Ratings Review: THE VAMPIRE DIARIES (Season Five)

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES was once the top series on the CW, but now in it's fifth season, the series is starting to show it's age. it is still a relatively strong series for the CW, but the new wave of shows featuring superheroes and science fiction plot lines are starting to rise above the vampire craze.

The season started strong for THE VAMPIRE DIARIES. It was regularly getting 2.5 million viewers and a low to mid one rating in Adults 18-49. But, as the spring came, the erosion was a little larger then normal. More than a third of the audience did not watch come March, April and May.

For a CW series, THE VAMPIRE DIARIES does pull one of the better DVR ratings of the network. A rise of 70%, or more, is common for the series and may be the only CW show to reach the 2.0 level.

For the season, THE VAMPIRE DIARIES averaged 1.9 million viewers and a 0.8 rating in Adults 18-49, for it's 29 airings, including seven repeat episodes. Next season will be a tough on for TVD, as GREY'S ANATOMY will drop down to the 8 p.m. hour, going head to head with the cw series.

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES (Thursdays at 8 p.m., on CW)

Date	Viewers*	A18-49	L+3	L+7
10/03/13	2.59	1.2		3.94 (2.0)
10/10/13	2.14	1.0		(1.9)
10/17/13	2.93	1.3		(2.1)
10/24/13	2.63	1.3
10/31/13	2.07	0.9		(1.7)
11/07/13	2.59	1.3
11/14/13	2.72	1.3
11/21/13	2.67	1.3
11/28/13	preempted
12/05/13	2.36	1.0		(1.7)
12/12/13	2.44	1.1		(1.7)
12/19/13	0.76	0.2	(R)
12/26/13	0.86	0.3	(R)
01/02/14	0.79	0.3	(R)
01/09/14	0.95	0.4	(R)
01/16/14	preempted
01/23/14	2.72	1.2		(1.9)
01/30/14	2.42	1.1		(1.8)
02/06/14	2.16	0.9		(1.6)
02/13/14	preempted
02/20/14	preempted
02/27/14	2.03	0.9		(1.5)
03/06/14	2.19	1.0
03/13/14	0.89	0.3	(R)
03/20/14	2.28	1.1
03/27/14	1.73	0.8		(1.5)
04/03/14	0.80	0.3	(R)
04/10/14	0.84	0.3	(R)
04/17/14	1.66	0.7		(1.4)
04/24/14	1.81	0.8		(1.3)
05/01/14	1.84	0.8		(1.4)
05/08/14	1.50	0.7		(1.1)
05/15/14	1.61	0.8		(1.4)

* - in millions