Upon reading the headline that NBC renewed “Aquarius” for a second season, one familiar with the show’s television ratings likely did a double-take.
Yes, two of the episodes aired against the NBA Finals. Yes, standards are greatly reduced for summer programming.
But insofar as the show has not cracked the 1.0 adults 18-49 threshold since its series premiere, its television performance has not made a second season renewal–particularly one so early in the season–seem obvious.
NBC’s motivation for renewing “Aquarius,” however, lies in its digital performance.
In conjunction with the series premiere broadcast, NBC made all twelve first season episodes available for online viewing. They have performed well in that arena, and thus given NBC the confidence it needed to order a second season.
“With its riveting drama and innovative release strategy, ‘Aquarius’ has excited the critics, hooked millions of viewers and energized our summer,” says NBC’s Jennifer Salke. “It’s no secret that the way people watch television is evolving, so we took a unique approach to how we delivered ‘Aquarius’ and it’s driven some record numbers for NBC Digital and helped us reach viewers who might have otherwise overlooked a great summer drama.”