Boston Blue had big shoes to fill as it stepped into the space left by Blue Bloods, but how did its debut stack up against the original’s ratings?
According to CBS, the new spinoff delivered an impressive performance, landing among the network’s top four series during premiere week. Boston Blue scored a Nielsen live+7 multiplatform rating of 8.64 million viewers for its debut episode.
The only show to outpace it was CBS’s own Tracker, which topped the charts with 12.97 million viewers. ABC’s High Potential followed closely with 12.38 million, while other CBS heavy hitters filled out the top five: Matlock with 10.7 million, 60 Minutes with 8.9 million, and then Boston Blue’s strong 8.64 million.
When final numbers were tallied, CBS reported that Boston Blue actually reached 8.86 million viewers a six percent increase over Blue Bloods’ season-14 average. In its final year, Blue Bloods episodes averaged 5.073 million in live viewership, making the spinoff’s launch a clear win.
Beyond outperforming its predecessor, Boston Blue has also claimed the title of the top new series of the season, with CBS’s Sheriff Country taking third place.
For those just tuning in, Boston Blue centers on Donnie Wahlberg’s Danny Reagan, who leaves the NYPD for a new role with the Boston Police Department. There, he teams up with Detective Lena Silver, the eldest daughter of a powerful law-enforcement family.
Like Blue Bloods, the series blends crime-fighting with family drama
this time shifting the focus from the Reagans to the Silver family. The cast also includes Gloria Reuben, Maggie Lawson, Marcus Scribner, Ernie Hudson, and Mika Amonsen.