The truth about Naomi’s low ratings (and why you should still watch it)

The CW’s Naomi’s viewership decline has nothing to do with the show is good or bad. In fact, it’s not the creative team’s fault at all. 

Naomi’s run on The CW is still in its infancy. Like many debut seasons, it’s shorter than what could possibly come next. This often leaves programs at a disadvantage as they only have a small amount of time to get people interested.

Sometimes, this works and the show will quickly get hot and gain momentum. This leads to a show getting renewed before the season even ends – we saw this last year with Superman and Lois. In the case of The CW’s Naomi, however, they’re on the shot clock. The ratings aren’t as good as the show’s creators may have wanted, because in spite of a strong start, the audience has fallen quite sharply over its run.

When this show was announced, this writer was excited. Naomi McDuffie is a new DC Comics character with a lot of potential and the fact that Ava DuVernay was producing the show made things even better. She’s the perfect person to help mastermind the show and move the character forward.

You might wonder why the ratings aren’t better. Well, there are multiple reasons for that. First of all, shows rarely maintain the audience that their pilot draws, with the vast majority of them seeing quite a large decline over the course of their first season. Furthermore, less people watch TV live now, with DVR and streaming now being an important alternative to watching on the night. This is something we’ve seen impact TV as a genre across the last five years, resulting in ratings on every network falling dramatically.

With all of that mind, Naomi’s viewership decline has nothing to do with the show itself. And here are some other aspects that may have affected the ratings.

Naomi isn’t for everyone

The CW has had a plethora of shows with various topics and targeted audiences over the years. Riverdale, Supernatural, and Supergirl are only a few examples of its major hits. Each of them have one thing in common. They all managed to get a following by finding their target audience. Naomi hasn’t done that yet

Naomi is a DC Comics character and, as a result of that, people may have gone in thinking this would be something it isn’t, perhaps expecting more action and adventure. This writer is among them, assuming it might be similar to the other comic book shows on the network. Instead, it comes off more like a mix between a high school drama and a mystery series instead of a DC Comics property based on a character with powers. That isn’t a bad thing, per se, but it does suggest that it wasn’t promoted properly.

If the show was marketed as a high school drama, the audience would have gone in with different expectations. Instead of getting a show full of superhero battles, you’re getting more issues and fights between family and friends. All of this may have cost Naomi a more loyal audience. Yes, there is action (Naomi, Dee, and Zumbado have had their share of fights throughout the show) but not as much as the audience may have thought they were getting. As the show doesn’t fulfil that expectation, it likely comes off as slow-moving to those viewers.

Lack of comic book lore

Not having years of comic book lore is a gift and a curse. The positive thing is that it allows the creative team room to play. They can create a story that won’t necessarily be judged by comic book fans with years of knowledge who are expecting a certain thing. The negative is that there isn’t a lot to go on. Not having a blueprint makes it difficult to know what to do with a character. Naomi’s powers are a perfect example.

During the first half dozen issues of her joining the Justice League in DC Comics, we saw that Naomi is incredibly powerful, with her powers possibly putting her on the level or close to Black Adam and Superman. However, there hasn’t been a clear definition on what she can do or how powerful she actually is. Again, this leaves wiggle room, but it also means there’s a chance that the show not matching the comic books would upset comic book readers.

Is Naomi worth watching?

The CW’s Naomi is a good show. It does take some time to get to the action, but that isn’t the point of the show. This is about a young woman finding herself, all while discovering that she has abilities and isn’t from this Earth. Someone isn’t going to just get superpowers and be okay, especially a high school senior living in a small town.

It makes sense that the show is moving the way it does. The seventh episode is a great example, as it seems that Naomi is finally coming into her own and gaining more confidence as a hero and a young woman. We’re going to see her become more of a take-charge character, as both a hero and a person, as the show goes on.

Granted, ratings are potentially more important to The CW than they ever were, but the show is performing on par with some of the network’s more long-running shows. Aside from that, though, the ratings don’t tell Naomi’s story. Only watching the show can do that, and it’s a story you should absolutely check out!

What do you think? Have you been enjoying The CW’s Naomi? Let us know in the comments below.