Revolution Ratings Show Signs of Life
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NBC’s new show Revolution premiered Monday after The Voice and the premiere ratings are in. EW announced the series drew 11.7 million total viewers and a 4.1 rating in the adult demo, which must make NBC very pleased. The ratings reflect the biggest drama premiere on any network in three years and on NBC for the last five years. For a network that has had as many ratings problems as NBC has recently, those numbers must feel like a godsend.
Now that the positive spin has been put out there, let’s put things into perspective. Although the previous information sounds great, it is important to remember that series numbers will likely drop off significantly after the pilot, and that pilot numbers in general don’t mean a whole lot. As a first example, let’s take the fact that it was the biggest drama premiere on any network in three years. This sounds somewhat less impressive when you consider that the 2009 series it supplanted was ABC’s V, which dropped significantly in the ratings, could never gain critical acceptance, and was canceled after its second season. Secondly, the NBC series from five years ago that it beat in ratings was none other than the failed Bionic Woman remake that was canceled after airing eight episodes. Strong pilot ratings are a good sign, but are far from a excellent predictor of future success.
Also, it is important to keep in mind that the series will face a much tougher timeslot in the future. Whereas the pilot had little competition, with most shows not yet returning from hiatus, moving forward Revolution will be facing Hawaii Five-0 on CBS and Castle on ABC. People in Revolution’s corner should keep this information in mind as ratings information trickles in for subsequent airings.
