‘The Flash’ And ‘Black Lightning’ Premiere Ratings Are Out

This week saw the premiere of a number of shows on The CW, including two of their most popular DC Comics superhero shows with The Flash and Black Lightning.

The ratings for both series premieres have hit, and unfortunately it looks like they didn’t generate the buzz of their previous debuts. According to TV By The Numbers, The Flash Season 5 premiere only received a 0.8 rating in adults between the ages of 18 and 49, down from 1.1 rating the Season 4 premiere scored last year.

Black Lightning, meanwhile, only scored a 0.4 in the same demographic, down 0.8 Season 1 premiere as well as the 0.5 season finale.

The Flash‘s score was about on par with its average, but that makes it seem likely to drop as the season goes on.

It should be noted that the American Music Awards aired on ABC, and that could have taken some wind out of The CW’s sails, and these numbers are not accounting for DVR stats, which usually come in the Live+ numbers released later on.

Black Lightning looks to build on the explosive first season by exploring the revelations that rocked Freeland and the Pierce family, according to showrunner Salim Akil.

“We’re going to deal with the consequences of having discovered the pod children; the consequences of Green Light hitting the streets; and the consequences of Jefferson’s daughters discovering they have powers,” Akil said.

Of course, Tobias Whale continues to plague the city and the premiere revealed “exactly what motivates him to ‘burn the city down,’ as he says.”

As for The Flash, Barry Allen and Iris West-Allen are having to deal with their own family drama as their daughter from the future has traveled back in time and is stuck in the timeline.

“Personality-wise, I think she’s a lot like Barry.” Kennedy revealed in a recent interview. “Certainly, the way Barry was early on. She’s finding her footing. She’s goofy, she’s dorky, she’s very young spirited. She is prone to making mistakes and other people needing to clean them up. That’s just sort of where she’s at right now. She’s in the experimental phase of her life.”

Both shows earned a lot of buzz with their previous seasons, especially in the case of Black Lightning. Hopefully that chatter can get more viewers in the coming weeks.

The Flash and Black Lightning air on Tuesday evenings on The CW.