Black Lightning premiered on the CW on Tuesday with about 2.31 million viewers. That makes the show CW’s highest debut in two years since DC’s Legends of Tomorrow‘s debut in 2016 with 3.2 million viewers. For reference, Flash had 4.8 million viewers in its debut, and Arrow has 4.14 million viewers in its debut.
It is important to note, however, that Black Lightning retained 90% of the audience from the Flash episode immediately precedingit, and that the 18-49 demographic scored a 0.8.
Black Lightning is in a difficult time slot as well. On Tuesdays at 9:00 P.M. EST, Black Lightning is up against NBC’s This Is Us, CBS’s NCIS: New Orleans, ABC’s Black-Ish, and Fox’s LA to Vegas.
Black Lightning stars Cress Williams as Jefferson Pierce, China Anne McClain as Jennifer Pierce, Nafessa Williams as Anissa Pierce, Christine Adams as Lynn Stewart, Marvin “Krondon” Jones III as Tobias Whale, Damon Gupton as Henderson, and James Remar as Peter Gambi.
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