UPDATE – John Cena’s “American Grit” TV viewership – Series Premiere off to very slow start

The series premiere of “American Grit” hosted by John Cena got off to a very slow start Thursday night on Fox.

Grit drew a small broadcast TV audience of 2.43 million viewers, scoring a 0.8 adults 18-49 TV rating, reports TVBytheNumbers. By comparison, last week’s Smackdown drew 2.44 million viewers on cable TV’s USA Network.

Cena’s new show trailed its lead-in, “Bones,” by nearly two million viewers. Bones drew 4.36 million viewers and registered a 0.9 a18-49 rating.

(UPDATE: The final viewership total for Grit was lowered to 2.35 million viewers. Meanwhile, the lead-in, Bones, increased to 4.40 million viewers. Cena’s show ended up trailing its lead-in by more than two million viewers.)

Grit was a distant fourth among the four major broadcasters in the 9:00 p.m. EST window on a crowded TV night. “Grey’s Anatomy” drew a total of 8.0 million viewers over a two-hour block, CBS’s half-hour programming averaged 7.4 million viewers, and “The Blacklist” on NBC drew 6.6 million viewers.

Cena’s show benefited from a lot of in-show advertising during last Thursday’s series finale of “American Idol” and Cena doing a lot of promotion trying to get the word out.

However, Cena has been off WWE TV with an injury and WWE did the minimum to promote Cena’s show since it was going to head-to-head with Smackdown. The lack of exposure to WWE viewers, especially Cena’s fanbase, appears to have impacted the slow start.

Caldwell’s Analysis: The main issue seems to be the show’s format. Cena is the designated star as the host. However, he’s a “fish out of water” as a pro wrestler trying to turn into an actor hosting a show with no other real stars despite the nice message about honoring the military. Viewers simply do not know who the military personnel are or why they should care about the contestants. The show’s concept is similar to other shows, creating a situation where the stars have to be the draw. The only star is Cena, whose mainstream appeal is minimal to adults who left wrestling after the Attitude Era. And, kids likely would not be drawn to the show since Cena is in unfamiliar territory not playing a “super-hero” wrestler wearing bright-colored t-shirts.

Cena is trying to branch out on his own as a leading man outside of WWE, but he seems more suited for the supporting role in a comedy movie like “Trainwreck” that generated buzz because he exceeded expectations of a pro wrestler by showing range as an actor. But, playing a serious host of a competition show that does not separate itself from the pack will make for a challenging season, especially being in the “comedown match” spot after the American Idol finale.