The Live + 7 DVR Ratings for the week beginning 18 - 24 February were released today, and there were some pretty surprising results. I'll talk about some of them here
Criminal Minds
"Broken" which aired on 20 Feb, is the first episode this season to not earn a L+7 rating of 4.0 or higher. The episode was watched by 14.169 million people by in the 7 days, an increase of about 4.1 million at the Live+SD final ratings cutoff point. This is the sixth episode of the season to receive a L+7 audience of under 15 million, however four out of 5 of those previous episodes were the first four of the season, and all 5 received a adults 18-49 L+7 rating of 4.3. Admittedly, the previous 5 episodes had more than half a million more viewers, but a 0.4 ratings difference for that few viewers is pretty surprising
Castle
Good news for Castle fans, the episode that aired on 18 Feb was the first of the 2-parter, "Target". It earned a 2.3 rating and 9.85 million viewers on the night, but that increased to a 3.1 rating and 13.114 million viewers after 7 days. Three other episodes this season, all within the first 6 episodes, received the season high 3.1 L+7 rating, and Target is the fourth. Surprisingly, all but one of the first 3 of those episodes had under 14 million L+7 viewers, so I'd imagine it must be a marginal 3.1 L+7 rating at best, considering that the third of those episodes earned a shade under 14 million viewers (13.967 to be exact). Still, Castle fans will take the 3.1 L+7 rating with no questions asked!
NCIS
The episode titled "Hereafter" aired on 19 Feb, and earned L+SD figures of a 3.5 rating and 21.08 million viewers. This increased over the 7 days to a 4.6 rating and 24.338 million viewers, which is the lowest L+7 rated and viewed episode in the last 5. There were 2 x 2 week gaps thrown in as well, which is most likely a contributing factor to a degree, but both those numbers are still well above the L+7 season averages of 4.57 ratings, and 22.993 million viewers
Grey's Anatomy
With the season premiere and second episode of the season earning a 5.9 abd 5.5 L+7 rating respectively, it's no surprise that the L+7 ratings have followed the L+SD ratings on a downhill gradient over the course of the season. However Grey's fans are very consistent in their DVR viewing, as the graphs on my website show. "This Is Why We Fight", which aired on 21 Feb, earned a 4.6 L+7 rating and 11.959 million viewers. This makes it the second least viewed episode after 7 days this season, with episode 9, the midseason finale, being the least viewed, at 11.704 million.
Scandal
"Boom Goes the Dynamite" which aired on 12 Feb, is the highest L+7 rated episode in the series' history, earning a 3.9 rating and 10.615 million viewers. There have been 4 episodes rating at 3.8 after 7 days, three of which were the three episodes prior to "Boom Goes the Dynamite". Ironically, of the last 4 episodes including "Boom Goes the Dynamite", "Boom Goes the Dynamite" was the least viewed, but received the best ratings. Like Castle earlier, Scandal fans will take this rating with no questions asked!
Bones
"The Friend in Need" aired on 18 Feb, and earned a 2.9 rating and 10.503 million viewers after 7 days. This is the lowest L+7 rated episode in 5 weeks if you include the back-to-back episodes on 14 Jan. There was no L+7 data for episode 14, but it was the second highest viewed episode after 7 days, so it's probably unlikely that it received a lower L+7 rating than "The Friend in Need"
That's all for now. The L+7 ratings released next Monday will cover the final week of February sweeps, so it'll be interesting to see the results of those episodes
You can find all of the Live+SD and Live+7 ratings and audience data for the shows I've mentioned on my website, www.seriesmonitor.com
Thanks for reading, please share your thoughts in the comments below
Jimmy
