Fox premiered a truly bizarre-looking show this midseason with The Masked Singer. The competition series hides the identities of its competitors under masks and sticks them under the spotlight to sing, and a whole lot of people tuned in to the premiere. Now, several episodes later, the ratings indicate that people are still obsessed with The Masked Singer. After a dip last week, the latest episode got a nice boost.
The January 23 episode of The Masked Singer, which saw the elimination and unmasking of The Poodle, was watched by 7.1 million people and scored a 2.3 rating in the key 18-49 age demographic, according to TV By The Numbers. That represents a boost in both viewership and ratings from the January 16 episode, which received 6.9 million viewers and a 2.2 demo rating. A bump of several hundred thousand and a tenth of a rating is no small deal!
Few shows that are hits right off the bat in their freshman seasons actually see their ratings grow after they begin to dip; the folks at The Masked Singer and Fox should be pleased with the Live+Same day numbers. The show was already breaking ratings records after its very first episode; could it continue to deliver hit numbers for the network as the first season progresses?
The January 23 numbers are actually the highest The Masked Singer has received since its January 2 premiere on Fox. The premiere was viewed by 9.21 million and won a 2.9 18-49 demo rating, which dropped to 7.06 million and 2.3 the next week, and 6.89 million and a 2.2 rating the week after that.
The Masked Singer was easily the top-rated primetime airing on January 23. The three Chicago franchise shows were ranked next, with Chicago Med on top of Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D. Interestingly, Modern Family tied Chicago Fire in demo ratings but fell well below in viewership.
Interestingly, The Masked Singer actually was not on top in viewership, despite ratings that were nearly twice as big as its closest competitor. With 7.10 million viewers, The Masked Singer fell behind Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and only just behind Chicago P.D.’s 7.22 million. Chicago Fire won the 9 p.m. ET time slot in viewership, but Masked Singer remained on top in the ratings by 1.1.
What led to The Masked Singer’s boost this week? It’s impossible to say for sure, although the guessing-game aspect to the series has to be a draw. Fox may not be able to stop viewers from speculating and sharing thoughts to find the answers on social media, but the show has gone to great lengths to keep the secrets as much as possible. Even smartphones are being used to protect singers’ identities, and the masks are quite elaborate.
Competing on the show isn’t easy, and it’s no surprise that some performances -- like that of the Pineapple Man a couple of weeks ago -- can be pretty rough. One recently-eliminated competitor even revealed that he was happy to have been cut!
As of now, most of the contestants’ identities remain secret, but we have some educated guesses based on the clues dropped so far. If The Masked Singer isn’t your style, take a gander at our midseason TV premiere schedule for other options.
