The CW’s return to original programming continued on Wednesday with Riverdale and Nancy Drew’s season debuts.
Riverdale Season 5 Episode 1 had 655,000 viewers and a 0.2 rating.
While this number seems low, it’s on par with what the series averaged last season, but down considerably from last season’s premiere.
At this stage, the series is only alive to make money through streaming, and its deal with Netflix in other territories helps to fund the show’s budget.
Nancy Drew Season 2 Episode 1 drew 491,000 viewers and a 0.1 rating — not far off its first season average.
The on-air ratings may be low, but CW boss Mark Pedowitz recently said the streaming numbers on The CW app are solid, so this is another streaming show.
It’s also possible that viewers opted to watch Inauguration coverage, but these are not terrible starts when you compare their year-ago ratings.
ABC went with original episodes of The Conners (3.1 million/0.6 rating) and Call Your Mother (2.4 million/0.6 rating).
Given that they both aired later than usual, these are not bad results, but the true test will be whether Call Your Mother can stabilize when it moves back to its regular slot.
FOX went with The Masked Dancer (2.8 million/0.6 rating) and Name That Tune (2.7 million/0.6 rating), which each slipped a tenth.
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Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.