The ratings for the second episode, “Rappot,” of The Vow Season 2 are in. They are the lowest ratings of all. According to ShowBuzz Daily, the audience for the premiere on October 24, was a disappointing 105,000 viewers.
Season 1’s average viewers surpassed 300,000 per episode. Season 2’s opening episode, “Test of Loyalty”, had 147,000 viewers. That in itself was disappointing. It was lower than any episode in Season 1 by more than 100,000.
But now episode 2 of Season 2 has dipped to barely over 100,000. That’s a one-third loss from already poor ratings.
The Nielsen Ratings for The Vow Season 2 also show a considerable dip.
The Nielsen Ratings for Season 1 of The Vow range from 5 to 9. Both episodes of Season 2 have Nielsen ratings of 3.
HBO spent a lot of money on this production. Much more than they did for Season 1.
Director Karim Amer spent three long years filming Season 2. He began before Season 1 aired in 2020.
Amer’s directorial style is to film a thousand hours to get one hour of the film’s final version.
He filmed everything and everyone. And paid camera and sound people to film it. Karim often directed and interviewed the subjects or prompted them. Or he assigned someone to coordinate the shoot. They traveled wherever they had to, and paid for lodgings.
They also paid for enhanced production values.
Towards the end of filming, the director learned that HBO had decided to cut the number of episodes to six. Season 1 had nine episodes.
For the money spent, the low ratings must be disappointing for HBO and director Amer.
What is the reason for the low ratings?
It could be that the NXIVM trend has run its course.
It could be that many more will watch it at their convenience via streaming. It may pick up steam. We can’t rule it out.
It may be so subtle and nuanced that it will take time for people to appreciate it. Then a flood of people will watch it via streaming. Watching TV premieres is optional when you can stream something at any time.
It could be that the time slot on Mondays is not as good as Sundays – the day when Season 1 aired.
It could be that Amer did not tell the story in Season 2 as well as in Season 1, and it is not capturing viewers’ imaginations or interest.
Amer filmed Season 1 in 2017 when the outcome of the fight between Raniere and his former followers – aided by this writer – was uncertain.
We did not know how it would end. We were in the midst of a fight. Most of the action took place before the FBI arrested Raniere.
Amer filmed Season 2 after the victory was won.
One of Amer’s interviews for Season 2 was with Raniere in prison.
It might be that HBO’s decision to cut the episodes down to six forced Amer to cut essential scenes he might otherwise have used to tell his story.
It might be that Season 1 aired in the days of COVID stay-at-home, and more people were indoors to watch it.
But one thing seems certain. The ratings show viewership is down.
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Here are viewership and ratings for the Vow
Viewership and ratings per episode of The VowNo.TitleAir dateRating
(18–49)Viewers
(millions)1
August 23, 2020
0.07
0.342[30]
2
“Viscera“
August 30, 2020
0.09
0.338[31]
3
“At Cause“
September 6, 2020
0.06
0.341[33]
4
September 13, 2020
0.05
0.304[34]
5
September 20, 2020
0.08
0.362[35]
6
September 27, 2020
0.09
0.318[36]
7
October 4, 2020
0.06
0.257[37]
8
October 11, 2020
0.05
0.266[38]
9
“The Fall“
October 18, 2020
0.07
0.360[39]
Season 2
Viewership and ratings per episode of The VowNo.TitleAir dateRating
(18–49)Viewers
(millions)1
October 17, 2022
0.03
0.143[41]
2
“Rapport“
October 24, 2022
0.03
0.105[42]
