“The Hard Times of RJ Berger” was semi-there Sunday night, scoring a solid but unremarkable premiere rating.
Following the Aziz Ansari-hosted “MTV Movie Awards,” which drew 4.6 million viewers on MTV and 5.8 million across MTV, MTV2 and VH1, “Berger” started with over 2.6 million viewers.
Among the network’s key persons 12-34 demographic, the show posted a 2.6, slipping only 36.6% from the Awards’ 4.1 rating.
“Hard Times”‘ debut figure is the network’s best launch among 12-34 since 2008, and it certainly represents a decent performance for 11PM on a Sunday that featured heavy sports competition, particularly as it relates to impacting the strength of the Movie Awards lead-in.
At the same time, given the expected drop-off once the show moves to its Monday at 10PM timeslot starting next week (a drop-off that could be intensified due to the nature of the pilot, which focused more on the title character’s “exposure” to his classmates than crafting detailed characters and long-term story arcs), it is too early to determine if the show will prove to be a bona fide hit by the middle of the summer; a debut figure of 2.6 million viewers, moreover, does not give the show much breathing room for a decline if it wants to assure a label of success.
But, for now, MTV can at least tout that the premiere of its new scripted series rose to the occasion.