ABC’s ‘High Potential’ Nears 11M Viewers for Second Episode (Exclusive)

ABC’s first-year drama High Potential is thus far living up to its title in ratings terms.

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The procedural starring Kaitlin Olson has averaged better than 10 million viewers across all platforms for its first two episodes, and with seven days of viewing for each. The Sept. 24 installment grew from 3.67 million viewers for its initial airing to 10.72 million with a week of streaming and DVR viewing — a nearly threefold increase. Among adults 18-49, the show’s initial rating of 0.31 (equivalent to about 435,000 people in that age range) increased seven times to 2.2 (3.09 million) after a week, not including any on-air replays.

Nielsen delayed-viewing figures, which don’t include streaming, put the Sept. 24 episode at 6.76 million viewers and a 0.61 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic. That means a shade under 4 million viewers (about 37 percent of the cross-platform total) streamed the show on Hulu, Hulu on Disney+ and other digital platforms. More than 70 percent of the show’s 18-49 viewers, however, came via streaming.

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The performance for High Potential’ s second episode also built on its series premiere, which brought in 9.75 million viewers and a 2.12 rating over a week of cross-platform viewing, excluding repeats. (ABC had earlier touted an audience of 11.5 million viewers after three days for the series debut, but that number included two reruns that totaled almost 4 million viewers.) With an additional week of viewing — and including repeats this time — the series premiere is up to 17.79 million viewers.

The cross-platform numbers for High Potential also further confirm other data that suggests a scripted network show’s on-air premiere will typically account for less than half of its eventual audience over the course of a week. Streaming usually makes up the majority of the remaining audience, followed by DVR playback.

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