An episode-by-episode tracker of this season’s numbers.
Bravo’s Below Deck has officially returned with Season 8, the first in a while without longtime Chief Stew Kate Chastain and understandably, fans are curious as to how well the show is performing in the reality TV ratings.
TV Deets has decided to track the TV ratings for Season 8 in an easy-to-follow chart below, and we’ll note when the show has been impacted by specific moments. (We did the same with our Below Deck Med Season 5 reality TV ratings tracker, which you can check out here.)
In addition to Kate’s exit, Below Deck Season 8 also sees the return of original cast member Eddie Lucas, who starred on Seasons 1 through 3.
Below Deck Season 7 Ratings
First, let’s take a look at how the show performed in the first three episodes of Season 7, which aired on the network in October 2019:
| Episode | Air Date | Demo (adults 18-49) | Viewers | Episode Notes |
| S07E01 | October 7, 2019 | 0.51 | 1,412,000 | Season Premiere |
| S07E02 | October 14, 2019 | 0.45 | 1,376,000 | |
| S07E03 | October 21, 2019 | 0.50 | 1,432,000 |
Below Deck Season 8 Ratings
Below, check out a running episode-by-episode list of how the show is performing this year:
| Episode | Air Date | Demo (adults 18-49) | Viewers | Episode Notes |
| S08E01 | November 2, 2020 | 0.38 | 1,201,000 | Season Premiere |
| S08E02 | November 9, 2020 | 0.43 | 1,409,000 | |
| S08E03 | November 16, 2020 | 0.53 | 1,468,000 | *Season high |
| S08E04 | November 23, 2020 | 0.47 | 1,365,000 | |
| S08E05 | November 30, 2020 | 0.42 | 1,381,000 | |
| S08E06 | December 7, 2020 | 0.48 | 1,470,000 | *New season high in overall viewers |
| S08E07 | December 14, 2020 | 0.55 | 1,547,000 | * New season high in both demo and overall viewers |
| S08E08 | December 21, 2020 | 0.50 | 1,605,000 | * New season high in overall viewers |
| S08E09 | December 28, 2020 | 0.44 | 1,555,000 | |
| S08E10 | January 4, 2021 | 0.53 | 1,560,000 | |
| S08E11 | January 11, 2021 | 0.52 | 1,601,000 | |
| S08E12 | January 18, 2021 | 0.53 | 1,672,000 | *Season high in overall viewers |
| S08E13 | January 25, 2021 | 0.47 | 1,548,000 | |
| S08E14 | February 1, 2021 | 0.48 | 1,592,000 |
Last Updated: February 3, 2021
So… How is the Bravo hit doing?
Season 8 is the first in a longtime without Kate Chastain but despite her exit, viewers seem to be just as into the show as ever. Coming off of the heightened drama on Below Deck Med Season 5, however, the risk was that viewers may have franchise fatigue but that doesn’t seem to have occurred.
While the show may be lagging (at least right now) in the adults 18-49 demo, the group most valuable to advertisers, the overall viewership numbers for the season are trending upwards and it has been leading Monday nights against the competition. In addition to live numbers, Bravo will also be looking at Live+3 and Live+7, only increasing the show’s chances at breaking some franchise ratings.
If the show continues to perform well and the demo improves, this may very well go on to be one of the show’s highest-rated seasons ever.
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