TV

‘Originals’ winning battle of network spinoffs

Same timeslot. Very different story.

Last month, “The Originals” premiered on The CW while “Ravenswood” debuted on ABC Family.

Both were spinoffs of established ratings and social media hits — “The Vampire Diaries” and “Pretty Little Liars,” respectively. Both are courting the same viewers (under 34 years old)

Both contain supernatural elements — “The Originals” with its cast of vampires and werewolves and “Ravenswood” with its central town suffering under a deadly curse. And both air Tuesdays at 8 p.m.

But that’s where the similarities end.

“Ravenswood” launched to a strong 2.1 million viewers on Oct. 22 after the annual “Pretty Little Liars” Halloween special. But it’s dropped to an average of 1.1 million viewers without the support of its franchise lead-in.

“The Originals,” on the other hand, also opened with 2.1 million viewers on Thursday, Oct. 3, following “The Vampire Diaries.” After moving to Tuesdays the next week, it has been gradually ticking up, hitting a series high 2.4 million viewers for its most recent episode.

And while “Pretty Little Liars” has emerged as a Twitter darling — its Season Four summer finale set the record for the most-tweeted series episode in TV history (1.9 million mentions) — “Ravenswood” hasn’t generated the same kind of buzz.

Its premiere landed at No. 5 on Nielsen’s weekly Twitter TV ratings (“PLL” was No. 1 that week) but, since then, it hasn’t cracked the top 10 — as “PLL” regularly does during its run.

And while “The Originals” also doesn’t rank among the Top 10 on a weekly basis (nor has “Vampire Diaries”), it is leading “Ravenswood” in Twitter followers — 194,000 to 100,000.

(For their Nov. 12 episodes, “The Originals” was the third most-tweeted about show that night, according to Trendrr.tv data; “Ravenswood” was fifth.)

Meanwhile, the soft performance of “Ravenswood” puts it behind ABC Family’s most recent launches — last summer’s “The Fosters” (already renewed for season two) and “Twisted” (which drew 1.6 million viewers to its summer finale).

And with the spinoff struggling, the network last week changed its schedule so that — following its Nov. 19 midseason finale — “Ravenswood” will return with new episodes on Jan. 7, paired with the “Pretty Little Liars” mothership.

Meanwhile, The CW this week ordered a full season of “The Originals” (as well as its two other first-year dramas) — and it’s the most-watched new series of the trio, averaging 2.1 million viewers ahead of “T
he Tomorrow People” (1.9 million) and “Reign” (1.8 million).

Chalk up Round One to “The Originals” — at least for now.

Stay tuned.