Ratings Review: MODERN FAMILY (Season Five)

MODERN FAMILY had another successful season as one of the top sitcoms on TV, but the five year series may have already reached it's peak, and the ratings indicate that. Don't get me wrong, ABC can get another two years from the series, but beyond that, it is a crap shoot.

 The season five premiere did get better ratings than season four's season finale. But, year-to-year, the MODERN FAMILY season premiere was off by three million viewers and 24% in the A18-49 ratings. In fact, after the first two episodes, MODERN FAMILY  only reached a 4.0+ demo rating just once. In the previous season, MF reached that level in every episode, until February, 2013. Plus, near the end of the season, the series has two episodes that rate under a 3.0 rating.

MODERN FAMILY is always near the top of the LIVE+7 ratings. Viewership grows by more than four million viewers and the A18-49 ratings add another two full points. But, like the regular ratings, the numbers have a slow decline.

For the season, MODERN FAMILY averaged 8.37 million viewers and 2.8 rating in Adults 18-49, for the 34 airings, including 11 repeat episodes. MODERN FAMILY will continue to occupy the same Wednesday, 9 p.m. time slot in the fall of 2014, with relatively the same competition. Ratings may slip a bit, but it will still be one of the more popular comedies on TV for at least another season.

MODERN FAMILY (Wednesdays at 9 p.m., on ABC)

Date	Viewers*	A18-49	L+3	L+7
09/25/13	11.68	4.2	13.08	(6.2)
10/02/13	11.12	4.2	14.20 (5.7)	15.21 (6.2)
10/09/13	10.64	3.9		14.60 (5.7)
10/15/13	10.94	4.1		14.88 (5.9)
10/23/13	10.32	3.9		14.22 (5.6)
10/30/13	7.22	2.2	(R)
11/06/13	Preempted
11/13/13	10.75	3.8		15.03 (5.8)
11/20/13	10.19	3.4		14.83 (5.5)
11/27/13	4.92	1.3	(R)
12/04/13	9.47	3.2		14.14 (5.4)
12/11/13	10.61	3.5		14.63 (5.4)
12/18/13	6.22	1.8	(R)
12/25/13	3.87	1.3	(R)
01/01/14	5.30	1.5	(R)
01/08/14	9.51	3.5		14.02 (5.6)
01/15/14	9.14	3.2		13.61 (5.3)
01/22/14	9.53	3.4		14.66 (5.7)
01/29/14	5.96	1.8	(R)
02/05/14	9.87	3.5		14.32 (5.6)
02/12/14	4.83	1.6	(R)
02/19/14	4.17	1.2	(R)
02/26/14	8.52	3.1		13.60 (5.5)
03/05/14	9.22	3.4		13.98 (5.5)
03/12/14	9.39	3.4		13.74 (5.4)
03/19/14	5.51	1.8	(R)
03/26/14	10.09	3.6		15.12 (5.9)
04/02/14	9.00	3.3		13.73 (5.5)
04/09/14	5.11	1.6	(R)
04/16/14	5.29	1.6	(R)
04/23/14	9.59	3.5		14.02 (5.5)
04/30/14	8.39	2.8		12.62 (4.8)
05/07/14	8.55	2.9		12.92 (4.9)
05/14/14	9.08	3.2
05/21/14	10.45	3.7	1hr

* - in millions