With a victory in its time period and ratings that vastly exceed those posted by fellow NBC summer original “Siberia,” dramedy “Camp” got off to a passable start Wednesday.
The series drew a 1.5 adults 18-49 rating and 5.22 million viewers, numbers which gave it a considerable advantage over timeslot competitors “Criminal Minds” (re-run on CBS) and “The Lookout” (ABC).
Points of concern, however, exist in the context of the “Camp” performance. Though its numbers are solid in a vacuum, they represent a significant drop-off from those for lead-in “America’s Got Talent.”
That show delivered a 2.7 with 10.48 million viewers for the evening and a healthy 2.9 with 10.88 million in the 9:30PM half hour, which led directly into “Camp.”
“Camp” also bled viewers at the midway point, dropping from a 1.8 rating from 10-10:30PM to a 1.3 from 10:30-11PM. While a minor drop-off is inevitable given the strength of its lead-in (ratings for the first segment will clearly include some “America’s Got Talent” viewers who did not have any intention of sticking with “Camp” for the full hour), the significance of that drop is far from a ringing endorsement of the show’s appeal.
