Comparing Better Call Saul Ratings with Breaking Bad


With the recent conclusion of the fourth season of 'Better Call Saul' has, there is enough ratings data available to begin a comparison to 'Breaking Bad'. Here is a side-by-side comparison of the ratings for the first 40 episodes of each series.

Overall Viewership:
Going into this recent season of 'Better Call Saul' it was unclear what the ratings would look like. After premiering to 6.88 million viewers back in February 2015, 'Saul' has mostly been on the decline ever since, dropping approximately 750,000 viewers from season-to-season. The first season averaged 3.21 million viewers (though that drops to 2.8 million with the premiere removed), the second 2.16 million, and the third 1.64 million. Luckily, this season showed some stability for the first time, dropping only 150,000 viewers year-to-year, averaging 1.49 million viewers in 2018.

'Breaking Bad,' by comparison, averaged 1.23 million viewers in its first season, 1.3 million in its second, 1.52 million in its third, and 1.92 million in the first half of its fourth. The five most recent episodes of 'Saul' have each run about 400K viewers behind their 'Bad' equivalent, and at the 40-episode mark, 'Saul' is more than likely closer to its end than its beginning, just as 'Breaking Bad' was only 22 episodes away from its finale at this point. It's entirely possible viewers return as the show gets closer and closer to its end, so it's difficult to make accurate predictions about what the future ratings may look like; however, it is quite unlikely that 'Saul' will see a similar kind of ratings success near its end like its predecessor did.

18-49 Ratings:
Although there is a small gap in my 18-49 ratings information for Breaking Bad season 2, it's still clear that a similar pattern emerges as in total viewers.

One important thing to remember when looking at the charts is that the two shows did not have the same episode counts per season. The eighth episode of 'Better Call Saul' was the eighth episode of the first season; however, the eighth episode of 'Breaking Bad' was the second season premiere, hence a noticeable spike in viewership and ratings. Episode 21 was the third season premiere for both series. Full ratings/viewership tables for the ratings gurus out there can be found below.  

Full Data Tables:
Better Call SaulBreaking Bad
Episode #Viewers
(millions)
18-49
Rating
Episode #Viewers
(millions)
18-49
Rating
1016.8813.43
101
1.411
0.6
1023.4181.63
102
1.488
0.6
1033.2331.58
103
1.079
0.4
1042.8701.38
104
1.086
0.4
1052.7081.22
105
0.958
0.44
1062.5731.26
106
1.070
0.5
1072.6691.31
107
1.498
0.72
1082.8721.33
201
1.662
0.7
1092.3811.13
202
1.576
0.6
1102.5321.19
203
1.130
0.43
2012.5731.06
204
1.294
--
2022.2280.98
205
1.213
--
2032.2010.99
206
1.407
--
2042.1990.94
207
1.198
0.43
2051.9920.81
208
1.035
--
2062.1050.87
209
1.271
0.51
2072.0310.78
210
1.185
0.54
2081.9300.81
211
1.288
0.56
2092.0590.82
212
1.190
0.45
2102.2630.85
213
1.466
0.52
3011.8130.7
301
1.954
0.9
3021.4630.54
302
1.545
0.7
3031.5240.52
303
1.327
0.6
3041.5620.58
304
1.463
0.6
3051.7560.65
305
1.613
0.7
3061.7150.63
306
1.642
0.7
3071.6500.67
307
1.519
0.6
3081.6330.52
308
1.780
0.7
3091.4720.45
309
1.612
0.7
3101.8510.62
310
1.202
0.5
4011.7680.56
311
1.323
0.6
4021.5480.43
312
1.191
0.5
4031.5080.43
313
1.556
0.7
4041.5290.39
401
2.576
1.1
4051.5250.43
402
1.968
0.9
4061.4010.39
403
1.714
0.7
4071.3500.41
404
1.834
0.7
4081.3700.47
405
1.754
0.7
4091.3530.45
406
1.674
0.7
4101.5260.47
407
1.913
0.8

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