The War of 18-49, The 100

The Initial Potential

The CW's post-apocalyptic drama The 100 took over in the Wednesday 9/8c timeslot after Arrow, following a disappointing fall run from fellow newbie The Tomorrow People. Though it was over five months later, on 3/19/2014, The 100 managed to start at the same rating as TTP (0.9) and actually built on its Arrow lead-in (0.8) on premiere night. Building on Arrow would not continue, as The 100 fell to 0.7 in week two. From there, it took a fairly similar path to The Tomorrow People ratings-wise, settling with a blend of 0.6's and 0.5's. But those ratings were much more impressive in the spring as Arrow was much lower, and it particularly stood out with a couple 0.6's after the end of the regular season with repeat lead-ins.

The 100 returned in the fall after Arrow, for what still stands as the series' only season to air in the fall. It managed the same mix of 0.5's and 0.6's at which had settled late in season one. It was still good enough for renewal, but not good enough to return in the fall as space was getting tighter.

Back to Midseason Replacement

But the midseason berth ended up being a boon for The 100 in season three, as it got to lead out of the strong early episodes of DC Comics newbie Legends of Tomorrow. The season opened on 1/21/2016 with a 0.7, its highest raw rating since the second episode of the series, and it even posted a few more 0.6's in the first half of the season before ultimately settling at a consistent 0.4 in the second half.

Season four was back to Wednesday, where it again inherited the post-Arrow slot after a fall newbie disappointed. It held onto its usual 0.4 for the first five weeks, usually a couple tenths behind its struggling Arrow lead-in, and that was good enough to score it another renewal. Right after the renewal, it fell to 0.3 and stayed there for the rest of the season. Like The Originals and iZombie, it came off the bench again in 2017-18, and was relegated to mostly summer airings in seasons five and six.

Adults 18-49 info by season:

Seas	Year	Slot	Avg	y2y	Lo	Hi	Results	Grade
1	Spring 2014	Wednesday 9:00	0.60		0.5	0.9	detail
2	2014-15		Wednesday 9:00	0.51	-15%	0.4	0.6		detail
3	2016	Thursday 9:00	0.49	-5%	0.4	0.7	detail	B
4	Spring 2017	Wednesday 9:00	0.34	-30%	0.3	0.4	detail	C
5	2018	Tue 9:00, Tue 8:00	0.30	-14%	0.2	0.4	detail	B
6	2019	Tuesday 9:00	0.22	-26%	0.2	0.3	detail	C+

Historical-adjusted ratings by season:

Seas	Year	A18-49+	Label	Now19	y2y	Lo	Hi	Premiere	Finale
1	Spring 2014	32	marginal(CW)	0.30		27	48	48	27
2	2014-15	30	marginal(CW)	0.29	-4%	24	36	30	24
3	2016	34	marginal(CW)	0.32	+10%	27	50	50	33
4	Spring 2017	28	marginal(CW)	0.27	-16%	23	36	36	28
5	2018	27	marginal(CW)	0.26	-4%	20	40	40	28
6	2019	23	flop	0.22	-14%	18	32	32	18
AVERAGE:		AVERAGE:	29	marginal(CW)

The War of 18-49 chronicles the ratings history of veteran primetime series. For more, see the Index.