Prodigal Son ratings crack Top 5 in demo with fall finale
Prodigal Son ratings were a pleasant surprise for the fall finale. Is this a turning point for FOX’s crime drama? See the latest Prodigal Son numbers.
Fans of Prodigal Son got some good news when the ratings for the FOX crime drama’s midseason finale arrived this week.
Monday’s episode “Silent Night” not only dropped a bombshell on Malcolm Bright, but it also saw a considerable lift in the show’s live ratings and proved it may be catching on with adults 18-49.
The fall finale had 3.42 million people who watched live, which was up significantly from the prior episode’s mark of 3.12 million (+0.30, or an additional 300,000).
That pushed Prodigal Son into the Top 10 of broadcast TV shows for the night. That’s a nice feather in the cap of the series, with the caveat that many other series were either in repeats or preempted, so there was less competition.
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Where the real encouragement comes, though, is in the demographic figure. In the adults 18-49 category, “Silent Night” was tied for fifth place out of 12 shows with a 0.7 share.
That means it’s two weeks in a row that the series has been amongst the Top 5 in the most important section of viewers that both networks and advertisers covet.
While Prodigal Son hasn’t been a ratings smash this season (its live numbers have usually left a lot to be desired), if it can carve out a spot in that top group within the demographic, that’s a huge plus when it comes to a renewal decision. FOX will be more inclined to keep the show if it’s attracting that younger audience.
The network is also making a very smart move by scheduling reruns over the winter hiatus.
Though the fall finale has come and gone, the series is staying in its 9 p.m. time slot for the rest of 2019. People will be able to continue to discover the show, or catch up on episodes they may have missed originally.
And these broadcast reruns are important because they don’t require any effort from viewers either; instead of having to seek Prodigal Son out through streaming, they can just tune in. With other shows taking time off, the FOX show could find extra viewers as people look for things to watch and decide to give it a chance. With numbers like these, it could still find success yet.
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Prodigal Son returns Jan. 20, 2020—but FOX will be airing reruns in the show’s 9 p.m. time slot every Monday from now until then. Catch up with this TV crime drama!