It may be alien to some
With about one week left in August 2020, we wanted to determine which broadcast TV series have benefited the most with one week of (mostly) DVR viewing this summer. The answer, though not the reasons, will likely surprise you.
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The CW’s “Roswell, New Mexico” has seen the largest lifts, on a percentage basis, of any primetime show from May 21, 2020 to Aug. 8, 2020. As a matter of fact, over seven days of delayed viewing, “Roswell, New Mexico” tripled its “live” ratings among adults 18-49, soaring +200%, according to Nielsen.
In terms of total viewers, the “Roswell” growth is also No. 1 among all primetime shows across CBS, NBC, Fox, ABC and The CW, with a +86% lift from its Live + Same Day numbers.
Also Read: Falling on ABC's 'SHIELD': Marvel Drama Dropped by Double Digits With Each Passing Season
Of the Top 10 (percentage) growers in the key demo, half of the Top 10 are on The CW: In addition to “Roswell, New Mexico,” there are DC Comics series “Legends of Tomorrow” and “Stargirl,” and foreign imports “Coroner” and “Killer Camp.” Each of those double their Live + Same Day Nielsen audiences.
In total viewers, six of the top 10 are on The CW: In addition to “Roswell,” there’s “The 100” (+80%), “Legends of Tomorrow” (+72%), “Stargirl” (+62%), “Coroner” (+53%) and “In the Dark” (+51%).
That all sounds pretty incredible, right? But, if you’ll recall, “reasons.”
Also Read: Univision's Cool, Cool Summer: How Network Has Obliterated Ratings Trends
So here’s why The CW boasts such large lifts: The way percentages work, the lowest starting numbers have the largest opportunity for growth. In the case of “Roswell,” the drama grew from a 0.1 “live” rating to a 0.3 one week later.
Plus, “Roswell, New Mexico,” “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” and “Coroner” have two other facts helping them out.
First, they all air at 9 p.m., which is The CW’s final hour of primetime. The later a series airs, fewer potential audience members are awake and watching television — that’s why 10 p.m. shows on the networks that nationally program primetime until 11 o’clock tend to see the most growth from DVRs.
Additionally, in the time period we studied, “Coroner” had only aired one episode, “Legends of Tomorrow” ran two and “Roswell, New Mexico” aired three. So in the cases of “Legends” and “Roswell,” those seasons wrapped up with a few episodes just barely leaking into what we consider the Summer TV season. TV usage levels get lower as the summer goes on.
For “Coroner,” while it didn’t have the benefit of the higher late May/early June TV-usage levels, the lone episode counted here is the Canadian show’s U.S. television debut. Intrigue over the next few days of its stateside premiere likely goosed the Live + 7 Day numbers a bit.
Also Read: 'Roswell, New Mexico' Creator Carina Adly MacKenzie Out as Co-Showrunner on CW Drama
With all of that said and explained, this isn’t actually a positive story for any of those shows — or for The CW.
To be fair to the Mark Pedowitz-led channel, The CW skews youngest of all the broadcast channels. So while the 18-49 demo is still important to the home of teen and superhero dramas, the younger half of that age range pops much more than the higher end. And total viewers, a statistic that skews even older than 18-49, is less relevant for CW’s ad sales.
In terms of actual gains, CBS’ “Big Brother” adds the most net total viewers (Sunday episodes) and adults 18-49 (Wednesday episodes are slightly ahead of Sundays). The Sunday edition gew from 2.97 million viewers to 5.13 million, a gain of 73%.
18 New Summer TV Shows Ranked by Premiere Viewers, From 'Tough as Nails' to 'United We Fall' (Photos)
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ABC/Fox/CBS/The CW
With all due respect to "America's Got Talent," summer is not exactly the time when Nielsen ratings threaten to fall off the charts -- at least, not the top of the charts. And when it comes to new series, a summer slot isn't generally a vote of confidence from the network.
Due to coronavirus-forced production shutdowns, Summer 2020 has been an especially soft season. Click through our gallery to see how 18 freshman broadcast television shows -- some acquisitions -- fared in total viewers for their premieres this summer.
Also Read: 2020-2021 TV Season: Every Broadcast Show Canceled, Renewed and Ordered – So Far
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The CW
Rank: 18 Show: "Taskmaster"* Net: The CW Total Viewers: 212,000
*Network debut of U.K. series
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The CW
Rank: 17 Show: "Being Reuben"* Net: The CW Total Viewers: 242,000 *Network debut of U.K. series
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The CW
Rank: 16 Show: "Fridge Wars"* Net: The CW Total Viewers: 398,000
*Network debut of Canadian series
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CBS All Access
Rank: 15 Show: "Tell Me a Story"* Net: The CW Total Viewers: 434,000
*Network debut of CBS All Access series
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The CW
Rank: 14 Show: "Killer Camp"* Net: The CW Total Viewers: 483,000
*Network debut of U.K. series
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The CW
Rank: 13 Show: "Dead Pixels"* Net: The CW Total Viewers: 506,000
*Network debut of U.K. series
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The CW
Rank: 12 Show: "Coroner"* Net: The CW Total Viewers: 715,000
*Network debut of Canadian series
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Fox
Rank: 11 Show: "Labor of Love" Net: Fox Total Viewers: 891,000
Also Read: How ‘Labor of Love’ Producers Found Kristy Katzmann Her Perfect Man/Sperm Donor
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The CW
Rank: 10 Show: "DC's Stargirl"* Net: The CW Total Viewers: 1.224 million *Network debut of DC Universe series
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Fox
Rank: 9 Show: "Celebrity Watch Party" Net: Fox Total Viewers: 1.785 million
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ABC
Rank: 8 Show: "The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons - Ever!" Net: ABC Total Viewers: 2.412 million
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NBC
Rank: 7 Show: "Cannonball"* Net: NBC Total Viewers: 2.655
*Network debut of USA Network series
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ABC
Rank: 6 Show: "The Genetic Detective" Net: ABC Total Viewers: 3.264 million
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CBS
Rank: 5 Show: "Tough as Nails" Net: CBS Total Viewers: 4.096 million
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ABC
Rank: 4 Show: "Don't" Net: ABC Total Viewers: 4.178 million
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ABC
Rank: 3 Show: "United We Fall" Net: ABC Total Viewers: 4.235 million
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Fox
Rank: 2 Show: "Ultimate Tag" Net: Fox Total Viewers: 4.351 million
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CBS
Rank: 1 Show: "Game On!" Net: CBS Total Viewers: 4.437 million
Nielsen sheets cooled off as the months warmed up
With all due respect to "America's Got Talent," summer is not exactly the time when Nielsen ratings threaten to fall off the charts -- at least, not the top of the charts. And when it comes to new series, a summer slot isn't generally a vote of confidence from the network.
Due to coronavirus-forced production shutdowns, Summer 2020 has been an especially soft season. Click through our gallery to see how 18 freshman broadcast television shows -- some acquisitions -- fared in total viewers for their premieres this summer.
Also Read: 2020-2021 TV Season: Every Broadcast Show Canceled, Renewed and Ordered – So Far
Tony Maglio
TV Editor • tony.maglio@thewrap.com • Twitter: @tonymaglio