The Rookie Achieves Remarkable Ratings Surge

The March 25 episode of ABC’s The Rookie marked a significant milestone, drawing its largest viewership not only of the season but also in several years. The drama series captivated a total of 8.25 million viewers, showcasing its growing popularity.

Impressively, the episode achieved season highs across the board, reaching an adults 18-49 rating of 1.67 (approximately 2.24 million individuals in that demographic) after three days of cross-platform viewing. A noteworthy portion of the audience—about 43 percent (around 3.57 million viewers)—and more than 70 percent of the 18-49 demographic rating (1.19) were drawn from streaming platforms.

The show’s recent viewership was the highest since January 2023, reflecting a positive trend for The Rookie in its fifth season. Additionally, the 18-49 rating was the best recorded since May 2020, during the penultimate episode of the second season.

Episode Highlights: ‘Speed’

Titled “Speed,” the March 25 episode featured a gripping storyline where John (played by Nathan Fillion) and Celina (Lisseth Chavez) found themselves in a hostage situation, while Tim (Eric Winter) pressed Lucy (Melissa O’Neil) to reconsider her decision-making.

ABC’s Strong Tuesday Night Lineup

The rising viewership of The Rookie is part of ABC’s impressive performance on Tuesday nights this season. The network has significantly increased its audience compared to the 2023-2024 season. With the success of the new series High Potential, all three dramas on ABC’s Tuesday roster are averaging over 10 million viewers after five weeks of multi-platform viewing. High Potential leads with an average of 15.31 million viewers, followed by The Rookie at 11.35 million and Will Trent with 10.91 million.

Additionally, Dancing With the Stars demonstrated solid viewership on Tuesdays last fall, improving year-on-year, and concluded with its most-watched finale since November 2019.

Improved Performance in New Time Slot

Since shifting to the 9 p.m. ET/PT time slot in mid-February, The Rookie has also seen notable growth in its linear ratings, averaging 3.34 million same-day viewers over the five episodes following the change. This represents an 11 percent increase compared to its previous average at 10 p.m.

For more detailed insights, visit the Hollywood Reporter.