First Responders Live gets new time slot after ratings drop
First Responders Live is moving to a new day and time, as ratings for Dick Wolf’s FOX reality series are still not looking good.
First Responders Live is on the move, after the FOX series produced by Dick Wolf took another hit in the TV ratings recently.
Starting in the first week of August, the reality program will air Tuesdays at 9 p.m., instead of the current Wednesdays at 9 p.m. time slot. Its first Tuesday episode is scheduled for Aug. 6.
The change may be an attempt to boost the show’s struggling ratings. Although it boasted some improvement in mid-July, its most recent episode was once again one of the lowest-rated shows on Wednesday night.
On July 31, the series had just 1.99 million people watching live. That made it 10th out of the 13 programs aired on broadcast TV that night, including reruns.
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The only shows with less total viewers watching them were a repeat Songland on NBC, a repeat Penn & Teller: Fool Us on The CW, and a new Jane the Virgin, also on The CW.
First Responders Live had just a 0.4 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, which is the biggest subsection for TV advertisers. That was tied for ninth place out of 13 shows. More worryingly, it lost more than 33 percent of its audience among adults 18-49 week to week—the biggest drop of any broadcast TV show.
Despite the declining numbers, FOX is sticking with the series, planning to air an entire 13-episode season. What may also be of interest to Dick Wolf fans is that the network is apparently starting to be more transparent about the show, which has come under criticism for not actually being live even though it’s called First Responders Live.
The upcoming listings for the program note that two episodes are live only on the East Coast and tape-delayed on the West Coast. Even quirkier is the Aug. 27 episode being labeled as pre-taped, which means it won’t be live for anyone, at all.
Perhaps a new time slot will get more viewers tuning in, but FOX doesn’t seem to have the hit that it was hoping for when it partnered with Dick Wolf on this new reality venture. And what makes it even more interesting is that by moving to Tuesdays in the 9 p.m. hour, the program is now going head-to-head with reruns of Wolf’s scripted hit FBI.
Next. Where can you stream FBI online?. dark
For the latest First Responders Live spoilers and news, plus more on all of Dick Wolf’s other series, follow the Dick Wolf category at One Chicago Center.