Last night’s Bates Motel finale wrapped up some plotlines and left others in the lurch. Luckily, if you haven’t caught the A&E series’ big wrap-up, this isn’t a recap. Instead it’s a rundown of the show’s good ratings. As it turns out, Bates Motel did quite well during its finale, up 8% from the penultimate episode.
The final episode averaged 2.7 million total viewers, and while that may not seem like a ton of eyeballs, it’s pretty decent for a network that has slowly gotten into the scripted programming game over the last few years, with shows including The Glades and Longmire. Additionally, a large chunk of the audience came in the coveted 18-49 demographic. According to THR, 1.5 million of those total viewers were part of that ideal age grouping.
What’s most important about these numbers is that Bates Motel has held steady throughout the season, which means viewers are consistently tuning in to the series, rather than cycling in and out. Sometimes programs will yo-yo in the ratings, making the future of a series uncertain, but in Bates Motel’s case, the show humorously averaged the same numbers that last night’s finale brought in (2.7 total/ 1.5 demo). Because the ratings were so steady, it was no big surprise when A&E announced the series would be returning for a second season last month. Like Season 1, Season 2 has earned a 10-episode order at the network and will be returning to A&E sometime next year.
