Will Trent Season 2 Premiere Shows Growth for ABC in Multiplatform Viewership

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ABC has made it a priority this season to turn sophomore series “Will Trent” into an established hit — and so far the strategy seems to be working. The drama’s Season 2 premiere already posted one of the Alphabet net’s most-watched scripted drama episodes among live+same day total viewers in years, at 4.77 million.

Now, after three days of viewing on ABC, Hulu and digital platforms, “Will Trent” (which returned on Tuesday, Feb. 20) has grown by nearly 3 million viewers, to 7.68 million. And its adults 18-49 average is up 142%, from 0.33 to 0.8.

Network execs attribute the growth to an extended plan to expose the show to audiences on multiple platforms and in various time slots. Buoyed by the show’s early signs of success in Season 1 (growing its audience in a 10 p.m. slot, a rarity these days in linear), ABC developed an awareness campaign to capitalize on that. This past summer, ABC aired reruns of “Will Trent” Season 1 on Friday nights to court the “20/20” audiences on that night. The network also ran a “Will Trent” marathon this past January, kicking off the episodes after a major football game.

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This month, after premiering “Will Trent” on Feb. 20, the show became available for streaming the next day on Hulu, and “Will Trent” hit a series high on Hulu on Feb. 21. Ultimately, “Will Trent” landed a total of 9.2 million viewers via the premiere telecast and then a repeat on Feb. 22.

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As a result, the Season 2 premiere of “Will Trent” was up 5% vs. its series premiere a year ago (7.68 million vs. 7.34 million) and over its freshman season average by 18% (7.68 million vs. 6.50 million).

Ramón Rodríguez stars as Will Trent, a former foster care kid who becomes an agent for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Based on Karin Slaughter’s “Will Trent” book series, the show also stars Sonja Sohn, Erika Christensen, Iantha Richardson and Jake McLaughlin. Liz Heldens, Daniel Thomsen, Slaughter and Oly Obst are EPs; Rodríguez is a producer.

Also last Tuesday, the Season 6 premiere of “The Rookie” grew to 7.93 million total viewers and 1.52 rating among adults 18-49 when full multiplatform+3 measurements are included. That’s the show’s best open since 2019. Those numbers were also up 300% over the live+same day adults 18-49 number (0.38) and a huge leap over the L+SD total viewer figure (3.71 million). The first three days of “The Rookie” season opener was also its most-streamed episode yet on Hulu.

And then there’s the launch of the final season of “The Good Doctor,” which averaged 5.74 million total viewers and a 0.79 rating with adults 18-49 in multiplatform+3. That’s up from its live+same day number (2.86 million) and its L+SD adults 18-49 average (0.79 rating).

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