Law and Order SVU ratings report: Week of January 10

How did this week’s Law and Order SVU season 20 episode do in the TV ratings? Here’s the Jan. 10 edition of the SVU Ratings Report.

With the 20th season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit season continuing, it’s time for another look at the Dick Wolf series’ TV ratings with the SVU Ratings Report.

Jan. 10 was the show’s midseason premiere, after more than a month off the air for the networks’ winter hiatus. And as is typical for premieres, the series had an uptick in live viewers this week.

4.0 million people tuned into the episode “Plastic” live, which was up slightly from the 3.8 million who watched the previous episode. That 200,000 is the first gain in live viewership that SVU has had in a few weeks, so that’s great news!

The series held its position as the 9th most-watched series on broadcast TV for the evening, and its 0.8 share amongst adults 18-49 lifted it from 9th to 7th place in that demographic.

In the big picture, though, Olivia Benson and company are still not quite performing as well as one would hope for their milestone 20th season. That audience is still more than a million people less than CBS‘s SWAT (5.81 million this week).

And the shows that are behind it, are within decent striking distance. A new episode of The Orville on FOX had 3.5 million viewers tuned in live, and ABC‘s special about the Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky affair had 3.65.

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That’s fewer than 400,000 people behind Special Victims Unit, and for a midseason premiere at that (although unlike many TV shows, this one didn’t have a cliffhanger or a big reveal to bolster its return).

With The Titan Games arriving on Thursdays, SVU is not NBC’s top-rated show on Thursdays anymore, either. Keep an eye on the continued ratings, because especially with a strong gain for the other Dick Wolf franchise this season, one wonders if the numbers will affect chances of a season 21.

For the latest SVU season 20 spoilers and news, plus more on all of Dick Wolf’s other series, follow the Dick Wolf category at One Chicago Center.