Tony Almeida made his heavily promoted return to 24 on Monday and it didn’t do much to help the ratings, only providing a very small boost. Monday’s episode was seen by 3.89 million viewers and got a 1.0 in the 18-49 demographic.
This is up ever so slightly from last week’s series low (3.80m viewers and 0.9 in the demo), but still less than Episode 5’s ratings (3.97m viewers and 1.0 in the demo). Essentially not much has changed.
Tony has been part of the series since the very first episode and is one of the most popular characters from the original series. FOX promoted this episode with tons of commercials, non-stop social media posts, even a recap video aimed at Legacy holdouts who were coming on board just for Tony. Carlos Bernard spent the last week doing the morning talk show circuit and interviews with just about every mainstream television website.
But it seems bringing back a single old character more than halfway into the season was too little, too late to have any sort of significant impact.
Ratings
ShowBuzz Daily
SpoilerTV
TVByTheNumbers
Update March 30, 2017
L+7 delayed viewing figures for the seventh episode now in and they are as follows (thanks Chlojack):
Viewers: 3.899 million live, 2.083 million DVR, 5.982 million total
Demo: 1.0 live, .6 delayed, 1.6 total
(source)
107 Comments
Comments ClosedChlojack
March 16, 2017 at 2:33 pmFirst week without a drop
Tony’s return offset what likely would have been a loss of viewers with DST
The bad news:
It was the second lowest rated episode of the season
Ford Martin
March 16, 2017 at 2:38 pmChlojack
March 16, 2017 at 2:44 pmSam
March 16, 2017 at 2:45 pmChlojack
March 16, 2017 at 2:48 pmChlojack
March 16, 2017 at 4:18 pmTony
March 16, 2017 at 2:51 pmI would hope that the decision makers don’t put much stock in these flawed, outdated and inaccurate rating system.
Pat
March 16, 2017 at 3:11 pmI guess he’s still sprawled out on the floor after fainting when he saw the ratings for the “Tony Returns” episode.
WouldntYouLikeToKnow
March 16, 2017 at 3:36 pmandy
March 16, 2017 at 3:52 pmandy
March 16, 2017 at 4:32 pm24 Spoilers
March 16, 2017 at 5:30 pmI think maybe you’re misinterpreting the article. I said nothing negative about the character or actor, I like Tony and even hyped up his return.
Big Boss
March 16, 2017 at 6:00 pm24 Spoilers
March 16, 2017 at 6:39 pmJD
March 16, 2017 at 6:40 pmKiwi
March 16, 2017 at 4:37 pmFord Martin
March 16, 2017 at 5:38 pmJD
March 16, 2017 at 5:56 pmSome of these nuts make me feel almost embarrassed to be a massive Tony fan.
24Spoilers, I was one of the holdouts and, if you recall, one of the ones who claimed that Tony’s return would see a large spike in ratings. I was wrong and fully acknowledge that.
Unlike some of the people here, I don’t take any offense at your article and I’m honestly not sure why some are. Grow up, people. Accept the facts. Stop acting like he shot your dog.
24 Spoilers
March 16, 2017 at 7:01 pmMy favorite episode of the series is Jack being forced to execute Ryan Chappelle and that had the lowest ratings of the original series run. It bummed me out that more people didn’t see it. So I can understand how some of the diehard Tony fans are feeling right now.
But facts are facts, it is what it is. Don’t shoot the messenger :P
JD
March 16, 2017 at 7:08 pmYou made this exact prediction last week before these ratings were in and you were 100% correct. People just need to accept facts as I’m sadly beginning to accept: Tony can’t save this.
This is a good thing, though. It sends a clear message that most people just don’t like this new direction. Hopefully, they’ll make a final season with Jack and Tony…if only…
Monroe
March 17, 2017 at 1:15 amChlojack
March 17, 2017 at 10:03 amJD
March 16, 2017 at 5:53 pm24 Spoilers
March 16, 2017 at 6:37 pmEverything that I wrote is factual – it was a very heavily promoted episode and it just barely increased in ratings. Shows commonly fluctuate by a tenth of point every week. Total viewers rose by only 2.74%. Saying that Tony’s return did little to improve the ratings is an accurate statement backed up by statistics.
The fact is, this is the second lowest-rated episode of the season (and series history). It’s kinda hard to sugar-coat that in a positive light.
JD
March 16, 2017 at 6:43 pmTrevor
March 16, 2017 at 7:31 pmJustin
March 16, 2017 at 4:43 pmNow that people know Tony is back, viewership should stay the same or rise a bit each week.
Dancing with the Stars gets less 18-49 demo ratings than Bachelor, basketball won’t be tough competition and neither will The Voice
Justin
March 16, 2017 at 4:55 pmIf ratings stay the same or rise again, show could be renewed
andy
March 16, 2017 at 5:05 pmJD
March 16, 2017 at 5:51 pmTony’s return didn’t do much to improve the ratings. It’s NOT nice but it’s the truth and the truth isn’t always nice in life.
K
March 16, 2017 at 5:54 pmJD
March 16, 2017 at 5:57 pmJustin
March 16, 2017 at 5:55 pmJD
March 16, 2017 at 5:59 pmThat’s sarcasm, by the way.
Dave26
March 16, 2017 at 7:45 pmFelipeJack
March 16, 2017 at 5:32 pmXAM
March 16, 2017 at 5:46 pmAsian Rebel
March 16, 2017 at 5:54 pmBrad
March 16, 2017 at 6:10 pmJD
March 16, 2017 at 6:41 pmWouldntYouLikeToKnow
March 16, 2017 at 7:30 pmJD
March 17, 2017 at 5:18 amBig Boss
March 17, 2017 at 10:47 amJD
March 18, 2017 at 2:59 pmTrevor
March 16, 2017 at 7:47 pmI think the main issue is with the character development. Who is Eric Carter? I mean, it’s 7 episodes in and have we even seen his birth certificate yet?
Dave26
March 16, 2017 at 7:49 pmTrevor
March 17, 2017 at 11:15 amMarlon
March 16, 2017 at 8:24 pmOk – so whilst Tony’s return created a bump in the ratings it’s not huge. Carlos ain’t no Kiefer so sorry to the Tony fans (including me) but I’m not surprised that ratings didn’t spike hugely upwards.
Do these ratings really matter though? Are we bickering about it for nothing?
I mean FFS Gotham is still on air and somehow their Season 1 ratings were more than Legacy
(I still watch Gotham though as love the Batman world)
andy
March 16, 2017 at 9:09 pmMarlon
March 16, 2017 at 9:38 pmI’m still gonna support the show regardless and pray we get a renewal
Kurt Cobain
March 16, 2017 at 10:58 pmCoral Snake
March 16, 2017 at 10:37 pmLong time lurker here. Been following this site and message section for years, even back when it was called 24fans.net.
Came out of hiding just to say first: thank you for running this site and message section. Seems like this is the last 24 fan site still alive, (especially since IMDB went pro-censorship / anti-free speech by shutting their own boards down) and I appreciate your efforts and your time to keep it up and running for all us 24 fans.
And secondly: please don’t get discouraged by some of these comments saying that you are biased against the show or trying to harm Carlos Bernard/Tony or 24 by simply posting FACTS about what the shows ratings are.
You are the just the messenger. If the people spewing this nonsense are not happy about the ratings of the show, they need to take it up with the shows’ writers and the producers/ decision makers at 20th Century Fox Television. They are the ones response for these ratings disasters and for (most likely) putting the final nail into the coffin of the 24 francise that we all love. I don’t want to see this site and message board become another IMDB because a few people ruin it for everyone.
I just had to come out from under my rock to post this. Thanks again 24Spoilers mods and admin for all that you have done, all that you do, and all that I hope you will continue to do!
Sincerely,
Long time Lurker
Trevor
March 16, 2017 at 11:12 pmCoral Snake
March 19, 2017 at 11:12 pm24 Spoilers
March 18, 2017 at 4:27 pm24fans.net was actually a different site around a similar time, but a great one that I used to visit daily. Before that I frequented a site called “Ryan’s Report” and the official 24 message boards plus a couple more. There used to be an incredible 24 community back in the day, but unfortunately Day 6 being terrible followed by a two year wait for Day 7 (due to the writers strike) really did a number on the fanbase.
This is one of the last 24 sites left (certainly the last active one that I know of). I’ve tried to keep it a nice and welcome place for all, even though it’s unfortunately not living up to that standard right now. Regardless of Legacy’s fate, the site will continue to stick around. I’ve kept it going when the series first ended in 2010, after LAD ended in 2014, it’s 2017 and why stop now? :P
And it’s all good, I can handle criticism. I’m just kind of baffled as to why this is the post that triggered people. I simply said the ratings were slightly better than last week and slightly worse than the episode two weeks ago, meaning there’s been pretty much no change at all. I know a lot of people were hoping for better results after weeks of predicting that Tony could save this, boost the ratings, get a renewal and all that… But facts are facts and it’s not my fault if people can’t handle the truth.
If I ever get going on my 24: Legacy review, that is when I expect the fanboys to really attack me haha.
Big Boss
March 18, 2017 at 10:59 pmCoral Snake
March 19, 2017 at 11:38 pm”Day 6 being terrible followed by a two year wait for Day 7 (due to the writers strike) really did a number on the fanbase”
and this:
”The community really did die when Season 6 went down the tubes. I’ve never once seen the same kind of excitement and enthusiasm online since then and it seems that’s never going to return”
…is pretty much dead-on accurate. I remember all those sites you mentioned. I do remember the massive 24 message board (24 invision board or 24 heaven, something like that) that never had the same activity after 2007.
The bulk of the die hard fan base just doesn’t exist anymore. I remember when original 24 would be on the cover of TV guide in December or January. 24 Legacy? It had a snippet article the size of a quarter of a single page in the TV guide issue released right before 24 Legacy’s premiere.
That should tell you everything. Majority of audience simply has no interest in the franchise anymore.
Big Boss
March 20, 2017 at 12:20 amUnfortunately they didn’t, so now we’re stuck in zombie 24 mode, waiting for another pseudo-reboot every 3-4 years and crossing our fingers that they’ll either completely reinvent the wheel or just end the fucking thing. I am liking a lot of aspects of the new show – some of the new characters, esp Eric and Andy, feel like they would fit right in with the fantasy get-Jack-out-of-prison season – but it’s abundantly clear that they need to find a new team of writers with a brand-new take on the whole concept, or just not do it anymore at all. This show was responsible for so much of the last 15 years of television but it’s way too late in the game to be rehashing as much as it is.
Bluetooth Group
March 20, 2017 at 2:34 pm24LegacySucks
March 16, 2017 at 11:28 pmI quit after this week and Tony is my favorite. Writers can’t even keep up with their own timeline, why should I care?
andy
March 17, 2017 at 5:39 amJohnGormleyJG
March 17, 2017 at 8:12 amWouldntYouLikeToKnow
March 17, 2017 at 7:05 amI mean it can’t be that we have an entire thread about someone literally not accepting the actual truth and coming up with their own reality. What the fuck.
Tom
March 17, 2017 at 10:09 amThis, coupled with how dire the new iteration of the show has been is slowly killing my love for 24.
If you had told me this time last month that I’d be saying that 24 was a product of it’s time and should be put to pasture I would have laughed. But look at me now…
Gerry Mander
March 17, 2017 at 11:06 amLegacy is failing because there’s little territory left to explore for 24 in the television medium, and it shows in the lack of new and/or engaging ideas… a two-hour feature film would concentrate ideas into a tighter format and would maybe work better, the real-time format has become too familiar and isn’t the effective narrative tool it used to be… Live Another Day (as good as it was) convinced me of that.
If/when Legacy gets the chop, Kiefer will be getting a phone call pretty soon after from FOX… and he’ll be holding all the cards.
FelipeJack
March 17, 2017 at 12:42 pmits interesting to see that someone else also thinks that “best consecutive stretch of episodes in 24 was the latter half of Season 8″… the last 12 episodes of season 8 are very great, very tight together, the flow is very natural from one episode to the other. There are a couple exceptions that the flow was not that excellent, such as episode 13 and mainly episode 17, but it’s better than past seasons of 24.
One can argue that we had actually 2 parts in the last 12 episodes of season 8: 12-16 and 18-24 (with 17 making a transition between those parts. Even with that, it’s the best 12 consecutive episodes of the show, I think. I expected LAD to be something like that, but it wasn’t.
Brad
March 17, 2017 at 8:03 pmFelipeJack
March 17, 2017 at 3:09 pmJohnGormleyJG
March 17, 2017 at 8:18 amBrad
March 17, 2017 at 8:01 pmandy
March 17, 2017 at 3:44 pmJohnGormleyJG
March 17, 2017 at 5:21 pmJD
March 18, 2017 at 3:02 pmandy
March 17, 2017 at 5:34 pmJohnGormleyJG
March 17, 2017 at 6:05 pmThe junky storylines are the only things we don’t want to see back.
Big Boss
March 17, 2017 at 9:11 pm24marathonman
March 17, 2017 at 9:32 pmhttp://www.breitbart.com/big-hollywood/2017/03/17/tv-networks-panic-as-new-shows-see-lousy-ratings/
Trevor
March 18, 2017 at 9:47 amChlojack
March 18, 2017 at 11:20 amhttp://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/tv-networks-fret-as-midseason-shows-fail-connect-viewers-986238
Tom
March 18, 2017 at 10:26 amIf anything I think that the only way for Kiefer to return is for Legacy to fail and for Fox to offer him a blank cheque to come back to the role. Legacy’s success would allow Fox the opportunity to continue the franchise with cheap, xerox copies of beloved characters and not have to fork out the cash to get Jack and Chloe back in the game.
Having Legacy get cancelled is the best thing for the show as it will show the writers that us fans demand more from the show than recycled story-lines and bland characters.
Scrap the show, scrap the writers and take it from there.
Chlojack
March 18, 2017 at 12:16 pmMarlon
March 19, 2017 at 5:47 amUgh….
Chlojack
March 18, 2017 at 11:46 amHere are all the hours that Fox likely has to replace next season:
One hour shows ending:
Bones: 12 episodes
and most likely:
Scream Queens: 10 episodes
Pitch: 10 episodes
Exorcist: 10 episodes
APB: 12 episodes
Sleepy Hollow: 13 episodes
Rosewood: 22 episodes
Fox has 5 one-hour pilots ordered (one is straight to series). They also have two pushed (potentially for next spring). There’s a very good chance X-Files will return, and possibly Prison Break.
name
March 18, 2017 at 4:14 pm24 Spoilers
March 18, 2017 at 6:42 pmThe next few weeks will be interesting, I’m curious to see how Prison Break does and I have a feeling we’ve yet to see the floor for 24: Legacy’s ratings.
Chlojack
March 19, 2017 at 11:30 amJay
March 19, 2017 at 5:40 amAdvice for the writers: #1 The thumb-drive plot is not very compelling. You need a threat that is explainable to a viewer in 10 words or less. #2 Portraying all black people as either being in a gang, or affiliated with someone who is in an gang is not enjoyable to watch and is a little insulting to blacks on a subliminal level. Not all black people are thugs, have thuggish tenancies, or a gangsta mentality.
Finally, with the real-world politics in the state that they are in now with Trump in the White House, I watch AND GET MY FILL of politics. My wife is trying to detox me from watching Fox News so much. Having said that, I am numb to watch any more political driven shows. I don’t know if that is contributing to the lack of viewership here or lack of enthusiasm to watch a political drama. This is a paradigm shift for some where non-fiction is more emotional than fiction.
Asian Rebel
March 20, 2017 at 9:10 pmandy
March 19, 2017 at 12:45 pmDave26
March 19, 2017 at 3:16 pmJD
March 20, 2017 at 10:41 amBluetooth Group
March 20, 2017 at 2:05 pm24 Spoilers
March 20, 2017 at 3:20 pmI also remember there was a member of that board who lived in the apartment complex where they were filming Season 4’s final episodes. He got the scoop (with photo evidence) on Mia Kirshner/Mandy returning, I was so ridiculously hyped. I told some of my friends in real life and they just went “Who’s Mandy?” haha :(
Bluetooth Group
March 20, 2017 at 4:37 pm24 Spoilers
March 20, 2017 at 5:39 pmIf I remember correctly, Czar wasn’t around nearly as much during the sixth season (another leaker Kuja kinda took his place that year). And that sorta matched up with Jon’s schedule, since he was busy filming another series for Fox and didn’t direct as many episodes in S6. Plus Jon was always one to interact with the fans, and he did post on the official boards occasionally, so if anyone it’d be him imo. But yeah that’s just speculation.
Chlojack
March 20, 2017 at 3:34 pmWouldntYouLikeToKnow
March 20, 2017 at 4:12 pmAnd I remember someone posting three potential endings for season 6 before the finale aired. One was Logan showing up, one was Tony showing up and one was the Audrey/Heller ending that ended up being the real deal. Ahh the good old days.
Bluetooth Group
March 20, 2017 at 4:35 pm24 Spoilers
March 20, 2017 at 5:24 pmI still remember a lot of names from the official 24 board – TonyJunkie, CTUWidow, MitchRapp, patriot, chief, Carly, Dietcoke, 24fan, relu something (the Audrey fanatic), etc. I think I had a super generic username like JBFan or something. There was even a guy who was obsessed with Mitchell Anderson (the bad guy from like one episode of S4 that shot down Air Force One) which I found a bit odd yet cool at the same time. Good times :)
WouldntYouLikeToKnow
March 20, 2017 at 7:01 pmAnd then Fox axed the whole place.
Bluetooth Group
March 20, 2017 at 7:05 pmTom
March 20, 2017 at 8:27 pmChlojack
March 20, 2017 at 10:33 pmBrad
March 20, 2017 at 6:32 pmandy
March 20, 2017 at 2:10 pmname
March 20, 2017 at 6:35 pmThe show needs less of that nonsense and more action and more Tony.
andy
March 21, 2017 at 5:17 am