‘Power’ Finale Ratings Match Season High; Starz App Rises Strongly

In a fifth season that has seen major deaths, betrayals and a shot to the chest cliffhanger in its finale, Power stayed very consistent this year when it comes to ratings – at least on the small screen.
However, when it comes to Starz app, it is clear that Power’s audience has both found a new home and grown, leaving the liner viewership far behind.

Facing off against NBC and the NFL’s sagging Sunday Night Football opener, Sunday’s just over one hour in length “When This Is Over” Season 5 finale snagged 1.53 million viewers and a 0.6 rating among adults 18-49 on the premium cabler, according to Nielsen. Topping the night among its subscriber based competition, that matches the July 1 “Everyone Is Implicated” season opener in both sets of eyeballs and the demo for the best result of the cycle.

Among the 18-49s, the Courtney Kemp created drama with Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson in its cast stayed at the same rating zone almost all season.

Finale-to-finale, the Season 5 close of Starz’s most watched series was down 23% in viewers from the Season 4 ender of September 7, 2017. That puts this year’s finale as almost the second least watched of the renewed series’ run so far.

As this age of Peak TV shows us again and again, that is not where the real action is.

There were over 3 million streams of the Kemp and Gabriela Uribe penned Season 5 finale on the Starz app, we’re learned. Offering a very clear roadmap to where the Omari Hardwick, Naturi Naughton, Lela Loren and Joseph Sikora starring show’s audience is and plans on going, the fifth season of Power saw a 42% jump in use of the app from Season 4

As others like Showtime know on their own apps, that growth is in no small part due to new episodes becoming available early on Sunday morning. That’s clearly an option fans will seek out as opposed to waiting to 8 PM to see what’s going down with Ghost, Tommy and the crew.

With Live + 3 numbers and more app data to come, it is worth also noting that fans streamed 55% more episodes this season as compared to last year. Additionally, with Power the largest magnet for the more tech savvy audience, the app for the Lionsgate-owned cabler saw sign-ups rise 21% this season.

Going into Season 6, EP Kemp has said that Power is moving toward its conclusion. It looks like by the time they get there the platform the show started on will not be the main where it will end.