Fuller House was a surprise hit for Netflix when its first season debuted back in February of 2016, and it got a renewal order for a second season almost right away. Unfortunately, it seems that Season 2 was much less of a success in its first weekend than Season 1. Ratings may have dropped by more than 50% for Season 2.
Netflix is notoriously stingy when it comes to releasing ratings and viewership for analysis, but ratings measurement company Symphony Advanced Media reports numbers that fell significantly from Season 1 to Season 2. If Symphony's report is accurate, the first three days of Fuller House Season 2 only averaged a 2.01 in the 18 - 49 age demographic, which is a 62% drop from the 5.30 average in the first three days of Season 1. Additionally, the Season 2 premiere only won a 3.32 rating in 18 - 49, which equals a 67% drop from the Season 1 premiere.
Additionally, Symphony reports that a mere 9% of the viewers who tuned in to the Season 1 premiere in the first three days also tuned in to the Season 2 premiere when it hit the web on December 9, which could indicate that the huge numbers for Season 1 were inflated by the ratings for the premiere. According to Variety, the ratings drop between Episodes 1 and 2 in Season 1 is similar to the ratings drop from Season 1 and Season 2. The folks who enjoyed the series premiere enough to watch the whole first season may be the only ones who sat down to binge the second season in its first weekend on Netflix.
Of course, ratings in the 18 - 49 age demographic aren't nearly as important for Netflix as they are for broadcast television. High demo ratings on broadcast mean that advertisers are willing to pay more to air commercials during episodes. Since Netflix doesn't use commercial breaks the way that other TV outlets do, low demo ratings aren't necessarily deal-breakers when it comes to renewing shows. The drop from Fuller House Season 1 to Season 2 is discouraging, but a core group of loyal fans could be enough to keep the show in production for the indefinite future. Fuller House still gets plenty of buzz on social media.
Besides, there are plenty of reasons why the numbers for the first three days of Seasons 1 and 2 are so different, and they're not all disastrous. For one thing, the incredible ratings for the Season 1 premiere may have been bolstered by the novelty factor of a Full House spinoff. Even folks who were never going to watch 13 episodes of family friendly fun on Netflix may have wanted to check out the premiere for the sake of nostalgia. For another thing, viewers may not feel as inclined to rush into a Season 2 as they were a Season 1. It's possible that the average ratings for Fuller House Season 2 will be more impressive once more than the first three days are taken into account. Fans don't need to panic just yet that Fuller House may get the ax.
If you haven't checked it out yet, you can catch all 13 episodes of Fuller House Season 2 streaming on Netflix now. Take a look at our midseason TV premiere schedule to see what you can watch on the small screen in the not-too-distant future.
