The CW has been pulling out all the stops when it comes to promotion for the ginormous "Heroes v. Aliens" crossover event between Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow. The crossover kicked off last night with Supergirl, and preliminary ratings are in to give a clue of how many people were hooked by the promise of the "best team-up ever." As it turns out, the Girl of Steel drew a pretty fabulous audience for the first night of superhero domination on The CW.
Supergirl attracted 3.5 million viewers to the first leg of the "Heroes v. Aliens" crossover, scoring an impressive 1.1 in the valuable 18 - 49 age demographic. It was a big jump from the previous week's numbers, which drew 2.6 million viewers and a .91 rating. The crossover bump carried Supergirl to its highest viewership since moving to The CW this fall, when the Season 2 premiere only attracted 3.3 million viewers.
Of course, 3.5 million viewers and a 1.1 rating wouldn't be particularly encouraging for one of the major broadcast networks. In fact, those numbers would put a show in danger of cancellation on ABC, NBC or CBS. For The CW, however, the numbers translate to the most-watched telecast of any of its shows so far this fall. Last night's episode of Supergirl Season 2 actually beat out every episode of The Flash Season 3, and The Flash has been The CW's heavy hitter ever since its debut back in 2014. Way to go, Supergirl!
The CW has struggled when it comes to ratings on Mondays, and last night was a big hit all around. Supergirl ranked second among primetime series in the 18 - 34 demographic in the 8 p.m. ET time slot, and it matched the midseason finale of Fox's Gotham in the 18 - 49 range. Jane The Virgin also hit season highs, which may be due to Supergirl viewers who stuck around on The CW for the 9 p.m. ET time slot. All in all, The CW had its most-watched Monday in nearly seven years and won its highest 18 - 49 demo rating in more than five years. The crossover magic touch that brought high ratings for Arrow and The Flash in years past seems to work for Supergirl as well.
Interestingly, Supergirl actually didn't do all that much crossing over in its leg of the crossover. Barry Allen didn't show up on Earth-38 to bring Kara back to Earth-1 until the final moments of the episode. Any folks who tuned in hoping to see an hour of crossover action may have been disappointed.
We'll have to wait and see how the other three shows in The CW's DC universe do in the ratings thanks to the crossover. All four of the superhero series have experienced slumps so far in fall 2016, so the team-up may be what they all need for a boost. Tune in to The Flash tonight at 8 p.m. ET on The CW to see the second part of the crossover. Part 3 hits the airwaves with Arrow on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET, and Part 4 finishes things up with Legends of Tomorrow at 8 p.m. ET.
