‘Victoria’s Secret Swim Special’ Ratings Beat By ‘How To Get Away With Murder’ Season Finale
While the Victoria’s Secret Swim Special that ran Friday, February 26, might have been called the “Sexiest Swim Show of the Year,” the show’s ratings say it was not as special as the Columbus-based lingerie retailer might have hoped it would be. Having pulled in only 4.07 million viewers, the Swim Special’s ratings did not even come close to matching How to Get Away with Murder, which pulled in 8.99 million viewers to best the Angels’ Swim Special quite easily, according to TV By the Numbers.
Aired on CBS at 10 p.m. EST, the hour-long Victoria’s Secret Swim Special ran alongside two other shows, according to TV Media Insights, including NBC’s Allegiance and the second hour of the season finale of ABC’s How to Get Away with Murder, which began at 9 p.m. EST.
The Victoria’s Secret show attained a 1.0 rating for the 18 to 49 year old age range, which beat Allegiance by just over half a million viewers. How to Get Away with Murder attained a 2.9 rating for the same demographic, and the show’s 8.99 million viewers put ABC in the night’s top spot across the networks.
According to TV By the Numbers, this was ABC’s fifth straight week in the top ratings spot, and How to Get Away with Murder put it there each time.
The Swim Special offered Angels’ fans a “unique insight into their character and life stories,” according to CBS. Featured were a variety of Angles including Lily Aldridge, Behati Prinsloo, Candice Swanepoel, and Jasmine Tookes, among others.
The featured Angels were in Puerto Rico during the Victoria’s Secret photo shoot for the 2015 swimsuit catalog, and the Swim Special airs footage from that shoot.
Although 4.07 million viewers are nothing to scoff at, loyal Victoria Secret’s fans were not enough to lift CBS to the night’s top ratings spot, as the Angels’ first Swim Special did not do nearly as well as the brand’s annual lingerie show usually does each year.
The annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is usually a smash hit with viewers across all demographics, and viewers typically raise CBS to the top of the ratings chart the night it airs.
The 2014 the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show that aired in December was a smashing success, and it pulled in just over 9.1 million viewers, attaining a 3.3 rating in the 18 to 49 year old age range, according to the L.A. Times, and the 2013 fashion show pulled in just over 9.7 million viewers in the same demographic.
The 18 to 49 year old age range is a key demographic among the networks, and they combine this information with Nielsen ratings to help decide whether to cancel or renew a show.
The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show achieved much success over its 20 years on the air, and is no wonder the popular lingerie brand decided a swimsuit special would have been worth the money and time to make.
However, according to Columbus Business First, Victoria’s Secrets’ Chief Executive Officer Sharon Turney said that confirmed there were no immediate plans for a follow up special yet even though she said the brand wants to “come out strong into the (swim) season.”
Victoria’s Secret would rather wait to “see what the viewership and ratings for the swim special are first,” which is probably a good thing. Fans don’t appear too interested in learning about the Angels’ “character and life stories,” as evidenced by half the 18 to 49 demographic that watched How to Get away with Murder instead of the Victoria’s Secret Swim Special.
The Victoria’s Secret Swim Special did not dominate the airwaves in the same way that the annual Victoria’s Secret Lingerie Fashion Show does, which is odd when considering that a swim suit and lingerie are essentially same, and while fans would probably rather stick with the show they know, other Victoria’s Secret specials may be forthcoming.
Did you watch the Victoria’s Secret Swim Special? Would you watch another Victoria’s Secret special if it came out?
[Photo Credit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images, John Parra/Getty Images]
