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The Rookie ratings for Oct. 20: New character brings ratings boost

By Brittany Frederick

THE ROOKIE - "Warriors and Guardians" - Officer Nolan gets off to a rocky start after being introduced to his new training officer, Nyla Harper, who has an unconventional approach to police work after her stint as an undercover detective. Meanwhile, Officer Bradford struggles to think of an appropriate birthday gift for Rachel, and Officer Lopez finds herself navigating a case that triggers a personal memory, on "The Rookie," airing SUNDAY, OCT. 20 (10:00-11:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC. (ABC/Kelsey McNeal)MEKIA COX
THE ROOKIE - "Warriors and Guardians" - Officer Nolan gets off to a rocky start after being introduced to his new training officer, Nyla Harper, who has an unconventional approach to police work after her stint as an undercover detective. Meanwhile, Officer Bradford struggles to think of an appropriate birthday gift for Rachel, and Officer Lopez finds herself navigating a case that triggers a personal memory, on "The Rookie," airing SUNDAY, OCT. 20 (10:00-11:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC. (ABC/Kelsey McNeal)MEKIA COX /
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The Rookie ratings got a boost from the introduction of Season 2’s new character Nyla Harper. Check out the latest The Rookie numbers.

The Rookie ratings went up this week as the ABC cop drama introduced a new series regular, so is this the first step toward Season 2 becoming a greater success?

Sunday’s episode “Warriors and Guardians” was the debut of Nyla Harper (played by Chicago Med alum Mekia Cox), who was announced as John Nolan’s (Nathan Fillion) new training officer.

Harper replaces Talia Bishop, played by Afton Williamson, who departed the series after Season 1. And more eyeballs tuned in to meet Bishop’s successor and see Cox’s first episode.

“Warriors and Guardians” pulled in 3.81 million live viewers. That’s an increase from last Sunday’s audience of 3.54 million (+0.27, or 270,000).

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When it comes to the central demographic of adults 18-49, the show also jumped up three spots, despite not actually gaining viewers there—its 0.6 share was the same as last week.

For those doing the math, it means that The Rookie picked up more viewers on Oct. 21, but those extra audience members were outside of the 18-49 age range that networks and advertisers prioritize.

Still, more viewers for Season 2 is great news, no matter where they come from.

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That’s because despite the name recognition of Nathan Fillion, the series just isn’t burning up the ratings charts on a tough night that also includes fellow TV crime drama NCIS: Los Angeles and NBC coverage of NFL Sunday Night Football.

This Sunday, The Rookie Season 2 was ranked 13th out of the 19 shows that aired on broadcast TV in terms of total viewers. That puts it well into the bottom half of the rankings.

If you take out the two shows from The CW (which traditionally always draws a smaller audience) then The Rookie is the lowest-rated live-action series on Sunday nights.

Only Shark Tank and FOX‘s animated shows have smaller total audiences, and that’s even worse since Shark Tank is the crime drama’s lead-in—so that means less eyeballs that can possibly stay around to watch new episodes.

The show is also ranked 13th amongst the adults 18-49 audience, in a three-way tie with the Sharks as well as ABC’s Tiffany Haddish-fronted revival of Kids Say the Darndest Things. So it’s not attracting a large amount of the most coveted audience either.

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But if bringing in a new cast member helps build up The Rookie ratings, then that’s a good place to start and hopefully the series will continue gaining momentum in the coming weeks. If it doesn’t, then Season 2 could potentially be the show’s last.

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