Total Divas Season 5 Complete Viewership Report

Season 5 of “Total Divas” closed with a whimper on Tuesday night, pointing to why the show is being re-booted next season.

Total Divas Season 5 Summary

April 19: The season finale drew 625,000 viewers on E!, according to TVByTheNumbers, falling below the season average by more than 100,000 viewers.

The season averaged 734,000 viewers, down 38 percent from Season 4 in the Tuesday night timeslot.

Only one episode drew more than 1.0 million viewers – the season premiere on January 19.

After the season premiere, viewership fell seven consecutive weeks, hitting an all-time low 580,000 viewers on March 8.

The show then hit a new all-time low of 563,000 viewers on March 29 during the hustle and bustle of WrestleMania Week.

When Total Divas moved timeslots for Season 4 in Summer 2015, the show was paired with “Tough Enough” on Tuesday nights within the NBCU family. That provided a tag partner to try to bring viewers to WWE-related programming the night after a three-hour Raw.

However, Season 5 was on an island in the crowded Tuesday night market. Plus, the show wrapped up its season at the same time WWE distanced itself from their long-promoted “Divas” label to describe the female roster, switching to “Superstars” and the “Women’s Title.”

WWE and E! are still promoting Season 6 of the series as “Total Divas” despite the company now acknowledging “Divas” as a dated representation of their female roster.

Caldwell’s Analysis: The “Total Bellas” spin-off is also starting up in Fall 2016, creating the question of whether it’s time to phase out the “Total Divas” show after Season 5 viewership fell 38 percent. WWE and E! are already committed to Season 6, though, with new cast members Maryse, Renee Young, and Lana in the mix. It remains to be seen what the landscape is during the second-half of 2016 in terms of how to market the show trying to bring back lapsed viewers – market the new cast members, market a different approach to the show, etc.?

Total Divas Progression

Sunday Nights…

• Season 1 (Part 1 Fall 2013) – 1.375 million viewers
• Season 1 (Part 2 Winter 2013) – 1.254 million viewers
• Season 2 (Spring 2014) – 1.201 million viewers
• Season 3 (Part 1 Fall 2014) – 1.012 million viewers
• Season 3 (Part 2 Spring 2015) – 1.212 million viewers

Shift to Tuesday Nights…

• Season 4 (Summer/Fall 2015) – 1.011 million viewers
• Season 5 (Winter/Spring 2016) – 734,071 viewers