Was The Rookie’s move to Sunday nights a good idea?

By Cody Schultz | Dec 5, 2019

THE ROOKIE - "Impact" - Danger is ever-present as the officers of the Mid-Wilshire precinct grapple with the aftermath of a plotted attack on the city of Los Angeles, leaving Officer Bradford fighting for his life in the season two premiere of "The Rookie," airing SUNDAY, SEPT. 29 (10:00-11:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC. (ABC/Eric McCandless)SKYLER STONE, NATHAN FILLION, RICHARD T. JONES /

This season ABC shifted The Rookie from Tuesday to Sunday nights, but has the move proved to be a good or bad idea on ABC’s part?

Heading into the 2018 Fall TV season, ABC was hoping to cash in on the popularity of Nathan Fillion — who was hot off his role in ABC’s beloved crime drama Castle — with its new procedural The Rookie. The series received a major push from ABC’s marketing team and it was clear ABC was hoping the series would break its infamous Tuesday night 10 p.m. graveyard time slot curse.

Despite ABC’s best efforts, The Rookie struggled in the time slot with an average of 4.1 million viewers throughout its first season. ABC answered fans’ prayers in picking up a second season; however, the renewal came with one major change. Rather than returning to its Tuesday perch, ABC shipped the series off to Sunday nights where it joined newcomer Kids Say the Darndest Things and ABC staple Shark Tank.

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Network scheduling changes are nothing new and the art of shuffling shows around can lead to successful results, giving struggling series a new lease on life. But has The Rookie‘s move to Sunday night’s proved to be a successful idea for ABC?

After christening its new time slot with a Season 2 premiere audience of 4.1 million total viewers, The Rookie has hit a series of snags through its first episodes of the season. To-date, Season 2 is averaging 3.6 million total viewers which is down 13 percent from its Season 1 average. Even more concerning, the show is averaging a 0.5 demo rating among the coveted Adults 18-49 age demographic — ranking 14th overall among ABC’s scripted programming.

While its live viewing numbers do raise a number of red flags, the series has seen tremendous delayed viewing gains thus far this season. With delayed viewing factored in, The Rookie has been able to double its weekly audience with some dubbing it the new king of delayed viewing.

Although it may seem easy to write ABC’s decision to move the series to Sunday nights off as a bad idea at first glance, the move seems to be paying off nicely for the Alphabet network. While live ratings have dipped year-to-year, delayed viewership totals are among the strongest this season which should help the show make it to Season 3.

Additionally, The Rookie has helped ABC improve upon its 10 p.m. time slot on Sunday night, improving upon The Alec Baldwin Show‘s year-ago average of 1.3 million viewers by 177%. Now that’s a win worth celebrating!

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Do you think ABC made a good or bad decision in deciding to shift The Rookie from Tuesday nights to Sunday nights? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

The Rookie airs on Sundays at 10/9c on ABC. Catch up on the latest episodes on Hulu.

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