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Nice try, CW.
Season 3 of FBoy Island debuted on Monday, and another trio of women are setting out to find the Nice Guy in a sea of “manipulative douche-baggery,” as host Nikki Glaser so eloquently put it. But, audiences don’t appear to be taking note.
The reality format, which was scooped up by The CW after being canceled at Max following the first two seasons, aired to pretty abysmal ratings during primetime.
An average of about 158,000 people tuned in across the two-hour premiere, which also flatlined with a 0.02 rating among adults 18-49, according to live+same-day Nielsen data.
It’s not exactly a surprise that FBoy Island isn’t starting off as a hit for the network, whose parent company Nexstar has repeatedly stressed that the average CW viewer is 58 years old — which was also used partially as the justification for canceling nearly all of its young adult-focused scripted series last year.
The CW also isn’t necessarily known for dominating broadcast, especially as linear TV viewership continues to dwindle across the board. However, these ratings are still pretty low even for The CW. For context, All American (one of the network’s last remaining scripted series) put up an average of close to 500,000 viewers per episode for Season 5.
On the unscripted front, Whose Line Is It Anyway? also managed about half a million viewers throughout its Season 19 run. Season 9 of Penn & Teller: Fool Us did even better, pulling almost 700,000 viewers out of its hat.
Ratings for the original run of the first two seasons of FBoy Island are hard to come by, since they debuted strictly on streaming. All HBO said at the time of its Season 2 renewal was that it had put up consistent week-over-week audience growth.
Earlier this year, The CW opted to air FBoy Island Season 2 to prime audiences for the newest season. However, those 10 episodes aired to similar lukewarm reception, averaging about 157,000 viewers and dwindling after a peak with 190,000 for Episode 2.
Despite a clear disconnect from the network’s core audience, Season 3 of FBoy Island seemed like it had a lot going for it. Former Bachelorette Katie Thurston is one of three leading ladies this season, which could have attracted some fans from the long-running ABC franchise. The new season is also debuting during a fairly quiet time in broadcast TV, due to the recently resolved 148-day writers strike and ongoing actors strike.
It’s entirely possible that the dating series will do much better on digital platforms, which is where younger viewers typically watch television anyways. The network’s other shows geared toward younger audiences like All American, The Flash, Riverdale, and Walker have all traditionally put up their most significant viewership in delayed digital viewing. Some of them have even seen their biggest audiences once the new season wraps and hits Netflix.
Or, perhaps, the series will continue to grow its audience as the season progresses. Time will tell. If it doesn’t, is there any hope for the impending midseason debut of FGirl Island?
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