The ratings are in, and it looks like vampires aren’t going anywhere. Last night’s series premiere of the CW’s The Vampire Diaries was watched by 4.8 million viewers, and that’s without any additional DVR numbers.
Just how big is that for the CW? It’s on par with last year’s much-hyped premiere of 90210, which was the CW’s highest-rated premiere ever. However, I suspect the fall-off into the second week won’t be as huge, since The Vampire Diaries doesn’t suck nearly as much as that did.
Also, the CW can crow because last night’s episode of The Vampire Diaries was watched by more people than anything on ABC or FOX. Yes, those networks featured repeats of Grey’s Anatomy and Bones, but in all fairness to the CW, beating a Grey’s repeat by almost one million viewers is kind of huge.
This is great news for the network after the disappointing ratings for Melrose Place earlier in the week, which scored 2.3 million viewers, less than half what The Vampire Diaries did. In other words, it’s 100 percent clear now the CW needs to hold onto vampires and stop remaking ’90s shows.
Sadly, news wasn’t as good for Supernatural, which dropped to 3.4 million viewers. That’s the second lowest season premiere the show has had in five years. But on the bright side, it was the show’s highest rating since January, and there were only four episodes in season 4 that were watched by more people.
However, these numbers only refer to traditional overnight ratings. With the CW, a network that appeals mostly to younger audiences, the DVR numbers, which are usually compiled by taking all the views on DVR over the next seven days, will come out in about a week and a half, and I suspect The Vampire Diaries will add even more viewers when those come out.
-John Kubicek, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image courtesy of the CW)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
