Three weeks ago, ABC’s “Galavant” bested conservative expectations and delivered very solid premiere ratings. It did not perform like a blockbuster, but it certainly refuted the notion that it was a dead-on-arrival burn-off series.
Unfortunately, shows not named “Empire” tend to lose viewers in their second and third weeks. And when those respective weeks include competitive forces from the Golden Globe Awards and AFC Championship, the losses are doomed to be significant.
Sure enough, the adults 18-49 rating for “Galavant” fell by 35% in week two and then an additional 30% in week three. After starting with a 2.0 adults 18-49 and 7.42 million viewers (hourly average) for its pair of premiere episodes, “Galavant” was down to a 0.9 adults 18-49 rating with 3.42 million in week three.
Week four, which featured the first season’s final two episodes, represented an important opportunity to reverse that trend. Facing lighter competition and potentially benefiting from a season finale boost, “Galavant” had a chance to prove that its fall was indeed artificially driven by the hefty competition. It had a chance to prove that it warranted a second season.
Whether that happens remains to be seen, but “Galavant” at least proved it could do better than it did against the AFC Championship.
Sunday’s “Galavant” finale drew a 1.1 adults 18-49 rating with 4.34 million viewers. It bested last week’s episode by 22% in the demo and 27% in total viewers.
Barring a downward adjustment in the finals, its viewership mark also bested the 4.11 million drawn by the second set of episodes, which aired on January 11. It was thus the most-watched installment since the January 4 premiere.
A 1.1 with 4.34 million viewers is certainly not a strong performance and certainly not the type of showing that would result in a guaranteed second season. But for a series that suffered two consecutive ratings crashes, the uptick certainly registers as a positive.