‘Five-0’ Ratings Up

“Ho‘apono,” the seventh episode of the new “Hawaii Five-0,” drew 360,000 more viewers compared to last week, despite battling for eyeballs with Game 5 of the World Series on another network.

According to preliminary Nielsen ratings reported by CBS, last night’s 2 percent bump in households was good enough for “Hawaii Five-0” to tie for first place in adults 25-54, and place second in the coveted adults 18-49 demographic.

In fact, “Hawaii Five-0” finally bested long-time time-slot rival “Castle” in adults 18-49 (3.0 to 2.8), even though that other show still drew more total viewers (10.59 million to 11.80 million).

For the current TV season’s top new show, there was really no where to go but down, and each consecutive week had brought slight declines. High DVR viewership reliably boosted the final numbers by a full ratings point, but CBS is still undoubtedly relieved to see a break in the downward trend.

One nice surprise in last night’s episode? A cameo by former newscaster Kim Gennaula. Her name wasn’t listed among the many guest stars announced in advance, but she landed a speaking role as a military psychologist, explaining PTSD to Det. Danny “Danno” Williams (Scott Caan).

It turns out her proud hubby, TV weather anchor Guy Hagi, had posted news of the role to Twitter back in September. Last night, he expressed gratitude to Gennaula’s fans who cheered her on during the broadcast.

“Aloha Twitterverse, mahalo for the kind words for Kim Gennaula,” he wrote. “She was anxious, you’ve all made her night. Next up ‘Descendents’ with Clooney.”

Don’t miss our own Cat Toth’s take on “Hawaii Five-0,” as this week she tackles product placement on TV shows.