But a profound shift has begun to seize the television industry: Ratings no longer hold a key to a show’s success. “Broadcast television used to be about ratings,” said Preston Beckman, a longtime Fox and NBC television executive who helped shepherd the latter’s must-see TV schedule of the 1990s. But shows whose episodes regularly draw under 5 million viewers are often seen as struggling, especially if they’re not disproportionately strong in the 18-to-49 demographic that advertisers care about. On one hand, the longevity of these little-seen shows affords them more time to find viewers and a creative footing. Ratings continued to sink in the second season, in some weeks barely reaching 2 million total viewers.

Source: Washington Post September 28, 2018 23:06 UTC