The ratings are in for the third week of everyone’s favorite Ryan-Lochte-themed reality TV show, and the latest episodes had mixed results from the ratings agencies.
In total, on the initial airing of the show, an estimated and extrapolated 476,000 people tuned in or booted up their DVR’s to watch. That’s roughly an 84,000 person increase ahead of what the show saw last week, but still well below the 807,000 the premier was tabbed for.
More importantly, while viewership ticked up at the older end of the key demographic (aka 35-49), the core audience that marketers seek, 18-34, was down an estimated 16,000 viewers from last week, and sits below half of what it was at the premier.
In most other metrics, one industry insider shared, the show is not doing well. It loses almost half of its lead-in audience.
The uptick does come after a change in the airing time from the first two weeks, though, so perhaps there’s some momentum in the new time slot. This week, E! aired Lochte at 10:30 Eastern, putting it after instead of before Married to Jonas. This uptick came despite the limitations of the sport (in other words, early morning wakeup calls) seeming to indicate that the swimming audience is less likely to tune in the later the show gets pushed.
Lochte’s marketing footprint continues to grow, however. After dipping back below the one-million-follower mark on Twitter sometime earlier this year, he has rejoined his long-time rival Michael Phelps (1.4 million followers) among the ranks of the very exclusive club.
The basic viewership estimates are below for the first three estimates.
How to read: the ‘P’ means “People” of either gender; the numbers in the headings are the age ranges considered, and the numbers in the chart are the numbers of estimated viewers based on sampling in thousands.
| P2+ (000) | P18-34 (000) | P18-49 (000) | |
| 4/21 (Premier) | 807 | 372 | 528 |
| 28-Apr | 392 | 196 | 261 |
| 5-May | 476 | 180 | 289 |
Love his show and I hope he gets another season. I kinda think his show might have done better on MTV.
There are a few interesting moments for me in the show… mostly when they show his workout routine. At the end of the day, its not a swim documentary, it’s a reality show. And even for reality TV, its not that good.
“It loses almost half of its lead-in audience.”
Does this mean half the people who watched to show before, turned off? Hahaha, that’s kind of funny if it’s true. I like the show enough and I know Ryan wants a second season, but at 10:30, even 9:30 central, on a Sunday, I don’t think the odds are in its favor.
Noone wants to watch anything to do with Ryan other than watch him swim– do you really think we believe any of it?? what a joke–keep your trashy life to yourself –what an embarassment– your mum and siblings involved too– none have any class
Wow what a hateful comment from someone who probably doesn’t even know Ryan, his family or his lifestyle.