Last season, Person of Interest moved to Tuesday nights and lost Taraji P. Henson. The show also lost a lot in the ratings. Will the numbers continue to fall or will they rise with a new lead-in? Is it essentially guaranteed to be renewed for a fifth season by CBS (because of syndication) or, could it be cancelled? Stay tuned.
On Person of Interest, a presumed dead former-CIA agent (Jim Caviezel) and a mysterious billionaire (Michael Emerson) work together to prevent violent crimes in New York City. The rest of the cast includes Kevin Chapman, Sarah Shahi, and Amy Acker.
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 — usually the next day, around 11:30am EST/8:30am PST. Refresh to see the latest.
5/11 update: Person of Interest has been renewed for a fifth season on CBS. Will it be the end?
Final season averages: 1.53 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 9.42 million total viewers.
Note: If you’re not seeing the updated chart, please try reloading the page or view it here.
Due to a Nielsen glitch, some of the early ratings of the 2014-15 season were revised a few weeks later.
For comparisons: The third season of Person of Interest averaged a 2.0 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 11.83 million total viewers.
Note: Note: These are the Live + Same Day Ratings which include “live” viewing plus delayed DVR viewing, up until 3am local time that same night. Ratings marked with an “*” are the fast affiliate ratings and will be updated with the Live+SD numbers when they are made available. Typically, networks get paid for C+3 ratings which includes DVR viewing within three days of the original airing when commercials are watched. Those numbers are rarely released to the press.
What do you think? Do you still like the Person of Interest TV series? Do you think it should be cancelled or be renewed for a fifth season?
I just want someone to tell me when Root takes a shot gun blast to the face. I’ll tune in for that episode.
Hmm, I almost gave up watching during the 1st half of 3rd season, because some storylines (lady killer, cat burglar) seemed to me not up to the previous POI standard and I was skeptical about the addition of Shaw aaand there was too much HR (or rather too much Carter). I’m glad I didn’t give up watching since now I like actually the whole cast (incl. Shaw) and particularly Root (and her interactions with Finch and Shaw are great) + I want to know the AI endgame. POI is better than ever.
This show’s only redeeming quality right now is Bear. Come on, everyone loves Bear!
I like dogs and “Bear” is nice, but after all the changes to the cast and show direction, Person of Interest is more than I can “Bear.” In fact, I could “barely” stand to watch the episode Endgame and haven’t seen the drama since I sensed which character would die. I suppose I could watch Person of Interest and grin and “Bear” it, in spite of my disdain for its entirety. Instead, I choose to never watch again and just grin and enjoy the marked decline in ratings and viewership. Every airing of Person of Interest serves as a reminder… Read more »
LOL!!!
Come on people give it a rest with the Carter thing she wasn’t the lead of the show just part of the assemble people leave hit shows all the time to pursue other things or just for the show to develop. I for one would rather have Carter back than Shaw or the annoying Root but there you go it’s not going to happen but I stick with the show because I enjoy it and so far season 4 is shaping up to be a very good one. The main factor that has affected the rating is change of timeslot… Read more »
Are you sure you want Person of Interest to compete with The Shondaland Slate? Ratings would probably be lower than they are now.
what is it with you POI fan boys, every time someone mentions how bad the ratings are you have to pull the Carter card. I DON’T CARE THAT CARTER WAS KILLED, did I yell that loud enough? but the point still remains the same, when she was on, the show had a 3.o rating and it is now 1.6. Call me a Carter lover all you want, the facts remains the same: the sun rises in the east and sets in the west and POI is losing ratings and viewers.
The show runners did not see Carter as a female lead but as a secondary figure. they thought they could move her out of the way so Shaw could be introduced and then become a larger supporting female role or even female lead. that did not happen, it was a bust, so the brought in Root and are trying to elevate her into a larger more significant role and that isn’t working either. The Carter character became a stabilizing moral force. no matter what, she forced them to take the high road. Shaw and Root are just appendages for more… Read more »
Root adds interest to the plot – implying more mystery and suspense to come.
I liked Carter too. Bring her back ( twin sister)? – if ratings go up you have your answer.
The episodes are presentday, relevant, political, etc. The dog is a nice touch.
The main characters are flawed but strive to do the right thing.
As long as the stories are interesting and complex, it should do well.
Carter isn’t coming back. There is no twin, and ratings are not going up. Person of Interest will continue to suffer the malaise of its own smug reality, which bites weekly, as a terrible reminder of missteps and second guesses.
root is like finger nails on a chalk board
The Person of Interest writers and producers and CBS made me feel devalued as a fan and I’ll never forget it. Falling ratings are what I check for each week, rather than watching the drama. Carter’s death let me know she didn’t matter to the powers that be, and those of us who championed her heart and soul and importance to cast chemistry and storylines didn’t matter either. We could be cast aside, with little thought or consequence. We could also embrace the “new people,” as if by command. Wrong. Person of Interest has morphed into a huge blob of… Read more »
I loved the core four and the big baddies of Elias, Snow, Stanton, Simmons, and Scarface. These were nearly a dozen of interesting characters that could’ve been further developed. Such development would’ve been T.V. gold. I literally craved to learned more about Carter’s background.
I pretty much saw the writing on the wall when the show runners did the “Shaw Hour” during her first appearance. The show was never the same after that. However, I stuck with the show until they killed Carter. That was the final straw for me.
they need to change the name of the show from POI to battle of the bots. every character now is jut some robot guided by one machine or the other if the ads are any indication.
I now just look at the ratings and scratch my head, hoping that maybe the old show would come back. but alas…….
They HAD CARTER AND REESE with their sexy chemistry and this “whatever this is” thing! I loved it, i wanted more and i could not get enough of them. This and the smart writing made me look forward to the show every week because i wanted to see what happens next. Now they have Shaw and Root. I hate them, i don’t even wanna watch this show anymore (in fact this is what i do right now: watch something else). The smart writing: long gone. I have enough of it. The only thing i look forward now are the ratings.… Read more »
Shouldn’t a television drama want more viewers to watch, rather than driving fans away in droves? Are advertising profits increased when desired demographics can be readily depended upon to tune into a show every time it is aired? Isn’t one of the primary objectives of writers to create material that invites participation and allegiance to subject matter and its display? If all question are answered affirmatively, a lot of people at CBS/Warner Brothers “don’t get it,” and have a serious case of “denial” with regard to Person of Interest. The show has turned into a declining debacle and instead of… Read more »
Nolan and Plageman could write a book on how to tank a successful show in one year or less. Unbelievable! They had an award nominated show that they totally ruined with cartoon characters and buffy the vampire slayer crap. Looks like the same bullet they used to kill Carter is slowly killing them as well. Talk about karma. I bet killing Carter off isn’t so funny now.
kill a character and a show with one bullet, I like it.
the more Root, the lower the ratings and/or total viewers.
+1
Something happened to Person of Interest. It used to be like a wonderful feast, with all kinds of special dishes, presented so beautifully one could not wait to taste them all.
Now it’s like a day old sandwich, of mystery meat and moldy bread, turned down by masses with hopes of finding better fare.
That can happen to shows that do storyline and casting “180’s” and assume fans will buy into all changes.*
* See declining ratings and viewership figures in above charts.
+1
-1
the ratings say different jax
FYI: Numbers need to be changed to reflect restated Nielsen numbers
To my knowledge, only five shows have seen changes from the restated numbers — Modern Family, SHIELD, Once Upon a Time, Nashville and Revenge. All ABC shows. Nielsen has only released restated numbers for the first week of the season so far (9/22-9/28/14).
I think, POI is the best show on TV for the last several years. It’s much deeper and touches much more relevant problems than it’s generally accepted on TV. It’s very sad, that people don’t appreciate it properly. I would of course love to have POI prolonged for the 5th season as well. Especially I’m always looking forward to meeting Root in each next episode – Amy Acker’s character and play are preeminent! Thank you!
Absolutely right Mike. Great show. Given the exponential advances in AI…Probably a preview of the future. Love Root. Love Shaw.
Unfortunatly changing the day and time slot did affect the ratings but the ratings are nowhere near as bad as some of the other shows on cbs or the other networks and its had the biggest rises of the night with DVDR + 3 figures the past 2 weeks.
Do you believe Person of Interest would have better ratings if it went back to its original day and time of programming?
the on;y lower rated CBS shows are on Sun and Fri nights. two horrible tv nights generally. this show is getting killed. new nite/time/+3 ratings etc etc just excuses to cover up the fact that this thing is toast. one more year for syndication and then bye bye
Person of Interest ratings and viewership continue to decline.
Not good. Not good at all.
Not unexpected, either.
A lot of people said they were going to stop watching the drama.
They meant what they said.
Karma? Who knows?
The numbers speak for themselves.
and as bad as the ratings are now, where will they be in the spring and then the fall next year. POI entered a syndication deal, so it will get another season. if it is 1.6 now it will be below 1.0 next year if the rate of drop continues.