Ash vs Evil Dead ratings falling dangerously low
By Shawn Lealos
Ash vs. Evil Dead has started off season 3 in great style, with the gore and humor that fans expect from the franchise.
However, not enough fans are watching the show on Starz, and that means that this might be the last season that anyone will get to enjoy Ash Williams and his friends killing Deadittes. TV Series Finale has the ratings’ numbers from the first two episodes of season three, and they do not look good.
According to the site, the Ash vs. Evil Dead season 3 premiere brought in 225,000 total viewers and the second episode, “Booth Three” brought in 171,000 viewers. Earlier this month, Bruce Campbell expressed concern the show wouldn’t see its fourth season.
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Campbell, who played Ash Williams in Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn, Army of Darkness and Ash vs. Evil Dead, said that he realizes that his TV show is one of the most pirated shows on television today — meaning people are illegally downloading it instead of watching it on Starz.
While that is cool that people want to see it that bad, Starz won’t continue to air the show if people won’t watch it on Starz. Continue to pirate the show, and it will end very soon. I am sure Campbell and Sam Raimi love people watching their show, but Starz is who holds its future in their hands.
The problem lies at the feet of Starz though. The series initially came out at Halloween, and that was a perfect launch time for the series. However, thanks to a change in the showrunner, Ash vs. Evil Dead instead premiered its third season in February — and went head-to-head with the midseason premiere of The Walking Dead.
That is a huge problem. While The Walking Dead is experiencing a huge decrease in viewers, it is still one of the most watched shows on television and has a similar fanbase to that of Ash vs. Evil Dead. Honestly, people who watch shows that they can discuss in real-time will watch The Walking Dead before they watch Ash vs. Evil Dead.
Hell, the second episode went up against The Walking Dead and The Oscars. How fair is that?
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With that said, people can download the Starz app and pay just for that channel. Anyone who does that can watch every new episode of Ash vs. Evil Dead anytime they want to that Sunday, and there are no worries about counterprogramming.
Bruce Campbell says that there is a chance for a fourth movie if Ash vs. Evil Dead dies after season 3. That could be a nice follow-up, but if fans don’t start watching the show on Starz, there might not be many chances to see the adventures of Ash Williams ever again.