The numbers themselves are still very disappointing, but ABC can at least exclaim that its new entry “Off the Map” held up in the adults 18-49 demo despite a weaker lead-in Wednesday night.
The new drama garnered a 2.1 rating, down only slightly from last week’s 2.2. The viewership loss was a bit more significant, however, as the show fell from an average of more than 7.5 million to 5.84 million.
Still, the performance was enough to compete well with NBC’s “Law & Order: SVU” and defeat CBS’ relocated “Blue Bloods,” two shows that seemed to suffer from their head-to-head competition. The most successful “L&O” spin-off declined to a 2.3 rating with 6.89 million viewers. “Blue Bloods,” meanwhile, experienced no major benefit from its move to the seemingly more desirable Wednesday timeslot; it averaged a 2.0 rating with 12.81 million viewers.
Though CBS cannot ignore that high viewer total, it certainly has to question devoting a Wednesday night slot to a show that only delivered a 2.0 demo rating, especially since it could basically achieve that mark on Friday.