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Ratings and Scheduling: Hail to the Gods


caracas1914
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Now that the season is over, I thought it would be fun to see how our friends at IMDB.com ranked each episode. I gave them a couple of weeks to get final votes in for the finale.  The first number is the ratings IMDB users gave, on a scale of 1 to 10, followed by the total number of votes in parentheses. 

 

The Calm, 9.0 (3603)

Sara, 8.8 (2273)

Corto Maltese, 8.5 (1981)

The Magician, 8.8 (2042)

The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak, 8.8 (2306)

Guilty, 8.5 (1836)

Draw Back Your Bow, 8.4 (1936)

The Brave and the Bold, 9.0 (3569)

The Climb, 9.2 (8030)

Left Behind, 8.8 (2259)

Midnight City, 8.3 (1757)

Uprising, 8.8 (1982)

Canaries, 8.7 (1818)

The Return, 8.6 (1846)

Nanda Parbat, 9.0 (2560)

The Offer, 8.7 (1780)

Suicidal Tendencies, 8.7 (1680)

Public Enemy, 9.0 (2125)

Broken Arrow, 9.1 (2415)

The Fallen, 9.0 (2198)

Al Sah-him, 8.7 (1784)

This Is Your Sword, 9.0 (1964)

My Name Is Oliver Queen, 8.5 (2589)

 

What I take from this:

 

1. IMDB users really like it when Oliver falls off a cliff ("The Climb") without anybody rushing in at the last minute to save him ("My Name Is Oliver Queen.")

 

2. Popular, liked episodes generally seem to get more overall votes, which makes sense.  I'm a bit flummoxed by the number of votes for "The Climb," to be honest - I would have figured that "The Brave and the Bold" would have gotten more overall votes. 

 

Least liked episodes:

 

Least liked episode of the season: "Midnight City," AKA Laurel becomes Black Canary at last.  

 

Followed by:

 

Draw Back Your Bow (Wow, nobody liked that DJ, did they?)

 

Corto Maltese (No one appreciates MacGyvered bows the way they used to, do they?  Also, Oliver uses a gun; Felicity stays behind in Starling as the rest of Team Arrow heads off to Corto Maltese; Laurel starts hitting people with sticks)

 

Guilty (Roy's candle therapy, and rescuing Laurel again.)

 

My Name Is Oliver Queen (IMDB users are well aware of what your name is, Oliver! Tell them something new!)

 

Most popular episodes: (I've listed eight since five of them are tied at a 9.0 rating)

 

1. The Climb (fall over more cliffs, Oliver, but make sure you remove your shirt first)

 

2. Broken Arrow (everybody fake-death now!)

 

3. The Calm (Because who doesn't want to see a lovely romantic date blown to bits?)

 

4. The Brave and the Bold (Run, Barry, run!)

 

5. Nanda Parbat (Because Oliver and Diggle in chains together is always a hot I mean deeply character meaningful thing)

 

6. Public Enemy (Best Starling City stunt sequence of the season)

 

7. The Fallen (Oliver took his shirt off twice. What more does anyone need?)

 

8. This Is Your Sword (A major stunt sequence with an exploding plane, plus, Nyssa showing off the very latest League of Assassins wedding fashions.)

 

Laurel didn't appear in one of IMBD's least liked episodes ("Draw Back Your Bow") but was featured in or had major scenes in the other four, three of which focused on her journey to Black Canary.  She was sidelined or barely appeared in all but one of IMDB's best liked episodes ("This Is Your Sword.") And in general, episodes either featuring Laurel, or episodes where the promos/sneak peeks featured Laurel, received fewer votes from IMDB users.

 

I bring this up largely because IMDB seems to be viewed as a pro-Laurel site, something that doesn't seem to get reflected in their votes.

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(edited)

on the other hand good Olicity episodes don't seem to have done that well either.

 

I suppose that depends on how you define "good" Olicity episodes?

 

From my viewpoint, three major Olicity episodes landed in IMBD's top rankings.

 

IMBD's best ranked episode of the season is "The Climb," (Oliver says "I love you"/last thought before cliff diving is of Felicity.)  Other high ranking episodes include "The Calm" (Oliver/Felicity's first date/kiss) and "The Fallen," (Oliver finally gets the girl he loves, only to have her drug him and drag him through catacombs that haven't been cleaned in centuries).  "Broken Arrow," when Felicity almost says "I love you," to Oliver, is also in the top eight episodes.  So I'd say that at least three, possibly four, "good" Oliver/Felicity episodes, showing progress in their relationship, made the top eight ranked episodes.

 

The only Oliver/Felicity episodes to land in the bottom five: "Draw Back Your Bow," where Felicity kissed Ray instead of getting back together with Oliver - second least liked episode of the season -  and "My Name Is Oliver Queen."   

 

All of the other Oliver/Felicity episodes landed somewhere in the middle.

 

I think it's safe to call "My Name Is Oliver Queen" as an outlier for how IMDB users generally reacted to Oliver/Felicity.

Edited by quarks
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Curious at how they compare to SpoilerTV. With the exception of Nanda and possibly Public Enemy, I consider the most popular episodes to be strong Olicity episodes. As for Draw Back Your Bow it was filled with romantic cliches that IMO were not done well (plus that awful DJ). I think My Name is Oliver Queen would be considered an Olicity-heavy episode, but as a finale it just wasn't that exciting. There was very little payoff for the season as a whole.

The romance on Arrow just works best in the background unless done well (I consider the The Fallen done well, Draw Back Your Bow not).

I'm surprised at Public Enemy and This is your Sword, mostly because I thought both episodes had a lot of stupid. But they both did feature big action sequences and SHOCKING moments. I would have assumed the crossover would rank higher.

I really don't think Laurel is much of a draw for the audience. It could change next season when people binge watch S3, but I doubt it. Of course, this is all tea leaves and guess work and like 5% of data needed to form an opinion. But I do think it's very interesting.

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(edited)

Curious at how they compare to SpoilerTV....

Rankings according to poll ratings (first number) at SpoilerTV's Reader Popularity Table for S3 of Arrow:

 

1.  S03E08 - The Brave and the Bold  4.78   459

 

2.  S03E05 - The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak 4.63   861

     S03E09 - The Climb    4.63   1024

 

3.  S03E19 - Broken Arrow   4.60    531

 

4.  S03E18 - Public Enemy   4.51   527

 

5.  S03E20 - The Fallen   4.48   1011

 

6.  S03E01 - The Calm    4.38   847

     S03E10 - Left Behind   4.38   528

     S03E16 - The Offer    4.38   447

 

7.  S03E14 - The Return   4.33   395

 

8.  S03E04 - The Magician   4.21   394

     S03E07 - Draw Back Your Bow   4.21   485

 

9.  S03E12 - Uprising    4.04   508

 

10.  S03E17 - Suicidal Tendencies   4.00   478

       S03E22 - This Is Your Sword   4.00   654

 

11.  S03E23 - My Name Is Oliver Queen  3.99   1182

 

12.  S03E02 - Sara    3.94   528

 

13.  S03E21 - Al Sah-Him   3.89   644

 

14.  S03E11 - Midnight City   3.87   387

 

15.  S03E03 - Corto Maltese   3.86   414

 

16.  S03E13 - Canaries    3.62   507

 

17.  S03E15 - Nanda Parbat   3.61   747

 

18.  S03E06 - Guilty    3.24   334

 

The poll ratings indicate what SpoilerTV readers thought of each episode, with the rankings ranging from 5 (Awesome) down to 0 (Awful).

Edited by tv echo
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(edited)

Rankings according to total votes (second number) at SpoilerTV's Reader Popularity Table for S3 of Arrow:

 

1.  S03E23 - My Name Is Oliver Queen  3.99   1182

 

2.  S03E09 - The Climb    4.63   1024

 

3.  S03E20 - The Fallen   4.48   1011

 

4.  S03E05 - The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak 4.63   861

 

5.  S03E01 - The Calm    4.38   847

 

6.  S03E15 - Nanda Parbat   3.61   747

 

7.  S03E22 - This Is Your Sword   4.00   654

 

8.  S03E21 - Al Sah-Him   3.89   644

 

9.  S03E19 - Broken Arrow   4.60    531

 

10.  S03E02 - Sara    3.94   528
       S03E10 - Left Behind   4.38   528

 

11.  S03E18 - Public Enemy   4.51   527

 

12.  S03E12 - Uprising    4.04   508

 

13.  S03E13 - Canaries    3.62   507

 

14.  S03E07 - Draw Back Your Bow   4.21   485

 

15.  S03E17 - Suicidal Tendencies   4.00   478

 

16.  S03E08 - The Brave and the Bold  4.78   459

 

17.  S03E16 - The Offer    4.38   447

 

18.  S03E03 - Corto Maltese   3.86   414

 

19.  S03E14 - The Return   4.33   395

 

20.  S03E04 - The Magician   4.21   394

 

21.  S03E11 - Midnight City   3.87   387

 

22.  S03E06 - Guilty    3.24   334

 

The total votes show how many SpoilerTV reader votes were received for each episode and, imo, could be interpreted as a measure of reader interest/apathy for that episode.

Edited by tv echo
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I'm surprised at Public Enemy and This is your Sword, mostly because I thought both episodes had a lot of stupid. But they both did feature big action sequences and SHOCKING moments. I would have assumed the crossover would rank higher.

 

 

IMDB users do seem to respond to the episodes that have major action sequences, and whatever else can be said about it, "Public Enemy" did have arguably the best Starling City stunt sequence of the season, and certainly one of the biggest.  "This Is Your Sword" had the large battle sequence which was actually in - gasp - daylight so everyone could see it, plus the exploding plane. I think the response from IMDB users makes sense.

 

"My Name Is Oliver Queen" did have the big stunt sequence on the plane, but - in my opinion - the second big Ra's versus Oliver fight wasn't up to the level of Arrow's other major stunt sequences, and included some baffling questions - like, why, exactly, did the snipers wait for Oliver to finish his little League of Assassins blessing before shooting him off the cliff? They had a clear shot there for several seconds. It's yet another sequence that could have worked with just a little tweaking - have the snipers start shooting both of them while the duel is still going on, for instance.  I still had a lot of fun with the episode, but I can also understand why IMDB and SpoilerTV users gave it a lower rating.

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IAOQ also ended with Oliver giving up the Arrow and traveling with Felicity. And also had Felicity in the ATOM suit. Things some of the actiony people didn't like as much..

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Compared to The Undertaking and Unthinkable, the action sequences in My Name Is Oliver Queen were subpar. It was a fun episode, just not season finale fun.

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(edited)

Since MG has said that they do look at Nielsen TV Ratings (despite the flaws of that system), I went back and collected all of the final, adjusted numbers for Season 3 episodes and listed them here -- first number is Adults 18-49 Demo, and second number is Total Viewers (millions)...

 

3.01 The Calm     1.0     2.83
3.02 Sara     0.8     2.32
3.03 Corto Maltese     0.9     2.55
3.04 The Magician     1.0     2.49
3.05 The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak     1.1     2.73
3.06 Guilty     0.9     2.60
3.07 Draw Back Your Bow      0.9     2.64
3.08 The Brave and the Bold     1.4     3.92
3.09 The Climb     1.1     3.06
3.10 Left Behind     1.1     3.06
3.11 Midnight City     1.1     2.91
3.12 Uprising     1.2     2.94
3.13 Canaries     1.1     2.67
3.14 The Return     1.2     2.91
3.15 Nanda Parbat     1.1     3.07
3.16 The Offer     0.9     2.37
3.17 Suicidal Tendencies     1.0     2.77
3.18 Public Enemy     0.8     2.48
3.19 Broken Arrow     0.9     2.47
3.20 The Fallen     1.0     2.72
3.21 Al Sah-him     0.9     2.39
3.22 This is Your Sword     1.0     2.54
3.23 My Name is Oliver Queen     1.0     2.83

Edited by tv echo
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That gives a season average of 2.75 viewers.

The demo is a bit trickier to average out.  The full number I got was 0.946956522 which I'd round up to .95 but do they leave it there or would they round it all the way up to 1.0?

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According to Series Finale website Arrow averaged a 1.01 and 2.76 mil viewers this season. S2 averaged a 0.9 and 2.62 mil viewers .

Was it Mark Twain who said "there are lies, damned lies, and statistics"?

 

I wonder how the number would compare if you took away the bump the show got for a few episodes from the cross-overs.

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(edited)

I am not able to do justice to fully analyzing the data tonight. But I wonder if the drops in the ratings indicate anything. Just cursory glance of the dips to me came after episodes that I would consider weak or bad. I wonder if there is a trend that supports that. For example the drop from e17 (1.05) to e18 (0.82), actually there was drop from e15 (1.10) to e16 to (0.86). There also was a big drop after e1 when Sara was killed (the drop is self explanatory). Ep8 had the highest at 1.41, but that's expected considering its the crossover, I wonder if you pulled out that outlier what the results would be. It doesn't look like we held onto a large part of that crossover audience.

 

I wonder if TPTB will see the drops as indicative of frustration with the show. I can remember being very close to wanting to quit live watching the show after 317. That episode was great for the Dyla wedding & Deadshot flashbacks. But the rest of the show & characters were an absolute mess. Basically every reason you would want to tune in for the next week was unappealing or ruined. Roy was left for dead, Ray was an absolute douchebag, O/F were on the outs again, OQ turned down Ras but we knew he was cause trouble either way (something OQ seemed to miss). It was just a very messy & anger inducing episode. It did not surprise me then that there was a drop. Likewise e15 had Raylicity sex & the weakening of Ras to someone who resorts to courting OQ to replace him. Then there was a predictable drop.

 

I'm happy Arrow increased their overall Demo, but I hope the writers/TPTB see that some of their storytelling choices maybe why they didn't sustain their audiences week to week. In s3, I would think that the ratings would be more consistent as the core audience is engaged, I feel like drops indicate that there is a little frustration in the core audience that is not tuning in, choosing to skip a digital viewing and taking it off their DVR. But there seems to be a pattern developing, from my brief analysis of the numbers. Imagine the possibilities if the writers were able to have quality storytelling the entire season, so the audiences wouldn't choose to drop or intentionally skip the next week's episodes.

Edited by kismet
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Thanks to SmoakandArrow...

Arrow Season 3 Encore Ratings

I haven’t been keeping up with this as much as I’d like, but I went back and updated my list today, so I thought I’d share.  Encore ratings are a nice way of saying “reruns.”  The format is Episode Title: Rerun Air Date - Ratings (in millions of viewers) | 18-49 Demo share.

 

THE CALM: May 27, 2015 - 1.02 million viewers | .02 [x]

SARA: June 3, 2015 - June 3, 2015 - 0.97 million viewers | 0.3 [x]

CORTO MALTESE: June 10, 2015 - 0.93 million viewers | 0.3 [x]

THE MAGICIAN: June 17, 2015 - 0.96 million viewers | 0.3 [x]

THE SECRET ORIGIN OF FELICITY SMOAK: June 24, 2015 - 0.96 million viewers | 0.3 [x]

GUILTY: July 1, 2015 - 0.84 million viewers | 0.2 [x]

DRAW BACK YOUR BOW: July 8, 2015 - 1.21 million viewers | 0.3 [x]

THE BOLD & THE BRAVE: July 15, 2015 - 1.10 million viewers | 0.3 [x]

THE CLIMB: July 22, 2015 - 0.99 million viewers | 0.2 [x]

LEFT BEHIND: July 29, 2015 - 0.76 million viewers | 0.2 [x]

Edited by tv echo
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Left Behind is the first of the episodes without Oliver and has Laurel suiting up for the first time.

I'm surprised Draw Back Your Bow has the highest ratings.I liked the episode but I've seen people,mostly on the GATV worst episode poll saying how it's the worst episode of the season.

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Technically I guess its the first of the Black Canary Arc. It was at least sold as the start. I know the promo used on twitter was rise of a new hero/the justice you can't run from i.e. Laurel. It was more of a Felicity episode to me though. I'm curious if the marketing had any affect in the ratings.

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Ah. Okay! I couldn't remember. That's probably why. "I'm the justice you can't run from." Probably the most cringe-worthy quote on the show so far. 

 

Draw Back Your Bow surprises me though. I actually liked the Cupid thing but the Ray/Felicity of it all was gross and made me seriously uncomfortable. Especially because Felicity was manipulated with a dress and an expensive necklace. Shudder. And that speech she gave about Ray that felt like it came out of nowhere. So yeah. Not sure why the numbers are so high for that one.

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To me DBYB was more of a O/F episode even with the Raylicity.I mean it had jealous Oliver which is one of my favorites and a fun campy villain.IMO the worst episodes of the season were Canaries and Suicidal Tendencies.I love Diggle but that was more Ray than I could stand.

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I was wondering what the rerun numbers were because they seem to be a better indication of the quality of an episode i.e. Did you like this episode enough to watch it again but the idea of going through TVbythenumbers was too daunting.   So many thanks to SmoakandArrow..

 

Interesting low number for Left Behind, and an indication that Arrow without Oliver really isn't that interesting.

 

I skipped DBYB this time because I hated the Oliver/Felicity distancing so much, and Diggle abandoning Felicity to be on Team Oliver (hypocritical since in s1 he was the one saying Oliver had to use his words), and the Raylicity propping, but I can see why people liked it.  I thought Carrie Cutter was fun and a nice change from all the evul beat-em-up villains.

 

 

 but I've seen people,mostly on the GATV worst episode poll saying how it's the worst episode of the season.

It was about all that mushy romantic stuff.  Don't the EPs know that girls have cooties?

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I hated the distancing of Felicity and Diggle too but I was naive and thought it would be a one time thing when I watched the episode.

And I guess since I was preparing myself for Raylicity since before the season started it didn't bother me so much in that episode.The problems came later when it became all about selling Ray's spinoff.That episode was still standard temporary LI stuff.

It will be interesting to see how the rerun ratings are for the rest of "the BC trilogy".

 

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Do you know why those in particular? (I know there's not enough time to air them all before the new season begins.)

 

That's Midnight City, Uprising, Canaries (the Laurel episodes) and The Return.  Were the ratings bad for those?

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Do you know why those in particular? (I know there's not enough time to air them all before the new season begins.)

 

That's Midnight City, Uprising, Canaries (the Laurel episodes) and The Return.  Were the ratings bad for those?

They were good,but it could really be mostly about the increase after the crossover.Midnight city got 2.91,Uprising 2.94,Canaries 2.67 and the Return 2.91.

Edited by tangerine95
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Isn't another series premiering next week (I think it's ANTM)? Maybe they're skipping repeats for new programming those weeks, and just need to skip those eps in order to finish the season in time for the S4 premiere. Probably has nothing to do with the ratings or watchability of any of those episodes. 

Edited by apinknightmare
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The crossover gave them a boost and I think killing Oliver helped keep them up. 

 

I am really surprised they aren't repeating the Laurel arc. 


Isn't another series premiering next week (I think it's ANTM)? Maybe they're skipping repeats for new programming those weeks, and just need to skip those eps in order to finish the season in time for the S4 premiere. Probably has nothing to do with the ratings or watchability of any of those episodes. 

That would make sense.

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ANTM is premiering this week... so it might have something to do with it. But it also looks like they are having a new show called Wicked Offer on Weds as well, so does that mean the Arrow reruns are over?

 

They have also repeated episodes 11-14 during one of the spring hiatuses (I believe it was April). I remember it because I was bummed that they were repeating the episodes that had essentially just aired that I wasn't that interested in the first time that they aired.

 

That being said, I don't think the reairing ratings really mean anything to showrunners. DVD sales are probably more important to them at this point for s3. Summer viewing ratings is important for summer shows but not reruns. I consider myself an Avid Arrow fan and I don't necessarily make an effort to tune in on Weds during the summer. I honestly forgot where they were in the reairings. But I will keep an eye out for when we get to 20, because that episode deserves unlimited rewatches. I have other things to do, especially when the weather it nice. And there are summer series that I need to keep up with or even catch up on old series that are new to me.

 

I do think though that the networks use the summer to find new fans, so it makes sense that they might need to skip some episodes to get the series cued up for the fall premiere. If I was a new fan, I would be a little pissed if they ran out of time to show me the finale episodes, esp on a serialized show like Arrow.

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The crossover gave them a boost and I think killing Oliver helped keep them up. 

 

I am really surprised they aren't repeating the Laurel arc. 

That would make sense.

They showed her suiting up and then just jumped past all the filler stuff.  It isn't needed to tell the rest of the season's stories, so I guess it makes sense. 

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Per next week's TV Guide, the CW appears to be re-running the rest of Arrow's S3 episodes on Thursdays at 9pm (ET).  

 

Its normal time slot on Wednesdays is being occupied by ANTM.

Edited by tv echo
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Wonder if they are testing out a new slot... now that Arrow is getting a little older. Also wonder if they are trying to devise something to take down the ABC Thursday night.

 

Sidenote - Watched ANTM last night, and so bizarre the cast they chose. It was actually the first time I ever felt really old and not interested in the show. It used to be about modelling and some drama. But now its all drama & egos.

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Based on current Amazon rankings for presales, you may be out of luck:

 

Arrow season 1: 1,527 in Movies and TV

 

Arrow season 2: 1,409 in Movies and TV

 

Arrow season 3 Blu-Ray: 1,321 in Movies and TV

 

Flash season 1 Blu-Ray: 959 in Movies and TV.

 

Flash is higher in Amazon rankings, but has received fewer reviews (1151 reviews, average 4.6 of 5) than Arrow season 3 (1,545 reviews, average 4.8 of 5)

 

Going much beyond this is tricky, given the number of retail outlets that will be selling Arrow and Flash and the general Hollywood reluctance to release DVD/Blu-Ray units sold.

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It's also difficult to tell because of the season pass option on iTunes. I bought a season pass (it went on sale during the summer before the show aired), so even if I wanted the S3 DVDs, I wouldn't buy them since I already have all the eps and most of the extra content. 

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[/prohat] For a number of reasons that have nothing to do with Arrow, studios generally count DVD/Blu-Ray sales separately from digital sales; any DVD/Blu-Ray sales figures we do see are for the DVD/Blu-Ray sales alone, not Amazon's streaming season pass option or any individual episode sales.

 

For the most part, DVD/Blu-Ray sales still dwarf digital sales, but that varies from show to show, and I have no idea if this is true for Arrow.

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Looking at the schedule for the upcoming weeks, it looks like they're skipping over Public Enemy between Suicidal Tendancies (airing the 27th) and Broken Arrow (airing Sept 3). This puts them on track to wrap up the season by the premiere.

So the five skipped episodes in reruns are:

Uprising

Midnight City

Canaries

The Return

Public Enemy

Edited by Starfish35
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