What is Happening With The Rookie Season 8?
The Rookie is moving! According to Deadline, the show is switching from Tuesdays to Mondays in its usual time slot – 10 p.m. ET – starting January 26. ABC made this decision to make room for its new series, RJ Decker, which is scheduled to premiere on March 3. This way, The Rookie Season 8 will align with American Idol and not High Potential. The best part of the deal is that our favorite show is scheduled to air all the season without a break, despite the Winter Olympics.
This is a pretty logical decision from a business perspective. RJ Decker has the same feel as High Potential, Will Trent, and The Rookie, so it will fit well on Tuesday nights. High Potential is currently the network’s most successful series, so it’s the best option to draw viewers to RJ Decker. On the other hand, The Rookie is the network’s longest-running show and is already familiar with changing its airing day.
Therefore, The Rookie is the least risky bet to change its broadcast day without major consequences. But is this really the case? Will the show’s audience suffer because of the change? If you ask us, we don’t think so.
The Change Will be a Problem?
Some viewership numbers will fluctuate, that’s inevitable, but where The Rookie is truly strong is on streaming. So much so, that with the combined seven-day audience, as Deadline reports, The Rookie Season 8 premiere was the biggest of the series and is in the top 5 most-watched episodes on ABC. And we don’t think that airing the series on Mondays will change that.
As if that weren’t enough, the fans are what make this show tick! The Rookie has a very loyal fanbase that will follow the show wherever it goes. So much so that we’ve generated the highest social media engagement ever for a cable or TV premiere. We won’t care if it airs on Monday, Tuesday, or Sunday at 5 a.m. We’ll be there to watch it.
This means that the change of day isn’t a big deal. We handled the change from Sunday to Monday, we can handle this one too.
The Rookie Season 8 airs Tuesdays at 10 pm on ABC.
If only The Rookie can start at 9pm instead of 10pm (Pacific Time). Because most of us have work the next day! Yes, I can watch it on Hulu but that means I have to wait until Tuesday when I could watch it on the day that it airs.