'Supergirl' debut: Can it win over older viewers on CBS?
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The new show 鈥淪upergirl,鈥 which centers on the female superhero of the same name, debuts tonight on CBS. Will it win over viewers?聽
鈥淪upergirl鈥 stars 鈥淕lee鈥 actress Melissa Benoist as Kara Zor-El, also known as Supergirl. Kara is Superman鈥檚 cousin and was raised by a foster family on Earth, which includes her foster sister (Chyler Leigh). Now she works for a media company and must grapple with her powers and what to do about them.聽
It鈥檚 no surprise that CBS is trying to secure a superhero TV show of its very own. In the current superhero-saturated culture, almost every major network and streaming service has one. Current high-profile superhero programs on broadcast TV are ABC鈥檚 鈥淢arvel鈥檚 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.鈥 and 鈥淎gent Carter鈥 as well as the CW鈥檚 鈥淎rrow鈥 and 鈥淭he Flash.鈥 Fox is airing 鈥淕otham,鈥 though the series has gotten mixed reviews critically, while NBC recently canceled its superhero show 鈥淐onstantine.鈥澛
Meanwhile, Netflix debuted its superhero TV show 鈥淒aredevil鈥 last spring and 鈥淛essica Jones鈥 arrives next month. The streaming service has announced that two more, 鈥淟uke Cage鈥 and 鈥淚ron Fist,鈥 are on their way and that the shows will culminate in a miniseries featuring all of the characters titled 鈥淭he Defenders.鈥
In the past, CBS鈥檚 viewers were some of the oldest for primetime TV 鈥 as of earlier this year, 59.9 was the median age for those tuning into the network, which is the oldest median age for the big broadcasters. ABC is second to CBS with a median viewer age of 55.9. (The valued demographic in TV is viewers who are 18-49.) And superhero stories could be viewed as a younger person鈥檚 genre 鈥 for this summer鈥檚 鈥淎vengers: Age of Ultron,鈥 about 59 percent of moviegoers who attended opening weekend were under 25. This summer鈥檚 鈥淎nt-Man鈥 attracted more older moviegoers, however, with 55 percent of the opening weekend crowd being over 25.聽
One show may have convinced CBS 鈥淪upergirl鈥 could be a hit for them: the comedy 鈥淭he Big Bang Theory.鈥 鈥淭heory鈥 centers on a group of scientists who love superheroes, 鈥淪tar Wars,鈥 and other similar media. In addition to being a huge hit for the network, 鈥淭heory鈥 does well with younger viewers 颅鈥 for the 2014-2015 TV season, it was the third-highest-rated show among viewers 18-49 on any network, behind only NBC's "Sunday Night Football" and Fox's music drama "Empire."聽
In addition, CBS seems to be trying to bring in younger viewers and may think 鈥淪upergirl鈥 could be key in doing so. A similar effort by the network was seen with recruiting Stephen Colbert to host the network鈥檚 鈥淟ate Show鈥 program. When Colbert鈥檚 previous program 鈥淭he Colbert Report鈥 aired its series finale on Comedy Central, the show became the highest-rated cable show for the night among those viewers who are 18-49 (excluding football).聽
If 鈥淪upergirl鈥 succeeds, it will be interesting to see whether CBS brings in more programming aimed at younger TV viewers.