Source: Caitlin Ocegueda / Caitlin Ocegueda
To quote Wesley Snipes in Passenger 57: Always bet on Black. Least when it comes to superheroes these days.
Just a week after the insanely anticipated Black Panther broke the record for most pre-sale tickets sold for a Marvel movie, DC’s new CW TV series Black Lightning debuted to the networks highest series premiere numbers in two years.
Deadline is reporting that Black Lightning premiered to 2.3 million viewers last night (January 17) with 0.8 rating in adults 18-49 (Live+same day) tuning in. It also held 100% of its The Flash lead-in in both 18-49 and 18-34 (0.6).
As for how Black Lightning’s numbers stack up against CW’s other superhero series, the list goes a bit like this: It was +34% ahead of last season’s midseason debut of Riverdale in total viewers and +33% in A18-49 (0.8/3). Black Lightning also was up significantly from the last new series premiere in the post-Flash Tuesday 9 PM slot, No Tomorrow, which drew a 0.5 in 18-49 in fall 2016 with a 1.2 lead-in from The Flash in the fast nationals for a 42% retention.
We honestly don’t know how any of this works but if you do, kudos.
Only time will tell if Black Lightning will continue to hold strong and become a mainstay on the CW network, but with all the big numbers to go along with the great reviews it’s been garnering, it seems like a promising bet.
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Photo: The CW
