Five-O’s Fifth Season to Surface in Primetime

TV3 will use its popular hospital drama Chicago Med to try to resuscitate Hawaii Five-O’s primetime prospects.

The ’60s crime drama reboot will air 9.30 Wednesdays from August 3 after years of being in and out of peak hour because of low ratings.

The show has been one of the network’s most vexing conundrums, given similar lighthearted action hours NCIS and NCIS: Los Angeles are among its most-watched series.

But H5O, despite a loyal fan base, has never matched their success or its US popularity, where it’s soon to start a seventh season.

Pairing it with a medical drama may seem unusual but Chicago Med has been a strong performer for TV3, invariably beating TV One’s 8.30 option in the four core commercial demographics and being only a couple of points behind TV2’s sitcoms in the 25-54 and 18-49 demos.

A better match might have been Tuesday’s NCIS: LA but TV3’s been successful in using that spin-off to rebuild viewership of SVU, which only two seasons ago was languishing on Saturday nights.

Also in H5O’s favour this time around is less pressure on it to rate in primetime as previously, because of a fragmented marketplace that makes lower ratings more acceptable — and programmers giving shows more time to settle in because of this and the consolidated viewership factor.

It’s also a valuable series for TV3 to invest in given its enduring appeal and stable ratings in the US.