Dwayne Johnson has arrived in primetime on network TV thanks to The Titan Games. The unscripted competition series pits the best of the best athletes against each other as well as against mind-boggling obstacles. Between the interesting premise and the name recognition of the Rock himself, the odds were pretty good that the ratings for The Titan Games wouldn't be too shabby. Well, the numbers for the first episode are in, and they reveal that plenty of people were interested in who would top Mount Olympus.
6.5 million viewers tuned in for The Titan Games' two-hour premiere on NBC in the key 18-49 age demographic, which marked the Peacock Network's first non-sports Thursday win in nearly two years, according to THR. The premiere scored a 1.8 rating in that 18-49 demo. The ratings and viewership officially made The Titan Games' first night NBC's biggest Thursday night winner (excluding sports broadcasts) since all the way back on March 2, 2017. What a way to start the new year!
Viewers can almost certainly count on seeing as much of the intense competition in the coming weeks as they did in the premiere. Dwayne Johnson has explained why The Titan Games doesn't change its challenges for female competitors, and early footage indicates that there are plenty of big obstacles for the competitors to challenge. There will be one man and one woman to win the top prize of $100,000 at the end of the season.
The Titan Games premiere aired just a night after Fox debuted its own unscripted reality series, although The Masked Singer is about as different from The Titan Games as is possible. Nevertheless, The Masked Singer's ratings -- which were even bigger than those for The Titan Games -- combined with those for the new NBC show indicate that there's definitely an audience for unscripted primetime.
The big question now is if such shows can sustain their numbers. Both shows had unique enough premises that it was possible folks just tuned in for a taste; will they return next week? I at least am planning on watching long enough to get a look at that challenge Dwayne Johnson came up with while drunk on tequila.
Unfortunately, the solid numbers for The Titan Games did not carry over to the Season 6 premiere of The Blacklist afterward, which only scored an 0.9 rating and 4.19 million viewers in the 18-49 demographic. If The Titan Games continues to hold its own in primetime, its numbers may not carry over to boost the show that follows, although that show won't be The Blacklist. That show switches to Friday nights moving forward.
The first season of The Titan Games will run for a total of ten episodes and narrow down 64 contestants to one man and one woman. You can catch new episodes on Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. I'll be interested to see how much the ratings and viewership do or do not change once delayed viewing can be taken into account. Only time will tell. If you're still in the market for other new shows, check out our midseason TV premiere guide for some ideas.
