The good news for Fox’s J.J. Abrams-created ‘Fringe’ is that the show’s ratings reversed a two-week trend of going down with last night’s episode ‘6B.’ The bad news is the current ratings are still off from the first two nights in the new 2011 Friday time slot that Fox pushed the show to.
Last night’s ‘Fringe’ managed 4.1 million viewers and a 1.5 in the advertiser-friendly 18-49 demographic. That’s a 7% increase from last week’s 3.7 million viewers and 1.4 rating.
‘Fringe’ badly needed to reverse course after posting a pair of 4.3 million viewers and 1.9 ratings in its first two episodes airing in the new Friday time slot. A third consecutive dip in the ratings would have cast a serious doubt on Fox renewing ‘Fringe’ for a fourth season.
Star Joshua Jackson spoke to EW just yesterday and pleaded with fans to watch the show live on Friday nights rather than later off a DVR. Even though the 3-day DVR rating pumped up last week’s ‘Fringe’ episode 57% in the adult 18-49 demo, there’s a greater chance those viewers skipped over commercials which affects advertiser’s perspective of the show’s audience’s probability of seeing their ads when placing a buy.
‘Fringe’ executive producers and showrunners Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman have plotted a 5-year plan for ‘Fringe’ that is only now passing the mid-point. Ratings will need to either hold steady or increase for Fox to renew the show and keep the chance of the fifth and likely final season being realized.
If you love ‘Fringe’ be sure to clear your Friday evening calendar and watch new episodes on Fox live as they premiere. The more live viewers ‘Fringe’ can attract, the better odds it will continue into 2012.
