The Question, Monday 5/19/14: Will An Earlier Premiere Make The Bachelorette Ratings Rosier?

In the last couple years, those pesky Bachelor/ette series have somehow found yet another shot of momentum. The Bachelorette had a solid summer 2012 season. Then The Bachelor grew in 2013 and dropped less than the league average in 2014, even against the Olympics. There's been only one recent exception to this trend: last summer's The Bachelorette, down 18%. I don't know why for sure, but a big part of it may have been the scheduling. ABC usually gives it a great situation, premiering it directly after the Monday finale of Dancing with the Stars, but they used that slot to preview drama Motive last year. The Bachelorette crashed to a 1.9 premiere on its own the next week (down 27% year-to-year). This year, its 90-minute premiere is back in the post-DWTS slot, and given the health of the last couple Bachelor seasons, the ratings should be able to rebound. I don't think it quite gets back to its 2.6 premiere from two years ago, or to The Bachelor's 2.7 premiere in January; neither of those faced The Voice at all, and this one at least deals with 30 minutes of it. But it may well be closer to those than to the 1.9 from last summer. Over/Under: 2.35.