Ratings Report: 'CSI: Vegas' keeps viewers coming back, 'Wednesday' dominates the most watched chart on Netflix
Broadcast: The fifth series to come out of the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation franchise— CSI: Vegas— takes fans of the original series back to Sin City where returning characters are joined by the next generation of investigators. Marge Helgenberger returns to the CSI Universe as Catherine Willows for season two and is joined by cast members introduced in the new series including Paula Newsome (Barry, The Twilight Zone), Matt Lauria (Kingdom, Parenthood), and Mandeep Dhillon (After Life, Avoidance).
The second season of CSI: Vegas aired its ninth episode on Dec. 15 and earned a 0.27 rating with the coveted adults 18 to 49 (A18-49) demographic and drew 3.48 million viewers altogether. The previous week’s episode from Dec. 8 managed to land a 0.29 A18-49 rating, outperforming episode 9 in younger engagement, but counted 3.27 million viewers in total. These ratings align with the season’s general performance so far. On average, episodes from this current run have earned a 0.29 A18-49 rating and garnered about 3.36 million viewers. The show’s debut season set a higher standard for ratings than its sophomore counterpart seems capable of: season one averaged a 0.4 A18-49 rating and brought in roughly 3.69 million viewers per episode. While the series seems to regularly outrank its network time slot competitors on ABC and NBC, if it hopes to match its predecessors in longevity, it will need to keep its hold on the returning fans while also catering to new viewers.
CSI: Vegas was created by Jason Tracey, a writer and executive producer whose major credits include USA’s Burn Notice and CBS’s Elementary. The series is produced in collaboration by Jerry Bruckheimer Television, Trace Pictures, and CBS Studios. Additional cast members include Ariana Guerra (Helstrom, Five Feet Apart), Jay Lee (Looking for Alaska, American Vandal), and Lex Medlin (Drop Dead Diva, Mayans M.C.). CSI: Vegas airs on Thursday at 10:00 PM ET/PT on CBS.
Streaming: Netflix takes a stab at camp-meets-macabre and strikes gold with Wednesday, an Addams Family inspired series centering on the spooky family’s dead-pan teenage daughter. Jenna Ortega (Scream (2022), X) stars as the titular Wednesday Addams in the Tim Burton (Beetlejuice, Dark Shadows) executive produced series created by longtime collaborators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, the partnership behind the screenplays for I Am Number Four and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Within a week of its premiere on the streaming platform, Wednesday elbowed its way to the top spot of the most watched English shows list, clocking 341.23 million hours in global viewership within its first five days. It held onto its number one position into its second and third week, boasting 411.29 million hours of global viewership for Nov 28-Dec. 4 and 269.67 million hours for Dec. 5-Dec. 11.
While the series has proven successful in terms of audience engagement, critics and viewers are in agreement that Wednesday is significantly benefited by Ortega’s strong performance. A host of supporting cast members also add to the show’s appeal: Luis Guzman (Boogie Nights, Code Black) and Catherine Zeta-Jones (Chicago, Rock of Ages) make memorable appearances as Gomez and Morticia Addams and Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones, The Sandman) enchants as Principal Larissa Weems. The cast also includes Percy Hynes White (The Gifted, Cast No Shadows), Joy Sunday (The Beta Test, Dear White People), Hunter Doohan (Your Honor, Truth Be Told), Christina Ricci (Yellowjackets, Black Snake Moan) and Jamie McShane (Bloodline, Gone Girl). Wednesday consists of eight hour-long episodes and is available to stream on Netflix.
International: Last month, almost all of South Africa’s top rated scripted drama series took a hit in overall ratings compared to October’s readings— notable exceptions being SABC2’s Muvhango and DStv’s Diep City. Across the country’s major channels, the ratings hierarchy for various programs remained the same over the last two months. In November, SABC1’s episode of the drama Uzalo from Nov. 3 raked in 5.67 million viewers and earned an audience rating of 14.66%. The same show’s top-rated episode from October boasted 5.89 million viewers and measured an audience score of 15.21%. The top soap opera from eTV, the sole privately owned broadcast network in South Africa— Scandal— reported 4.78 million viewers and measured 12.37% audience rating for its Nov. 3 installment. Contrastingly, the highest rated episode of the series for the month prior attracted 5.11 million viewers and nabbed an audience rating of 13.22%. Gomora, the most popular scripted drama program at DStv, logged 859,000 viewers for its Nov. 9 episode. In October, the program’s most watched program captured an audience of roughly 998,000 viewers.
It’s fair to say that fluctuating viewership patterns across multiple channels isn’t uncommon. Various factors can have effects on audience trends, but that doesn’t mean all shows undergo the same change in overall ratings when those trends manifest. For instance, SBC2’s Muvhango jumped from 1.58 million viewers and a 13.22%% audience ratings for its most watched October episode to 1.73 million viewers and a 4.47% for its most watched November episode. The Broadcast Research Council of South Africa (BCRSA) releases limited ratings information every month for SBC1, SBC2, SBC3, eTV and DStv.
