‘Five-0’ premiere wins its time slot with 14.2M viewers
An estimated 14.2 million viewers tuned in for the network premiere of the locally filmed series.
"Hawaii Five-0," starring, from left, Scott Caan, Alex O'Loughlin and Daniel Dae Kim, hit the ground running in its series premiere Monday night, drawing an estimated audience of more than 14 million viewers.
Whether it was the result of curiosity, nostalgic loyalty or the millions of dollars CBS spent on promotion, the network premiere Monday night of the new "Hawaii Five-0" was a hit.
"Five-0" won its time slot with an estimated 14.2 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media ratings released by CBS yesterday. The network, which estimates that 38 percent of American homes have digital recording devices, believes that number will increase to nearly 16 million once viewers play back the show.
"Five-0" airs at 9 p.m. Mondays on KGMB in Hawaii.
The show’s nearest competitors were "Castle" on ABC, which drew 10.7 million viewers, and "Chase" on NBC, which drew 7.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen.
Walea Constantinau, commissioner for the Honolulu Film Office, called the network viewer numbers a good sign. But every show has to prove itself, especially remakes with significant television history like "Five-0," she said.
"People remember the old, and you are always comparing the old and the new," she said. "But I think that this is a very strong showing, and it’s a fantastic show. I think it’s off to a great start, and CBS did a fantastic job doing a launch that is befitting a show of this lineage."
The new "Five-0" stars Alex O’Loughlin as Steve McGarrett, Scott Caan as Danny "Danno" Williams, Daniel Dae Kim as Chin Ho Kelly and Grace Park as Kono. It was created by executive producers Peter Lenkov, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci.
"On behalf of me and my partners, we’re thrilled with the premiere ratings and believe that good word of mouth will pull in even more viewers next Monday," Lenkov said in an e-mail statement.
Monday’s premiere came a week after CBS held a sneak preview at Sunset on the Beach that drew more than 5,000 people and wildly enthusiastic applause. The new "Five-0" is a modern take on the series that ran from 1968 to 1980.
The pilot was shot in March, and the series shooting schedule began in July. The cast and crew have been shooting all over Oahu while the network promoted the show nationwide on buses, billboards, TV and social media sites.
