The live ratings for Outlander Season 5, Episode 3 are in. As the ratings stabilize, we continue to offer hope that there’s nothing to worry about.
There’s a lot of talk about the Outlander ratings. Fans worry because the live ratings are down from the fourth season. They’re the only insight that we get into the season, but they’re nothing to be concerned about. In fact, the Outlander Season 5, Episode 3 live ratings were stable from the previous episode.
According to TV Series Finale, the demo sits at 0.13 and the total audience is at 0.772 million. Now, the audience is down but only by less than 2%, which isn’t all that much to worry about.
As I’ve said with previous looks at the ratings, these are the live + same day ratings that Nielsen collects. They don’t count the number of people who watch through the STARZ app, or through STARZ on Amazon or Hulu, but they do give us a quick insight in the number of people tuning in. The actual figures for people watching will be much higher.
These figures don’t really matter. They’re used by broadcast networks to show advertisers how many people are watching. STARZ doesn’t rely on advertisers. It relies on subscribers now.
On top of that, Outlander remains STARZ’s most popular show. Even when considering the live ratings, it’s the most popular current show (Power ended in February). With shows like Vida and American Gods being renewed with lower live ratings, it would be extremely surprising for Outlander to come to an end.
In fact, we already know that the show has been renewed for Season 6. Eyes are actually on Season 7, and an official decision may not be made until the middle of Season 6.
What I will say is from this week, we’re going to stop looking at the ratings on a weekly basis. What we will do is report if there’s a big jump either up or down—something notable that is worth commenting on. It’s not fair to keep commenting on ratings that scare people even though we try to remind you that the live ratings don’t have much bearing.
Outlander Season 5 airs Sundays on STARZ.