Ratings Review: STATE OF AFFAIRS (Season One)

STATE OF AFFAIRS had some big shoes to fill when it took the time slot of THE BLACKLIST, NBC's biggest scripted hit series. The numbers started off promising, but ultimately fell to levels most NBC shows dwell in.

Although 8.7 million viewers and a 2.2 rating in the A18-49 demographic, are not great, they are much better than most series on NBC. But, by episode two, the numbers dropped about 25%. By 2015, it is below half the audience it drew for the premiere. It has a steep hill to climb if STATE OF AFFAIRS wants a second season.

In the Live+3 ratings, STATE OF AFFAIRS averaged 7.30 million viewers and a 1.8 demo rating. By the Live+7 ratings, it would increase to a 2.0 demo rating and 8.2 million viewers. The Upscale Numbers delivered a strong concentration of upscale viewers, indexing at a 139 for adults 18-49 living in homes with $100K+ incomes (100 represents an average concentration of those homes, “most current” including L+3).

For the season, STATE OF AFFAIRS averaged 5.10 million viewers and a 1.2 rating in the A18-49 demographic ratings, for Live+SD ratings. If STATE OF AFFAIRS does make it to a second season, it will be on the decent numbers it has in the time-shifted ratings. Also, it helps that NBC has had a bad freshmen class this season, and it is not as bad as other new series.

STATE OF AFFAIRS (Mondays at 10 p.m., on NBC)

Date	Viewers*	A18-49	L+3	L+7
11/17/14	8.69	2.2	11.30 (2.8)	12.26
11/24/14	5.78	1.5	6.80 (1.7)	7.41
12/01/14	7.04	1.6	9.60 (2.2)	10.22 (2.4)
12/08/14	6.30	1.6	8.60 (2.2)	9.05
12/15/12	6.18	1.5	6.20 (2.0)	8.96 (2.2)
12/22/14	4.58	1.0		7.22 (1.6)
12/29/14	2.57	0.5	(R)
01/05/15	4.47	1.0	6.80 (1.6)	7.41 (2.7)
01/12/15	3.62	0.7	5.50 (1.2)	6.21 (1.4)
01/19/15	4.49	1.1	6.90 (1.6)	7.47 (1.8)
01/26/15	4.41	1.0	6.50 (1.6)	6.88 (1.7)
02/02/15	4.73	1.1	6.70 (1.7)
02/09/15	4.04	1.0	6.20 (1.5)	6.74 (1.7)
02/16/15	4.47	1.0	6.50 (1.5)	6.83 (1.6)

* - in millions