The BAU team once again cracked the case on Wednesday night, but Criminal Minds as a whole didn’t enjoy the same victory as its characters.
In just the second episode of Season 13, the popular CBS crime drama set record lows in terms of ratings. The series had just 6.2 million viewers on the night, with a 1.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic.
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CBS certainly expected some kind of slip in ratings for Criminal Minds this season when the series was moved to a 10 p.m. slot. However, even with the change, this is a drastic drop for such a popular program.
The CBS lineup leading into Criminal Minds also dropped a bit, with Survivor (8 mil/1.6) and SEAL Team (8.4 mil/1.2) going down 11 and 20 percent, respectively.
Maybe the 10 p.m. Wednesday time slot is just a difficult time to convince TV fans to tune in. Chicago P.D. (6.1 mil/1.2) saw a dip from its season premiere last week, while ABC’s Designated Survivor (4.8. mil/0.9) matches its series low ratings.
Wednesday night is only going to get more crowded as The CW is set to premiere Riverdale and Dynasty next week.
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