Supernatural’s Ratings For “First Born” The Highest Since 2010
Yesterday the ratings were released for Tuesday’s episode, “First Born” and they were extraordinarily good. They were up over the prior week, and overall viewership was the highest since 2010 for ANY episode. However, it came with a caveat. Seems that The CW in Baltimore, Norfolk, and Richmond pre-empted the shows for basketball. They make up about 2.4% of the country.
Due to the holiday (and Nielsen being terrible at catch up), we didn’t get the final ratings until late this afternoon. Turns out, basketball only bumped that number down from 2.70 to 2.65. Everything else, including the 18-34 and 18-49 numbers held.
Here’s the original press release:
Last night’s Supernatural was the series’ most watched episode (2.7M) in more than three years (10/15/10).
Week to week, Supernatural was up 22% in total viewers and up 10% in both W18-34 (1.1/3) and in A18-49 (1.1/3), and flat in A18-34 (0.9/3).
Supernatural outrated original episodes of ABC’s comedies in the 9pm hour in A18-34, and W18-34, and outratedTrophy Wife in the 9:30-10pm half hour in A18-49.
At 8pm, an all-new episode of THE ORIGINALS rose 14% week to week in total viewers (2.35M) and rose 11% in A18-49 (1.0/3).
And given the adjustment upward of “The Originals” and “Supernatural’s” numbers remaining virtually unchanged, we got another press release! In this one, we get DVR numbers too. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. Not bad for a show in it’s ninth season, huh?
Courtesy of The CW:
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“THE ORIGINALS” AND “SUPERNATURAL” PAIR FOR THE CW’S MOST WATCHED TUESDAY IN MORE THAN FIVE YEARS
“THE ORIGINALS” Has its Most Watched Episode to Date
“SUPERNATURAL” Has its Most Watched Episode in More Than Three Years
January 23, 2014 (Burbank, CA) – New hit series THE ORIGINALS and SUPERNATURAL paired for The CW’s most watched Tuesday night in more than five years (2.6 million, since 10/7/08), according to national Live plus Same Day Nielsen ratings for Tuesday, January 21, 2014.
This Tuesday was also The CW’s second-most watched night of the 2013-14 season to date, behind only Wednesday, 10/16/13.
THE ORIGINALS had its most watched episode to date (2.5 million), and was up 22% week to week in total viewers. THE ORIGINALS matched its season high in adults 18-49 (1.1/3), up 22% week to week. THE ORIGINALS ranked #2 in its time period in female teens (1.1/4).
SUPERNATURAL had the series’ most-watched episode (2.65 million) in more than three years (10/15/10), and delivered The CW’s best total viewer performance in the time period in more than two years (9/13/11). SUPERNATURAL won its time period in total teens (1.3/5) with its best rating in that demo since 9/17/09 and also won with female teens (1.6/6) with its best rating in that demo since 1/15/09.
SUPERNATURAL was up 10% week to week in adults 18-49 (1.1/3) and women 18-34 (1.1/3), and flat in adults 18-34 (0.9/3).
THE ORIGINALS also typically sees some of the biggest gains in delayed viewing on broadcast television, averaging a 70% increase in adults 18-34 in Live + 7 Day viewing versus Live + Same Day, a 67% increase in adults 18-34, an 81% increase in women 18-34, and a 52% jump in total viewers. Through December, THE ORIGINALS was also ranked as the most popular new show on social media, according to ListenFirst, which aggregates and analyzes data streams across social, digital and traditional channels.
SUPERNATURAL also benefits from delayed viewing, averaging a 46% increase in adults 18-34, a 48% jump in adults 18-49, and a 42% gain in total viewers in L+7 versus L+SD Nielsen data.
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For those that love comparing or wanting to verify that this was the highest rated episode in a while, check out our Ratings of All Seasons of Supernatural chart.
https://www.thewinchesterfamilybusiness.com/81-ratings-all-spn-seasons/

Alice Jester is the founder, editor-in-chief, head writer, programmer, web designer, site administrator, marketer, and moderator for The Winchester Family Business. She is a 30 year IT applications and database expert with a penchant for creative and freelance writing in her spare (ha!!) time. That’s on top of being a wife, mother of two active kids, and four loving (aka needy) pets.
Wow for a show that was constantly on the verge of cancellation in the early years they brought in some crazy huge numbers. I’m so happy for the show now. I hope this bodes well for more than one more season.
Wow for a show that was constantly on the verge of cancellation in the early years they brought in some crazy huge numbers. I’m so happy for the show now. I hope this bodes well for more than one more season.
I’m hoping that this increase is due to the fans of (Vampire Diaries and) The Originals staying on to watch Supernatural afterwards. 😆
I’m hoping that this increase is due to the fans of (Vampire Diaries and) The Originals staying on to watch Supernatural afterwards. 😆
Actually, the bump was because tumblr, for some reason, decided that the Belieber boycott of Supernatural required flipping the bird. A ton of people outside the SPN fandom played the episode on mute, just to screw with the articles joking about how upsetting the Beliebers could get SPN cancelled.
Actually, the bump was because tumblr, for some reason, decided that the Belieber boycott of Supernatural required flipping the bird. A ton of people outside the SPN fandom played the episode on mute, just to screw with the articles joking about how upsetting the Beliebers could get SPN cancelled.
Cattusmbra – that is totally hilarious. I’m sure the network will take better ratings no matter how it happens. But it’s a great story!
Cattusmbra – that is totally hilarious. I’m sure the network will take better ratings no matter how it happens. But it’s a great story!
It’s always good news when the ratings are up. Whether it’s to screw with the Beliebers or not! 😆
It’s always good news when the ratings are up. Whether it’s to screw with the Beliebers or not! 😆