Last Man Standing officially returned to the schedule at midseason on January 4. Normally midseason returns are up a bit in the ratings for at least the first few weeks, but the show's success in its second week back is still an interesting ratings success to take a look at. So how did Last Man Standing do in its second week back at midseason? Well enough that Fox execs should be clapping themselves on the back.
What's especially exciting is that Last Man Standing has only increased in its dominance since returning at midseason to a 1.0 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 5.66 million viewers. During the January 11 airing, the show actually did a 1.2 rating and increased to 6.21 million total viewers, per TV By The Numbers.
If you look back over Season 7, that's the highest the show has done in total viewers since the November 9 episode, which brought in 6.3 million total viewers. But forget total viewers, because in total viewers Last Man Standing often loses to its CBS competitors like Blue Bloods and MacGyver. Where Last Man Standing really shines is the coveted advertising demographic, and that's where Fox should be clapping backs--all the way to the bank.
This Friday, Last Man Standing pulled a 1.2 rating, which just so happens to be a number that is a whole lot higher than everything else network TV aired on Friday night. It's closest competitors were Fox's own The Cool Kids, with a 1.0 rating, and CBS' Hawaii Five-0, with a .9 rating.
Winning the night in the advertising demo is a feat and it's a feat that makes you wonder a little bit why the show was cancelled in the first place. (ABC has cited not wanting comedies on Friday night, although that has since changed, for the cancellation. The network also didn't own the show.) For instance, ABC moved Fresh off the Boat and Speechless to Friday nights, where this week the former show pulled a .7 and the latter show pulled a .5 rating.
It was a bit of a shock when Last Man Standing was cancelled on ABC, due to its ability to keep producing viewers in a notably hard Friday evening timeslot. It was also shocking for another network to bring the show back, especially since it happened an entire season after Last Man Standing was initially cancelled and various actors had moved on to new projects. As it turns out, Fox made a good bet, as Last Man Standing is still dominating on Friday nights.
Some changes have been made, especially in terms of casting, with Last Man Standing's move to Fox, but overall there still seems to be an appetite for the show. Fox hasn't made any decisions about the comedy in regards to the 2019-2020 TV schedule yet, but another renewal seems likely if the trajectory of the show continues in this direction.
Not everything at midseason has premiered, yet, so if you want to stay updated, please take a look at our full midseason schedule.
