With five episodes of The Grinder behind us, the numbers are rolling in and I can begin to observe and assess the trends. Although a positive 4.4% ratings increase from W3 to W4, The Grinder takes five steps back after dropping a whopping 14% in ratings after last night’s aired episode. As mentioned last week, the show is secured for one season, but can we place hope in a season 2? Looking at the big picture, let’s compare The Grinder’s numbers with Fox’s previous season’s 8:30 PM time slot program, New Girl.
From the start, New Girl ratings topped The Grinder’s numbers in the first episode by .2, but by the second episode, both programs noticed a significant drop in viewership numbers. By the fourth and fifth week, both shows exhibit parallel ratings with a slight increase on the fourth week, and a downward turn by the fifth week. New Girl finished with a 1.6 share in A1849 and secured a fifth season with FOX. Perhaps we can predict a second season for The Grinder based solely on the similar numbers demonstrated here.