The Rookie made its move to ABC‘s Tuesday 8 pm timeslot on January 3, and the switch paid off.
The show received its best ratings since 2020, with 4.5 million viewers tuning in, giving the series a 0.6 rating.
The Rookie previously aired on Sundays at 10 pm, but ABC made the switch to allow the series to preempt its spinoff, The Rookie: Feds, which also received its highest ratings on January 3. A record 3.7 million viewers tuned into the Niecy Nash-led spinoff, giving them a 0.4 rating — their best ever.
The decision is part of ABC’s move toward an all-crime Tuesday lineup, which seems to be working well for the network if these ratings tell us anything. The Tuesday competition is steep though, as CBS still won the ratings war with FBI raking in 7.4 million viewers.
While the earlier timeslot can certainly account for some of the bump in ratings, we would be remiss not to speculate that the long-awaited, hotly anticipated Chenford dates had a little something to do with viewers eagerly tuning in.
Chenford, aka Lucy Chen (Melissa O’Neil) and Tim Bradford (Eric Winter), finally went on a date, and it was so eventful that they even went on a second date. The long will-they-won’t-they duo got viewers’ hopes up in the season premiere, but as their hookup was rudely interrupted by a body, it’s been a wait to see them back in couple mode again. The show finally delivered on the Chenford promise, and the fans are obsessed.
This episode was like a love letter to #Chenford fans. Idk about you but I was feeling the love throughout this entire episode. #TheRookie I don’t even know what to say except pic.twitter.com/dDSocGC2M1
— ʜᴇᴀᴛʜᴇʀ????????✨ (@heatherelf77) January 4, 2023
I’m gonna need someone to declare Wednesdays a holy day now, because I need a sabbatical from work to completely process #TheRookie #chenford land, now! This was literally me today! ???? oh and then the rookie writers are saints, can we at least knight them, please. pic.twitter.com/5cdvhE7p8j
— Emily ????????♀️ (@Emily8174) January 5, 2023
THE SLIGHT WIND BREEZE ON LUCYS HAIR THE WAY THEYRE LEANING INTO EACH OTHER THEIR HAND PLACEMENT THE WAY THEY LOOK AT EACH OTHER THE WAY THEY BOTH SMILE INTO THE KISS !THE EYE CONTACT! #chenford WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME?!?!? pic.twitter.com/ut146ExW0h
— kallie | “its time for you to move on”???? |fan acc| (@eddie_5021_ida) January 5, 2023
I think it’s safe to say the ratings will remain strong as long as Chenford appears in the episode.
The Rookie, Tuesdays, 8/7c, ABC