Code Black – Post #11

As the season nears November sweeps, it is interesting to take a note of Code Black’s numbers. While the ratings have pretty much stayed at a 1.2 in age group 18-49 since the second episode, the number have people watching have hovered around 6 and a half million. This is a much higher number which suggests that the target audience for the show might be skewed older for 25-5- year olds. Also, Deadline just released the Live + 3 results from the first 3 weeks. For the first 3 episodes of Code Black, the L+3 ratings increased steadily from 1.6, to 1.7, to 1.8. Although these numbers aren’t huge, few shows this season have had a steady increase week by week.  For this reason, I think it’s possible that Code Black will get picked up for a full season by the network.

Another interesting number to look at, is the amount of money the show earns from advertisers. Code Black’s TV air prices are $125,715. It makes the most money off of advertising in its 10 pm time slot, as Chicago P.D earns $119,065, and Nashville earns $92,965. This number could also be a deciding factor in renewal, in addition to just the ratings.

However, Code Black is no longer the only new medical drama on primetime. NBC’s Chicago Med premiered on Tuesday with a rating of 2.2 with 8.59 million viewers, and held 85% of viewers from the lead in show The Voice. Although these numbers are much higher than Code Black, the shows air on different nights and don’t directly compete, which was most likely a strategic scheduling decision.