Time travel has been all the rage on network television these days — but is the genre revival actually paying off for broadcasters? The easy answer is “no, not really.” But some are working better than others — here’s how all eight time-travel broadcast shows rank by Nielsen’s “live” TV ratings among adults 18-49.
Rank: 1 (tie)
Show: “The Flash”
Network: The CW
Rating: 1.1
Rank: 1 (tie)
Show: “Timeless”
Network: NBC
Rating: 1.1
Rank: 3
Show: “Once Upon a Time”
Network: ABC
Rating: 1.0
Rank: 4
Show: “Making History”
Network: Fox
Rating: 0.8*
*Premiere only
Rank: 5
Show: “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow”
Network: The CW
Rating: 0.7
Rank: 6
Show: “Time After Time”
Network: ABC
Rating: 0.6*
*Two-hour premiere only
Rank: 7
Show: “Sleepy Hollow”
Network: Fox
Rating: 0.5
Rank: 8
Show: Frequency
Network: The CW
Rating: 0.3
Perhaps network executives should attempt to travel back in time to pass on some of these at the pilot stage. We’ll find out soon enough what the future holds for the genre.
