From a media release:
ROOKIE BLUE’S ARRESTING PREMIERE WINS THE NIGHT WITH 1.8 MILLION VIEWERS
- CANADIAN ORIGINAL DRAMA A HIT ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BORDER
- ROOKIE BLUE IS THE #1 NEW CANADIAN DRAMA
Last night, Global Television’s homegrown drama Rookie Blue was a force to be reckoned with as 1.8 million (2+, national) Canadians tuned into the highly-anticipated series premiere. Airing in simulcast with ABC, the much buzzed-about episode won the night nationally and across all key markets.
South of the border, Rookie Blue was also a ratings success as over seven million viewers tuned into the broadcast on ABC. It was the top-rated scripted summer debut in over a year and easily won its 9pm ET/PT timeslot opposite well-established programs including So You Think You Can Dance (FOX) and CSI (CBS).
ROOKIE BLUE DATA HIGHLIGHTS (All data Adults 18- 49):
- 712,000 million viewers in key A18-49 demo
- Rookie Blue won the night in Toronto with 317,000 viewers.
- Highest rated premiere for a Canwest-commissioned original drama within the last five years
- Rookie Blue bested the closest competitor of the night, The Mentalist, with 37% more viewers
- Outperformed The Bridge (CTV) premiere by double the number of viewers and had 165% more viewers than the Republic of Doyle (CBC) premiere
- Rookie Blue garnered 88% more viewers than Flashpoint premiere (July 11, 2008)
Viewers who missed last night’s episode can log onto GlobalTV.com to catch up on the premiere.
The drama continues next week in “Mercury Retrograde†(Thursday, July 1 – 9pm ET/PT), as Detective Sam Swarek (Ben Bass) drags Andy (Missy Peregrym) through his undercover haunts on a mission he won’t explain. At first, Andy assumes Swarek is a rogue cop trying to settle scores from his undercover days. Then she realizes two things: he’s actually trying to track down a missing informant whose life is in danger now that his cover has been blown; and that there is an undeniable attraction between them.
Source:
Canada: All data, as of August 31st 2009, BBM Canada PPM Overnight Data based on Adults 18-49 unless otherwise indicated. BBM NMR Data is used for dates prior to August 31st, 2009.
U.S.: Nielsen Media Research (Fast Affiliate, Live + Same Day Ratings), 6/24/10.
It will be interesting to see what viewership numbers the show acquires for episode 2, since the reviews for the premiere have been, for the most part, unfavorable both north and south of the boarder.
The fact that it may have acquired double the number of viewers for its first episode, versus The Bridge, is interesting, but hardly significant or unexpected. More to the point, with the amount of time it gave to the show in promotion, which seemed to be relentless and unending, it SHOULD have had a significant premiere viewership. Now comes the hard part: holding on to and growing an audience.
This is one member of the audience that will NOT be watching episode 2. Although the premise for the show is interesting, the writing is sub par, leaving the actors to try to over-compensate for the lack of imagination and the lack of a plausible storyline.
The important thing is definitely where the ratings stabilize.Week 2 in Canada will be a challenge because it airs on Canada Day, though.
Did the 2 above people watch the same shows as I did. I found the writing snappy & intelligent. The acting was excellent. Lets get behind our home grown shows so that they stay on the air more than 1 season. I loved it. I have been watching for more of the stars from Sue Thomas FBI to surface. Enuka Okuma finally got recognized as a worthy actress in Canada.
I’ll watch a tv show if it’s good. While I generally try to support “all things Canadian,” I will not take an hour out of my week to do so. I watched the first episode of Rookie Blue without knowing it was Canadian. I thought it was good. The storyline could have been better, but it was still entertaining enough. I thought the acting was good (certainly not giving off that “cbc vibe” that some Canadian productions show), and the script was decent. I liked some of the lines (“its like rock, paper, scissors, homicide trumps all”), as well as some of the expressions from our primary character. It was certainly good enough to earn watching the second episode. I hope the second episode is better than it was for “The Bridge”. I watched most of the first season of The Bridge, but I have to admit that the first episode was by far the best. I’ve since given up on the show.