With all due respect to “America’s Got Talent,” summer is not exactly the time when Nielsen ratings threaten to fall off the charts — at least, not the top of the charts. And when it comes to new series, a summer slot isn’t generally a vote of confidence from the network.
Click through our gallery to see how 12 freshman broadcast television shows performed in terms of total viewers for their Summer 2021 debuts.
Rank: 12 • Show: “Wellington Paranormal” • Net: The CW • Total Viewers: 218,000 • These are not (para)normal numbers — not even for The CW, and not even for an imported series.
Rank: 11 • Show: “Republic of Sarah” • Net: The CW • Total Viewers: 464,000 • Don’t secede just yet with these kinds of numbers.
Rank: 10 • Show: “Housebroken” • Net: Fox • Total Viewers: 994,000 • Probably not enough house(holds), and possibly too broken.
Rank: 9 • Show: “The Ultimate Surfer” • Net: ABC • Total Viewers: 1.432 million • A wipeout
Rank: 8 • Show: “Small Fortune” • Net: NBC • Total Viewers: 1.472 million • To keep the title puns going here, this one got the “small” part correct, at least.
Rank: 7 • Show: “Fantasy Island” • Net: Fox • Total Viewers: 2.053 million • Not exactly dream numbers here for the reboot.
Rank: 6 • Show: “Celebrity Dating Game” • Net: ABC • Total Viewers: 2.751 million • ABC execs probably weren’t in love with these numbers, but enough for a second date.
Rank: 5 • Show: “Capital One College Bowl” • Net: NBC • Total Viewers: 2.802 million • Peyton Manning makes another Top 5.
Rank: 4 • Show: “Superstar” • Net: ABC • Total Viewers: 2.881 million • Not “super,” not a “star,” but good enough for August.
Rank: 3 • Show: “Secret Celebrity Renovation” • Net: CBS • Total Viewers: 3.010 million • Just like HGTV’s “Celebrity IOU” — including the Nielsen success.
Rank: 2 • Show: “Family Game Fight” • Net: NBC • Total Viewers: 3.388 million* • Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell sure put up a fight — and benefitted from a big lead-in — but it was not enough for No. 1.
*Series premiere followed Tokyo Olympics closing ceremony; actual time-period premiere received 2.613 million viewers.
Rank: 1 • Show: “When Nature Calls With Helen Mirren” • Net: ABC • Total Viewers: 3.692 million • Nature called, and Helen Mirren answered.
