Well here we are, my last blog post. Kevin (Probably) Saves The World will be going on a “winter break” hiatus starting next week and will return after our semester has ended. For the last time, Kevin aired with a 0.7 rating, one of its lowest out of the whole season. It also hit its lowest total viewers with 2.62 million. Majority of these viewers though are out of the money demo. This is because 1, the content of the show is not as family friendly. It has a large religious background, which makes it slightly harder to understand. 2, it is airing at 10pm, which is not a kid-friendly hour. Several different news outlets keep saying this show is on “watch” but with ABC ordering 3 more episodes last week, maybe the money demo isn’t where they are targeting anymore. Could this show be the show that saves ABC’s disastrous timeslot? Although I never enjoyed the show, I will continue to follow it and look for its existence weeks to come. Good luck Kevin!
Author Archives: Matthew Schiff
Kevin (Probably) Saves The World #9
ABC has announced that they are giving Kevin a little more time to “save the world.” Next week, the show will go on a hiatus but ABC has ordered three more episodes. I am assuming this is will be the end to the season. TV By The Numbers confirms that this week, Kevin is still pulling a larger crowd, just not in the money demo. With 3.26 million viewers for ABC’s worst time slot (10pm on Tuesdays), that is not awful, but the rating is only a 0.8. With the announcement of the 3 new episodes, Kevin is now in the middle of ABC’s new fall lineup and less likely to be cancelled for next season.
I personally am confused why they received the 3 new episodes after TV by the numbers and other critics gave it 2 cancel bears, dropping from 3 last week. I think ABC is in a tough position because this show has such a religious background. As I previously said, they changed the name to make it less religious which was a smart move. I’m wondering if they have that good of a deal with the production company that they need to continue out the season? Hopefully something turns around for Kevin.
Kevin (Probably) Saves The World #8
Kevin is now down from 3 cancel bears to 2…This is not looking good for ABC. Last week, TV by the numbers gave it a 3 saying its still up in the air if it will be cancelled or not. Now they are giving it a 2. There is a chance its ratings are so low because it is against the World Series for the second week in a row. Last nights episode received its lowest demo rating of all time with a 0.6. It has a 2.71 million views, which is not the lowest for Tuesday night. The Mayor, ABC’s other new Tuesday night show, had the lowest at 2.38 million viewers.
The World Series on the other hand is coming in with its strongest numbers to date since 2009. With a 6.0 rating and 22.3 million viewers, Fox is probably very happy with those numbers and I sure would not want to be competing with that.
Kevin (Probably) Saves The World #7
Last nights episode #4 had to compete with the first game of the World Series. With Kevin averaging a 0.7 rating, the World Series started out with a 3.9 rating and almost 7 times the amount of viewers with 14.97 million. This week, TV by the numbers is giving it 3 cancel bears which means its too early to tell if it will survive. Other shows with the same amount are Once Upon a Time, The Mayor and Inhuman.
In addition to its harsh competition, Kevin is competing against the number one drama of the season: This Is Us. It averages a 2.5 rating which is very high for Tuesday night. All other shows are sticking with low 1s or even .7s. To see the success of this show, they are going to need to think of something new for season 2. I personally believe this show would have done better on CBS. CBS is always skewed towards an older audience and this show is not for the money demo.
Kevin (Probably) Saves The World #6
Kevin (Probably) Saves The World aired its third episode last night with not promising ratings. The demo rating was a .8 with 3.26 millions viewers. This has been going down since the first week. That usually happens with shows but I’m getting nervous since critics have been very harsh on Kevin and its not looking like a bright future.
Personally, I think social media is the strongest tool of marketing. Unfortunately, this show is doing none of that. There should be a much greater push over social and I have seen nothing. They actually just started tweeting off the shows account, which is way too late. This should have started weeks before it even aired. Also, I am projecting this show to have an older audience so I think a social media campaign would help bring in younger viewers. I’d have to say, at first glance, the shows marketing is lacking.
Kevin (Probably) Saves The World #5
Although I think it’s too soon to know how the show is doing, I personally believe it will do mediocre. I’ve read that the timeslot it is in has had bad luck with other ABC shows in the past. I’m not sure if this is a bad sign or not but I’m only seeing 6 episodes scheduled for the whole season. I’m wondering if more will come out at a later date or if they’ll even be picked up for more episodes later on.
Story wise, critics are giving it a mix review. Some say this is “the TV hug we all need” referring to the lighthearted take it has on a dramatic world we all live in. Some say it is the worst show to hit the fall lineup and will definitely be cancelled. I say it is way to early to tell. It definitely is rough when a show had to change their name though after they started to market it, and by market it, I mean make a Twitter account. I have seen no marketing for this show or even commercials. I can only find it on YouTube and even on there has the wrong show name. For me, it’s a no.
Kevin (Probably) Saves The World #4
Kevin (Probably) Saves The World premiered yesterday, October 3rd following ABC’s new show, The Mayor. While The Mayor performed lower than expected, Kevin (Probably) Saves The World was even worse. It drew a 1.0 rating for 18-49 year olds and 4.2 million viewers. Although the rating was quiet low, it managed to tie for second place with NCIS: New Orleans in that demo. Out of total viewers for the 10pm time slot, NCIS placed first, Law and Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders placed second and Kevin (Probably) Saves The World placed third.
I personally believe that Kevin tied with NCIS because they both are older skewed shows, which do not fall in the 18-49 demo. Crime shows are at an all time high in popularity and with Kevin going up against two crime shows, the challenge is already harder. With such a low demo rating for its premier on Tuesday night (This Is Us placing first with a 3.1), I find it will be hard to go any higher throughout the season.
Kevin (Probably) Saves The World #2
Since Kevin (Probably) Saves The World has not aired yet, I wanted to devote this blog post to the religious themes throughout the show. I want to see if this could be detrimental or possible bring a new light to broadcast entertainment. The show has been classified as an angelic-themed drama with the lead actress JoAnna Garcia Swisher saying it reconnects you with spirituality. The show dropped the word ‘Gospel’ from the title in July, which definitely helped widen the audience.
Jason Ritter, the main actor in the show, agreed with my point. He told the Hollywood Reporter that “It felt like the original title could be interpreted as exclusive right off the bat,” limiting the audience to only ‘faith-based’ viewers. At the end of the day, creators Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas want the audience to connect to Jason on his journey to become a better person. Whether you are religious or not, anyone can connect to that on some level which is why I found it very smart to drop the word ‘Gospel’ from the title.
Kevin (Probably) Saves The World #3
Kevin (Probably) Saves The World is coming up on its release date of Tuesday, October 3rd. This post focuses on why ABC might have chosen that time slot and the pros/cons of what it is up against. With a 10pm slot, I feel Kevin (Probably) Saves The World will be more of an adult show, rather than an angelic-drama for the family to enjoy. Majority of the cast are adults and with a religious tone, it most likely will be harder for a younger audience to understand.
The hour-long pilot will be aired directly after 4 of ABC’s 30-minute shows (The Middle, Fresh Off The Boat, Blackish and The Mayor). The Mayor is their only new series which have received positive reviews. The only problem is, Kevin (Probably) Saves The World is up against NCIS: New Orleans and Law and Order True Crime. Any viewers interested in crime shows, which there are a lot of, will automatically go to one of those shows. The benefit of this time slot though is that there are no other types of angelic-dramas so there will be no competition in that category.