‘Bluff City Law’ Episode 9 ratings
Monday night's next-to-last episode of what NBC is billing as the first season of “Bluff City Law” found the series in a familiar and frustrating place, at least for those who hope the Nielsen ratings will provide an answer for those wondering whether the program will return for a second season.
As usual, “Bluff City Law” finished third in its time slot, behind “The Good Doctor” on ABC and “Bull” on CBS, according to the preliminary overnight Nielsen ratings.
“Bluff City Law” attracted 3.6 million total viewers, while “Bull” was watched by an estimated 5.8 million people, with “The Good Doctor” earning about 6 million viewers. “Bluff City Law” also finished third in viewers belonging to the advertiser-coveted 18-49 age demographic.
Nevertheless, the Memphis-setand-shot program's viewership Monday night likely will prove to be fairly even with the previous week's ratings, which adjusted down to 3.59 million viewers after a Nov. 11 overnight estimate of 3.73 million.
In other words, the ratings are not exactly good (the website TV by the Numbers has classified “Bluff City Law” as a “sure bet to be canceled by May 2020”), but they're also not disastrous (cast member Jayne Atkinson is among those associated with the show who have attempted to drum up support, tweeting: “If we get viewership up we still have a chance!”).
Since its first two episodes, which skewed high, attracting more than 4 million viewers each, “Bluff City Law” has more or less settled on a core audience that varies from about 3.2 million to 3.7 million weekly.
The show's producers have suggested that audience may be faithful enough to justify a second season, assuming the ratings are amplified sufficiently by viewers who stream the episodes after their original air dates via such services as Hulu.
John Beifuss Memphis Commercial Appeal USA TODAY NETWORK – TENNESSEE