Precinct TV
Fansided

FBI ratings for Oct. 22: Season 2 continues on the right track

By Brittany Frederick

"Crossroads" -- A loving husband and father of two, Jim Russo (Claybourne Elder), is kidnapped after accidentally getting involved in illegal dealings far beyond what he imagined. Also, Jubal must make a difficult decision regarding his family and their future, on FBI, Tuesday, Oct. 22 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Pictured (l-r) Jeremy Sisto as Jubal Valentine, Missy Peregrym as Special Agent Maggie Bell, Alana De La Garza as Isobel Castille and John Boyd as Stuart Scola Photo: Michael Parmelee/CBS ©2019 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved
"Crossroads" -- A loving husband and father of two, Jim Russo (Claybourne Elder), is kidnapped after accidentally getting involved in illegal dealings far beyond what he imagined. Also, Jubal must make a difficult decision regarding his family and their future, on FBI, Tuesday, Oct. 22 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Pictured (l-r) Jeremy Sisto as Jubal Valentine, Missy Peregrym as Special Agent Maggie Bell, Alana De La Garza as Isobel Castille and John Boyd as Stuart Scola Photo: Michael Parmelee/CBS ©2019 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved /
facebooktwitterreddit

FBI ratings kept going in the right direction on Oct. 22 as Season 2, Episode 5 brought in another large audience. Check out the latest FBI numbers.

FBI ratings have been strong all season, and the CBS drama held its own on a busy Tuesday that included the start of the MLB World Series.

Tuesday’s episode “Crossroads” involved the kidnapping of a family man who stumbled into some illegal dealings, and featured a guest appearance by TV crime drama veteran Michael McGrady (of Southland and Chicago PD).

It pulled in 8.82 million people watching live. That’s a slight bump from the previous week, when the show had 8.71 million (+0.11, or 110,000).

With the World Series dominating the evening, FBI slipped down to the third most-watched show on broadcast TV this time around. But it’s still second if you eliminate live sports.

More from FBI on CBS News

There were only two programs that reached the 8 million mark on a busy night—this one and NCIS, which happens to be FBI‘s lead-in, making it all good news for fans of the latest Dick Wolf series. (If your lead-in does well, that means more people who may stick around afterward to watch your show.)

More: FBI star announces her pregnancy; will the show write it into Season 2?

“Crossroads” picked up a 0.8 share amongst the viewers aged 18-49, meaning that it still has room to grow as far as its appeal toward that important demographic. The 0.8 tied it for eighth place amongst 14 shows on Tuesday, putting it in the bottom half of programs in that respect.

It lost a tenth there, too; it had a 0.9 score last week.

Almost all of the show’s direct competition had higher scores amongst the 18-49 group. NBC‘s This Is Us had a 1.6 score, and even ABC‘s Halloween rerun of Toy Story of Terror pulled in a 1.0 mark.

But that’s about all FBI needs to improve on. It’s been consistently higher than almost every other show on Tuesdays, and one can’t argue about the show in front of it considering that it’s the lead-in helping to build its audience. The FBI ratings are more than enough for CBS to consider a third season.

What can it do to bring in some of that younger audience? That will be an uphill battle considering its competition. This Is Us will probably always have the lead in that respect, and trying to play to a younger viewership may just dilute what makes FBI so good—that it’s a solid procedural without any gimmicks.

Perhaps some more advertising, like during CBS’ coverage of NFL football, might put it on some other people’s radar. FBI Season 2 can only go further up from here.

Next. Does Nancy Drew have her prime suspect?. dark

FBI Season 2 will take a break next week, although CBS is airing a repeat episode in the show’s normal 9 p.m. time slot. But with numbers like these, Season 3 shouldn’t be too far away.

Home/FBI on CBS News