Ratings Review: SALEM (Season One)

When doing a ratings review for a series, I usually include the week-to-week ratings. But as I gather the numbers for this series, they are only representative of WGN's average ratings for that night, and not for the actual SALEM episode itself.

The premiere episode was strong, considering where WGN falls within the cable spectrum of original, scripted programming. 1.52 million viewers and a0.7 rating in Adults 18-49, tuned into watch the series opener. But, as I quickly found out, the ratings completely fell throught he flow afterwards. The nearest I can figure is that only half the audience returned in week two and barely half of those viewers came back in week three. Before two long, the numbers being reported would regularly dip below 400,000. but, again, those were WGN nightly averages, not the series it's self.

It looks like the first WGN scripted drama brings in about a half a million viewers, each week, give or take a hundred thousand, or so. It is a foundation to which the "superstation" will build upon to become a so called"real" cable network.

SALEM (Sundays at 10 p.m., on WGN)