The first of the season two “Southland” episodes aired on TNT Tuesday, and while viewership climbed significantly from the season one encore airings, it still came in at a disappointing level.
The former NBC show’s actual season two premiere pulled a 1.0 adults 18-49 rating Tuesday with a viewership total of 2.5 million. Up by more than 1 million viewers and by 150% in the demographic from last week’s season one repeat, and though quite solid within the realm of cable series, the numbers nonetheless do not indicate that NBC dropped the ball in cancelling the series and may not be enough to warrant a third season of the show.
“Southland” premiered last spring to rave reviews and fairly strong ratings. Those ratings quickly descended, but the network was happy enough with the show’s first season performance to book a renewal.
Early into the 2009-10 season, NBC changed its mind and cancelled the show, allowing TNT to takeover the broadcasting rights. TNT aired all season one episodes and is airing the produced season two “Southland” episodes as if they marked a single season.
Last night’s airing was the first original “Southland” to broadcast on the cable channel.