Little Lies, Ramy).
South Africa: For the month of May, three of South Africa's most popular series continue to do impressive numbers. Found on SABC 1, one of South Africa’s most popular networks, are Uzalo, Skeem Saam, and Generations: The Legacy, which yielded 5.424 million, 4.764 million, and 4.512 million viewers respectively. Over on SABC 2, Muvhango and 7de Laan saw 1.391 million and 987,682 viewers respectively. On ETV its two most popular series saw ratings comparable to its competition over at SABC 1, with Scandal and House of Zwide pulling in 4.678 million and 3.759 million viewers respectively. Finally, found on South Africa’s Digital Satellite Television (DSTv), Gamora and The River managed to attract 940,329 and 665,008 viewers respectively.
South Korea: One of South Korea's free to watch broadcast channels, KBS, is home to the original series My Perfect Stranger. This sci-fi, drama series starring Kim Dong-wook and Jin Ki-joo tells the story of two individuals whose lives become intertwined when they both time travel to, and subsequently become trapped in, the year 1987. This debut season held mostly steady viewing numbers for the duration of its 16 episodes. Episode 13 and 14 which aired June 12th and 13th respectively averaged a total of 2.070 million viewers. Its penultimate and finale episodes, which aired the following week, saw an increase in viewership, pulling in an average of 2.323 million viewers.
Premiering Saturday, June 17th on one of South Korea’s paid channels, JTBC, was the first season of King the Land. This new Romantic Comedy series tells the story of the heir to a luxury hotel conglomerate who must deal with a sudden inheritance battle, all while managing his budding romance with the hotelier. This series found immediate success with its first two episodes, observing an average viewership of 2.117 million. Episode 3 and 4, which aired the following week, continued to further demonstrate this new series' ability to resonate with its audience. These latest episodes dispplayed a dramatic growth in viewership, rising to an average of 3.142 million viewers.
United Kingdom: Found on the UK airwaves are several series that have been ongoing for decades. Each of these long running series releases multiple episodes a week. This includes Coronation Street with three episodes, EastEnders with four episodes, Emmerdale with five episodes, and Hollyoaks with five episodes. Between June 5th and June 18th the ratings data collected showed that Coronation Street saw an average of 4.687 million viewers. EastEnders brought in an average of 3.235 million viewers. Emmerdale had an average of 4.037 million viewers. Hollyoaks, which first premiered in 1995, making it the youngest of each of these series, reached a much smaller audience, garnering only 301,300 average viewers with many viewers dropping off as the week progresses. Each of these series air on networks are that free to the general public. The continued success of these shows throughout the years proves that the U.K. audience’s appetite for dramatic Soap Operas is as strong as its ever been.