‘Blue Bloods’ Series Finale Scores Season High Viewership
The final episode of “Blue Bloods” gave the show its best viewership of the last season.
According to VideoAmp data, the season 14/series finale drew 6.68 million viewers in the Live+Same Day ratings when it aired on CBS on December 13 at 10 PM ET/PT. That’s 15% more than Live+Same Day’s season-to-date viewership average.
Paramount Global does not currently use Nielsen data as the contract between the two companies expired in September. The conversations continue. However, looking at the Nielsen data, the story remains largely the same.
According to Nielsen estimates, the episode drew 5.86 million viewers in the Friday evening time slot. That’s still a season high on Live+Same Day, bettering the season 14 premiere, which drew 5.67 million viewers when the final season aired in February. “Blue Bloods” was also by far the most-watched program of the night, with the closest rival being the CBS drama “Fire Country.” That show attracted 4.54 million viewers and aired just before “Blue Bloods.”
In a recent interview with Varietyspoke to series star Tom Selleck about his initial reaction when he heard the show would air on Friday nights.
“Imagine saying to CBS when we started in 2010, ‘Here’s a show you can program in your worst time slot. You don’t have to advertise it, and it will be the winner for fifteen years.” That’s pretty neat!”
Selleck also spoke about both his and the rest of the show’s cast’s desire to continue it after the finale. “I don’t understand why they didn’t start streaming it, ten episodes a year,” he said. ‘But I’m not the boss. Everyone wanted to come back. And I think with this cast it would have been a gift to the audience,” he says. “I don’t make those decisions. I am ready to celebrate and commemorate this show, but I still have to get used to it.”
