Media Life Magazine - For media buyers and Planners

TV This Week

For ‘Mr. Robot,’ a new type of hit

Its live ratings are mediocre but DVR playback is stunning

By Louisa Ada Seltzer

September 2, 2015

Share |

“Mr. Robot,” which wraps up its first season tonight at 10 p.m. on USA, may be the model for future shows on cable.

It’s nothing special in the live ratings. It’s averaging a 0.48 adults 18-49 rating, according to Nielsen, and 1.4 million total viewers.

But the show is an undeniable success, based on time-shifting and social media. It often triples its live rating when DVR playback is factored in, and its Twitter feed has more than 90,000 followers, who frequently interact with its posts, retweeting and favoriting them.

Plus, the show has been a critical success as well. It follows a computer genius recruited by an underground hacking group that targets the world’s biggest businesses. Reviewers praised it upon its debut earlier this summer.

USA had so much faith in “Robot” that it renewed the program for a second season before the first episode had even aired.

Tonight’s finale was supposed to air last week. However, it includes a scene that’s similar to what happened in Virginia last Wednesday, when a gunman killed two journalists during a live broadcast.

USA quickly yanked the episode out of respect to the victims and their families, delaying it to tonight.

A look at this week’s top TV draws
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	CW	“America’s Next Top Model” (R)	Some of the models begin hooking up, which of course leads to some drama.
9 p.m.	Reelz	“Taylor Swift: America’s Sweetheart” (A)	Hour-long profile special featuring interviews and archival footage.
9:30 p.m.	A&E	“Wahlburgers” (R)	Season finale. Paul’s kids try to come up with a burger of the month.
10 p.m.	ABC	“Celebrity Wife Swap” (R)	Season finale. The spouses of Robert Carradine and Terrell Owens take part.
10 p.m.	USA	“Mr. Robot” (D)	Season finale. The season-one finale airs after last week’s delay.
10 p.m.	truTV	“Impractical Jokers” (C)	Special episode counting down the best pranks as chosen by fans.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	NBC	“Food Fighters” (R)	Season finale. A stay-at-home soccer mom competes.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Mistresses” (D)	Season finale. April reaches a realization with Marc gone, while Joss receives a surprising present.
9 p.m.	A&E	“Beyond Scared Straight” (R)	Series finale. Looking back at highlights from the show’s nine seasons.
9 p.m.	ESPN	“College Football” (S)	No. 2 TCU takes on Minnesota in Minneapolis.
10 p.m.	MTV	“Teen Mom 2” (R)	Jenelle and Nathan have trouble with their agreement.
10 p.m.	ABC	“Rookie Blue” (D)	Season finale. Just about everything goes wrong on Andy’s wedding day.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4
Time	Network	Program	Description
12:01 a.m.	Amazon	“Hand of God” (D)	Series premiere. Ron Perlman plays a judge who believes god is sending him on the vigilante route.
7 p.m.	ESPN	“College Football” (S)	No. 4 Baylor starts its season at SMU.
9 p.m.	Discovery Channel	“Bering Sea Gold” (R)	Season premiere. Vern tests his new machine, and Emily works with a group of female divers.
9 p.m.	Showtime	“Jimi Hendrix: Electric Church” (N)	Documentary showcasing Hendrix’s performance at the Atlanta Pop Music Festival in 1970.
9 p.m.	Investigation Discovery	“Death by Gossip with Wendy Williams” (N)	Series premiere. Williams looks at crimes that begin with rumors and half-truths.
10 p.m.	Lifetime	‘Atlanta Plastic” (R)	Dr. Jones consults with a Michael Jackson impersonator.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5
Time	Network	Program	Description
7:30 p.m.	NBC	“College Football” (S)	Notre Dame opens its season with a home game versus Texas.
8 p.m.	Lifetime	“River Raft Nightmare” (M)	A mother and daughter cross paths with three escaped convicts while on a whitewater rafting trip.
8 p.m.	ABC	“College Football” (S)	In one of the best matchups of the weekend, No. 3 Alabama faces No. 20 Wisconsin in Arlington, Texas.
9 p.m.	Disney XD	“Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy” (K)	Series premiere. New animated series following Star-Lord and his crew.
9 p.m.	Discovery Channel	“MythBusters” (R)	The guys test myths and theories based on the “Star Wars” movies.
10 p.m.	Fox Sports 1	“College Football” (S)	An in-state rivalry game between Mississippi State and Southern Miss.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6
Time	Network	Program	Description
11 a.m.	ESPN2	“Tennis” (S)	Coverage of the Round of 16 at the U.S. Open.
3 p.m.	NBC	“PGA Golf” (S)	Third round of the Deutsche Bank Championship in Norton, Massachusetts.
4 p.m.	CBS	“Premier Boxing Champions” (S)	Bouts include a bantamweight title fight between Jamie McDonnell and Tomoki Kameda
7 p.m.	NBC	“NASCAR Racing” (S)	The Sprint Cup Bojangles Southern 500.
8 p.m.	PBS	“Arthur & George” (D)	The first installment of a three-part miniseries based on the novel by Julian Barnes.
8 p.m.	ESPN	“Major League Baseball” (S)	Key National League matchup between the Pirates and Cardinals in St. Louis.
A = awards show or special, C = comedy, D = drama, DD = daytime drama, G = game show, K = kids, M = movie, N = news/documentary, R = reality, S = sports, T = talk/variety show.