Although it benefited from an easy battle with a “Hawaii 5-0” re-run (an unfortunate decision for CBS given the momentum the show could have carried from its post-AFC Championship airing Sunday), “Harry’s Law,” from all indications, held fairly steady in the ratings for its second episode.
The show posted a 7.1 overnight metered market rating, down only 5% from the premiere number. While last week revealed that a high overnight number is not necessarily going to translate into a strong demographic performance for the very old-skewing series, the 7.1 rating hints that the show at least held up from a total viewership standpoint, an accomplishment for a series premiere in 2011.
How the show will be judged remains to be seen. NBC has made its interest in the advertiser-friendly adults 18-49 demographic very clear in recent years, and “Harry” might very well slip below a 2.0 in that category this week. But if it again tops 10 million viewers, will it not still bring some value to a network that often struggles to attract mass audiences?
NBC’s other entries Monday included “Chuck” (3.9 in the overnights) and “The Cape” (3.7 in the overnights). Neither will compare to “Harry’s Law” from a total viewership standpoint, but the demo numbers should be fairly similar.