Last season, Once Upon a Time saw a boost in the ratings thanks in part to the show’s Frozen storyline. How will the show do this time around? Will the ratings rise or fall? Cancelled or renewed for a sixth season? Stay tuned.
Once Upon a Time follows the continuing adventures of fairytale characters whose tales unfold between their storybook world and Storybrooke, a small town in Maine. The large cast includes Ginnifer Goodwin, Jennifer Morrison, Lana Parrilla, Josh Dallas, Emilie de Ravin, Colin O’Donoghue, Jared S. Gilmore, Sean Maguire, Rebecca Mader, and Robert Carlyle.
The ratings are typically the best indication of a show’s likelihood of staying on the air. The higher the ratings (particularly the 18-49 demo), the better the chances for survival. This chart will be updated as new ratings data becomes available — typically around 11:30am EST/8:30am PST. Refresh to see the latest.
3/3 update: ABC has renewed Once Upon a Time for a sixth season. Details here.
5/16 update: You can see the rest of the latest night’s ratings.
Note: If you’re not seeing the updated chart, please try reloading the page or view it here.
Last year comparison: The fourth season of Once Upon a Time averaged a 2.18 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 6.56 million total viewers.
Note: These are the final national numbers (unless noted with an “*”). These are different from the fast affiliate numbers which are just estimates of the actual ratings. The final nationals are typically released within 24 hours of the programming or, in the case of weekends and holidays, a couple days later.
What do you think? Do you still like the Once Upon a Time TV series? Do you think it should be cancelled or renewed for a sixth season?
I really hate what writers has done to ouat, it used to be an amazing tv show i really liked it they have a good cast, good actors and actresses and their characters have a good chemistry, although ouat isn´t as a good as it used to be i still watch it and i still like it, and i like Hades as a villain he is sarcastic and funny
Emma swan was my fav char, I find after the queen of darkness disaster I only watched the show for her. And I did have few expectations with the dark one Emma arc. Bummer it was all about Hook, , including the ‘big reveal’ of him being the dark one. I dvr’ed last two episodes in hopes stuff changes but no. Still lame plot, Emma’s dependency on Hook .. this is awful really. And to think once I used to like Emma/Hook together, naive me. It appears that writers have rail-roaded Emma Swan for Hook and that is pathetic but… Read more »
Same Man, I really like Emma, but it’s total
douchey thing they are writing. And what’s with this ‘hell’ ‘hades’ stuff, it was a show about fairytales/wizards/sorceresses where do Greek gods fit in the theme? And wasn’t it like the original theme of the show that you can’t bring back people.
To be fair the hades thing comes from the fact that fact that they’re doing disney fairytales more than they’re doing fairytales in general. at least since s2 or so.
Emma is one of my fav characters, but i like more s1 Emma she was more Independent
I know why ratings are down. Once Upon A Time is a depressing show, and the “no spoilers” policy doesn’t help.
I love the Hook and Emma relationship, but what the writers have done with it is bland and low-hitting. No, that doesn’t ask for turmoil, it asks for results. I won’t be watching again, until I know it’s worth my time and energy to appreciate it again.
People don’t stick with what they find no hope in, and I really don’t think the show’s writers know their audience very well.
I think this basically demonstrates that shows appeal to people on different levels. Many dislike what they view as hook taking over the show. you are fine with hook and their relationship but dislike the tone of the show. Other are upset for other reasons. in the end the current direction of the show is missing so many of it’s former fans, and yet they seem content to just keep steamrolling away it’s viewers. They need change! they need to stop and say hey our fans and viewers are upset becasue abc lets address this. otherwise next season may very… Read more »
I think this show is great better then season 4 this season I don’t get why people have gone off it so much season 1 and season 2 were good they have just made the show more magical instead of it being emma and her walls the evil queen still evil and emma still into her past love neal.NOT being funny I don’t think anyone can stop watching this show for good because they go to different places and do different things each season that’s why I think the ratings are always different it depends if you like the fair… Read more »
I doubt many have stopped watching because they travel and have more magic. they’re leaving because for many the plot is such a huge shift of what drew them in the first place. For many that’s Emma, or for many women the strong female centric plot. For many of them the show as it is now is no longer about Emma and/or strong female characters. Hook is the embodiment of what many (though not all) see of what is wrong with the show. He began as a seasonal character that ended up staying on and over time he has pretty… Read more »
I love(d) this show, I’ll be clear the best season was season 2. Since then, seasons 3-5 always the same : 5 good episodes at the beginning, then it becomes boring. Here the romance Swan/Hook IS really boring. Moreover, the only 2 credible characters are Regina and Gold, and now these two characters seem to become secondary … time to change completely or to stop
I love this show, but I don’t know if I am liking this “dark side ” . I may decide to stop watching it this season if the dark side continue. I liked it when it was just about good and evil fighting, about Henry…. And when other characters just came and went after the evil fight… Thanks so much ” getting disappointed “!!!!
I love this show it should be renewed
Renew!! season6 PLEASE
I agree with you cara!
It will be renewed for season 6, according to ABC
renewal for S6 was announced a while ago.
What’s with the LGBT ark? if they really wanted to do an LGBT this season they shouldn’t throw a random side character towards the audience. This trick seemed to be attempted because they want swan queen fans to get over that fact that it will never become a reality. Did they spend five seasons shipping other side characters??!! Nooo!! Even if they are not going to make swan queen a reality, then don’t throw in a random lesbian couple in just to make swan queen fans get over it. That’s even more hurtful than not making swan queen come true.… Read more »
Rumple of my goodness! he gets so mistreated by the writters. make him good, bad, neutral, antihero, antivillain, have him be working toward redemption, or something else. which ever, just PICK one. stop switching him around every other story arc! As for the random lesbian couple thing, that is a joke. it seems like it will be a rush job of pairing up two minor characters with little to no build up and get swept away soon after. Plus their whole reason for putting it in will fail as well. People are not going to abandon their favorite pairing because… Read more »
yes, they might not abandon their favourite paring, but they’d abandon the show.
They ruined the show when they introduced Zelena’s pregnancy. Such a distasteful plot that was a slap in the face to everyone. Nobody likes it, nobody wants it and we continue to voice our disgust. Rape jokes aren’t funny, I hope the show is cancelled.
You should really watch more of the show!
Why? what makes it worth watching again?
This show has become a total mess since 4B started. The show went from the Season 1-2 way of showing individual’s stories, ways to solve or not, and a build up that led to revealed identities over time, opened up plot lines involving worse villains than Regina, and adventures throughout lands. Season 3 hit a bit of a slow-point but then sped up fast when Zelena the wicked witch intersected. The Snow Queen Arc had a good story. After that, the whole thing has been a disaster. Why advertise “Queens of darkness” when your going to sidetrack them about some… Read more »
I don’t want it to get cancelled, I want it to get fixed. I am so disappointed with this season. It was an amazing s1 s2 s3.. but once Marian was brought back, the show started going downhill. In s1 it was light, happy, about fairytale characters in a cute little town; It gave hope. That was a useless act to make people upset and drag conflicts into OQ. After that, having Marian be Zelena was unrealistic and annoying, it seemed an excuse to bring her back. Instead, they could have had Zelena not die after the portal was made,… Read more »
It’s taken too long, for show writers to develop Hook, and his relationship with Swan. Without that frankly, the show is actually quite bland. Then this UW plot with Hook’s death…I have lost my patience. There’s no draw to the show, anymore. It’s depressing, with too many guest stars, short-term arcs, and poor focus on the story itself; I get the impression Once Upon A Time is no longer a show with purpose; just a production using time on the clock left in a contract. Why, is ABC still pouring money into this sinking ship? I am hoping for something… Read more »
I was a hard-core Once fan from the jump. I talked about it all the time, thought up theories, got all my friends to watch it. But ever since the end of Season 3A (an argument could be made for the beginning of that season, but I did find the Neverland arc interesting, at least; say what you will about Robbie Kay, but he played an excellent villainous Pan), I found my interest in the show dropping week by week. That was also around the time I realized my desire to pursue a career in screenwriting, and now that I… Read more »
The writing is the problem. Some of the writers from season 1 aren’t there anymore and it shows. 5 seasons in and still knowing next to nothing about the main character (Emma) is ridiculous! Show’s all over the place. I remember I watched a few episodes of Lost season 1, then again once or twice in seasons 3 and 4 and thought the same. It seems their shows start strong and then they just lose their focus along the way. Hook and Regina are the only things that keep me watching…