In the ratings, the program's debut performed worse than the CBS Network television reality show "Undercover Boss" even with the Olympics closing lead-in. The pre-empting and tape delay of the remainder of the 2010 Winter Olympics closing ceremony after late local news in order to broadcast the premiere of "The Marriage Ref" was immediately criticized by viewers over social networking websites such as Twitter. The week after its debut, "The Marriage Ref" dropped to number three in the ratings; losing to the CBS program "The Mentalist" and the ABC Network program "Private Practice". The program had been in first place in its first week, but fell 21 percent in the ratings in its second week. The program saw steady ratings decline with each episode since its debut. The first showing of "The Marriage Ref" had 14 million viewers, and by the fourth full episode the number of viewers had declined to 6.5 million. As of the fourth episode, the program had "posted its lowest rating to date", with a rating of 2.5/7. In the program's sixth broadcast, the April 8, 2010 edition of "The Marriage Ref" hit a season low with a rating of 2.1, just three days after it had been renewed for a second season.