Ratings Report: 'Dark Winds' Returns To High Praise While 'The Upshaws" Is Back For More Laughs
Broadcast: After losing a bit of steam in the back half of its second season, The Wonder Years rebounds with decent viewership for its season finale. Episode eight aired on August 9th to some of the weakest viewership of the season, pulling in only 1.580 million viewers in the P2+ demographic. Despite the lower viewership, the P18-49 group stayed consistent with 301,000 viewers. The two-part finale aired the following week to oddly inconsistent viewership. The first part pulled in 1.865 million viewers in the P2+ demographic while the second part saw this number fall to 1.489 million viewers. The P18-49 group demonstrated a similar fall off, with part one bringing in 293,000 viewers while part two only managed to bring in 231,000. Despite these fluctuations, the overall viewership this season was generally strong. Though a third season of this beloved family sitcom has yet to be ordered by ABC, it is likely that the series’ renewal is on the horizon. However, with the current state of the industry and the ongoing strikes, it is impossible to say for sure when this announcement will come.
Cable: The AMC original crime drama Dark Winds returned for its second season this July to strong viewership. After just three episodes, the series has found its way to the top of AMC’s most watched programs. Episode two aired on August 6th to 788,000 viewers in the P2+ demographic with a rating of 0.25. The P18-49 demographic was considerably less impressive that week with only 117,500 viewers and a rating of 0.09. Episode three saw the viewership in the P2+ demographic rise to 975,000 viewers with a rating 0.31. However, the P18-49 demographic viewership continued to struggle, dropping to 78,500 viewers with a rating of 0.06. Once again a successful series struggles to find a younger audience, possibly due to this demographic straying away from linear TV content in favor of the non-linear TV found on streaming platforms.
Based on the Leephorn & Chee novel series written by Tony Hillerman, Dark Winds follows two Navajo police officers in the 1970’s southwest as they work to solve grizzly crimes that force them to question their own spiritual beliefs. The first season adapts the novel Listening Woman while this current season is an adaptation of the novel People of Darkness. Both seasons have been praised critically, boasting an impressive 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Strong performances paired with intelligent and thoughtful storytelling have proven to be a winning combination for audiences and critics alike. In addition to having a primarily Native American cast, the writers’ room is comprised almost entirely of Native American writers. Dark Winds stars Zahn McClarnon (Into the West, Doctor Sleep, Reservation Dogs) as Joe Leaphorn and Kiowa Gordon (Blood Quantum, The Red Road, Reservation Dogs) as Jim Chee. The series was created for television by Graham Roland (Mile 22, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, Almost Human).
Streaming: Netflix’s Black led sitcom, The Upshaws, returned for a fourth installment and quickly found its way onto the streaming platform’s global top ten list. The Upshaws Part 4 premiered on August 17th, releasing all six of its new episodes simultaneously. The data collected by Netflix from August 14th to August 20th already placed The Upshaws in the top ten, despite only being available for four days within this window. These six episodes were streamed a total of 4.800 million minutes. If the series’ popularity persists it is possible that the following week will see even greater viewership. The series currently holds an 85% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Upshaws follows a Black working-class family living in Indiana who navigate their daily struggles together while striving to create a better life for themselves. The series stars comedian Mike Epps (Next Friday, Meet the Blacks, Fifty Shades of Black) as Bennie Upshaw, the family patriarch who owns a garage in town, and Kim Fields (Living Single, Insecure, The Facts of Life) as Regina Upshaw, Bennie’s wife and high school sweetheart. Wanda Sykes (The Other Two, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Black-ish) is not only the series creator, but also plays Lucretia Turner, Regina’s older sister whose antagonistic relationship with Bennie provides a major source of comedy for the series. The sitcom features a primarily Black writing staff, including Dino Shorte (Def Comedy Jam 25, The Wanda Sykes Show, Wanda at Large) and Erin Jackson (Life & Beth, Tiffany Haddish Presents: They Ready, Last Comic Standing). Audiences have praised the show for its genuine laughs and authentic chemistry among its cast, all while incorporating well-developed storylines.
South Korea: On SBS, one of South Korea’s free-to-air stations, The Killing Vote premiered on August 10th to 1.886 million viewers. Unlike many South Korean series that air multiple episodes in a week, The Killing Vote sticks to just one. The following week’s episode experienced a minor decline in viewership, dropping to 1.748 million viewers. This gritty crime thriller follows a masked killer known as Gaetal; he carries out the murders of vicious criminals whose fates are determined by the general public through surveys Gaetal conducts via text message. The Killing Vote stars Park Hae-jin (From Now On, Showtime!, Kkondae Intern, Forest), Lim Ji-yeon (The Glory, Rose Mansion, Spiritwalker), and Park Sung-woong (Live Stream, Bloodhounds, Bear Man). The Killing Vote can also be found streaming on Amazon Prime in select regions.
On JTBC, a pay-to-watch station, Behind Your Touch brought in an average of 1.865 million viewers across its first two episodes which aired on August 12th and 13th respectively. Its following two episodes saw a jump in viewership, rising to 2.100 million average viewers per episode. Behind Your Touch is a romantic comedy series that follows a veterinarian who uses her psychometric abilities to assist a hot-blooded detective in solving minor crimes in their small town. Naturally, a romance ensues. Behind Your Touch stars Han Ji-min (Yonder, Our Blues, A Year-End Medley) and Lee Min-ki (Decibel, My Liberation Diary, Oh My Ladylord) and can also be found streaming on Netflix.
South Africa: The month of July saw some of South Africa’s most popular series experience a small surge in viewership. Uzalo, a drama found on the nation’s most popular network SABC1, saw its average viewership rise to 5.388 million viewers. On the same station, Skeem Saam saw the greatest jump in viewership rising to 5.007 million average viewers, up from 4.639 million viewers the previous month. Additionally, Generations: The Legacy had an average of 4.169 million viewers per episode. On SABC2, Muvhango and 7de Laan had an average viewership that was nearly identical to what they experienced the month before, with 1.481 million viewers and 1.290 million viewers respectively. On ETV Scandal rose to 5.036 million average viewers, up from 4.489 million, while House of Zwide rose to 4.441 million average viewers, up from 4.025 million viewers. On DSTv, Gomora and The River experienced viewership that was consistent with the previous month, at 721,545 average viewers and 628,427 average viewers respectively.
United Kingdom: Coronation Street, the longest running soap opera in the UK, remains one of the nation’s most watched dramas. This ITV1 series averaged 4.620 million viewers across its three episodes between July 31st and August 6th. ITV1’s other long running soap opera, Emmerdale, averaged 4.042 million viewers across its five episodes within this period. BBC1’s EastEnders lagged behind, averaging 3.408 million viewers across its four episodes. The following week saw mostly consistent viewership for the ITV1 dramas, with Coronation Street averaging 4.540 million viewers per episode and Emmerdale averaging 4.023 million viewers per episode. EastEnders experienced a slight dip in viewership during this week, dropping to 3.183 million viewers per episode. The E4 drama Hollyoaks averaged 281,000 viewers across its five episodes during this week, demonstrating a notable dip from previous weeks.