The Rookie: Feds Explodes in Ratings After Series Premiere Episode

The series premiere of The Rookie: Feds saw a massive jump in viewership after just one week of viewing on multiple platforms. According to Variety, viewership leaped from 2.2 million to 6.3 million over that time, marking a 400 percent increase over that time, which includes its availability on Hulu, other platforms, and DVRs. The numbers also boosted the series’ ratings with Live + Same Day data after the premiere boosted the series from a 0.31 in the adults 18-49 demographic to a 1.48.

These numbers make The Rookie: Feds ABC’s highest-rated series debut since the premiere of Big Sky in November 2020 as well as the network’s most viewed series debut since Rebel in April 2020. On top of that, The Rookie: Feds huge Live + 7 data is currently the biggest increase for a new series across any network this season, though data for some series has not yet become available so that distinction could change.

“Spinning that off and having Rookie: Feds was about talent, with those creators and their ability to tell these kinds of stories, which are wildly entertaining and still talk about issues, and give them a new platform,” Simran Sethi, ABC Entertainment’s EVP Programming and Content Strategy previously told Deadline. “I think the theme of The Rookie, the theme of reinvention that’s core to the franchise, it’s about the stage of life you’re in and the box you put yourself in or the world puts you in, and how to break out of it. So, franchising that show for us was about the popularity of The Rookie, but also because those themes seem so relevant and it felt like it was fertile ground for a new story to tell, which we are very excited with that we see in that show.”

The Rookie: Feds, a spinoff of The Rookie, stars Niecy Nash-Betts as Simone Clark, the oldest rookie in the FBI Academy. Alexi Hawley (The Rookie) and Terence Paul Winter co-created the series and also serve as executive producers. Mark Gordon, Nash-Betts, The Rookie star Nathan Fillion, Michelle Chapman, Bill Norcross, and Corey Miller are also executive producers. Nash-Betts is joined in the series by Frankie Faison as Christopher “Cutty” Clark, James Lesure as Carter Hope, Britt Robertson as Laura Stenson, Kevin Zegers as Brendon Acres and Felix Solis as Special Agent Matthew Garza.

The Rookie: Feds airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on ABC.