The Golden Bachelor is a Surprisingly Good Watch, and the Ratings Prove It

With the television industry just beginning to recover from the WGA strike (the SAG-AFTRA strike and their negotiations with the AMPTP are still ongoing), the networks are struggling to fill their fall schedules. Sports and other unscripted shows are coming to the rescue - the latter, like political debates, have always occupied a huge niche of viewers, but for various reality shows this situation has become crucial, driving ratings to unprecedented heights.

This is exactly what happened with the new spin-off of The Bachelor franchise, The Golden Bachelor. The first episode was released on September 28, and its premiere is already an absolute triumph among all the other franchise installments, both on traditional television and on the streaming platform Hulu. It seems that audiences are not only trying to entertain themselves in the absence of new scripted series, but are also much more invested in the love affairs of older people than younger ones.

Soaring ratings

The Golden Bachelor, which premiered on September 28, was the biggest in the franchise and attracted the largest multiplatform audience. It started with an impressive 4.36 million TV viewers, but as part of the Live+3 count (which includes the three days after the premiere), the total audience grew by 3.34 million to an incredible 7.7 million cross-platform viewers, making it the largest three-day total in series history, second only to The Bachelorette Season 16 premiere.

Meanwhile, Hulu views (which the platform calculates by dividing the total hours spent watching an episode by its running time) totaled 1.76 million, making The Golden Bachelor the most-watched ABC show on the service.

In the 18-49 demographic, the Nielsen rating for the three additional days was 1.9, up 206% from the premiere, when the rating was 0.62, according to Deadline, beating out the final episode of The Bachelor Season 26.

What's the show about?

It seems that the show's appeal is not only due to the drought in the entertainment industry. The concept of The Golden Bachelor itself is much more intriguing than the previous installments. After all, this time there are no young people competing for the heart of the bachelor, who can always change his mind or turn back.

At the center of events is 72-year-old Gerry Turner, a widower and retired restaurateur who longs for sincere and passionate feelings from the person with whom he would be willing to spend his golden years. The contestants, in turn, are experienced women between the ages of 60 and 75.

The new episode of The Golden Bachelor will air on October 12 on ABC and Hulu.