Editing Dawson's Creek (section)

===U.S. television ratings===
{| class="wikitable" width=99% |
|-
! Season
! Timeslot
! Network
! Number of episodes
! Season premiere
! Season finale
! TV seasons
! Rank
! Viewers<br />(in millions)
|-
! [[List of Dawson's Creek episodes#Season 1 (1998)|1]]
| Tuesday 9/8c
| rowspan=6 | [[The WB]]
| 13
| January 20, 1998
| May 19, 1998
| [[1997–98 United States network television schedule|1997–1998]]
| style="text-align:center" | #121<ref name="9798season">{{cite magazine|title=The Final Countdown|url=https://ew.com/article/1998/05/29/what-ranked-and-what-tanked/|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|access-date=April 8, 2012|date=May 29, 1998|archive-date=September 24, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100924184101/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0%2C%2C283382%2C00.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center" | 6.6<ref name="9798season" />
|-
! [[List of Dawson's Creek episodes#Season 2 (1998–1999)|2]]
| rowspan="5"| Wednesday 8/7c
| 22
| October 7, 1998
| May 26, 1999
| [[1998–99 United States network television schedule|1998–1999]]
| style="text-align:center" | #119<ref name="9899season">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/4616/ew0604.html|publisher=[[GeoCities]]|title=TV Winners & Losers: Numbers Racket A Final Tally Of The Season's Show (from Nielsen Media Research)| date=June 4, 1999 | magazine=Entertainment Weekly|access-date=April 8, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091029011819/http://geocities.com/Hollywood/4616/ew0604.html|archive-date=October 29, 2009}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center" | 5.4<ref name="9899season" />
|-
! [[List of Dawson's Creek episodes#Season 3 (1999–2000)|3]]
| 23
| September 29, 1999
| May 24, 2000
| [[1999–00 United States network television schedule|1999–2000]]
| style="text-align:center" | #125<ref name=s3>{{cite web|url=http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1991/08/1999-2000-ratings-history.html |title=1999-2000 Ratings History |website=The TV Ratings Guide |access-date=May 15, 2022}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center" | 4.4
|-
! [[List of Dawson's Creek episodes#Season 4 (2000–2001)|4]]
| 23
| October 4, 2000
| May 23, 2001
| [[2000–01 United States network television schedule|2000–2001]]
| style="text-align:center" | #121<ref name=s4>{{cite web|url=http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1991/08/2000-01-ratings-history.html |title=2000-01 Ratings History |website=The TV Ratings Guide |access-date=May 15, 2022}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center" | 4.6
|-
! [[List of Dawson's Creek episodes#Season 5 (2001–2002)|5]]
| 23
| October 10, 2001
| May 15, 2002
| [[2001–02 United States network television schedule|2001–2002]]
| style="text-align:center" | #121<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1991/08/2001-02-ratings-history.html|title=2001-02 Ratings History |website=The TV Ratings Guide |access-date=May 15, 2022}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center" | 4.1
|-
! [[List of Dawson's Creek episodes#Season 6 (2002–2003)|6]]
| 24
| October 2, 2002
| May 14, 2003
| [[2002–03 United States network television schedule|2002–2003]]
| style="text-align:center" | #134<ref name=s5>{{cite web|url=http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1991/08/written-astounded-at-how-much-folks.html |title=2002-03 Ratings History |website=The TV Ratings Guide |access-date=May 15, 2022}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center" | 4.1
|}

While never a huge ratings success in the context of major networks like [[NBC]], [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]], and [[CBS]], ''Dawson's Creek'' did very well with the younger demographic it targeted and became a defining show for the WB Network. It became the highest-rated show among female teens at that time<ref name=":11" /><ref name=":12" /> and helped ad revenue for the WB "soar from $100 million in 1996 to well over half a billion dollars in 1999."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Farhi |first=Paul |date=October 21, 1998 |title=ON TV, A PRIME TIME FOR TEENS |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1998/10/21/on-tv-a-prime-time-for-teens/220c23d0-81bb-4896-8d92-99036ea01a05/ |access-date=May 15, 2022}}</ref><ref name=":6" /> The pilot episode was watched by 6.8&nbsp;million viewers and had a 4.8 rating which made it the network's highest ranked show within two months.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last=Rankaduwa |first=Sandi |date=May 12, 2018 |title=All Your Fave Teen Dramas Wouldn't Exist Without "Dawson's Creek" |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/sandirankaduwa/dawsons-creek-pacey-joey-michelle-williams-katie-holmes |access-date=May 9, 2022 |website=[[BuzzFeed News]] |language=en}}</ref> The first season's highest ranked episode was the finale, which was fifty-ninth, while the second highest rated was the second episode (probably scoring so well partially because the other major networks carried President [[Bill Clinton|Clinton]]'s [[State of the Union]] address in the midst of the [[Lewinsky scandal]] rather than their regular programming).<ref>{{cite web |last=Bierbaum |first=Tom |date=January 28, 1998 |title=Clinton tide stops long enough at 'Creek' |url=https://variety.com/1998/tv/news/clinton-tide-stops-long-enough-at-creek-1117467201/ |access-date=April 6, 2012 |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref> The series finale itself was watched by 7.3&nbsp;million U.S. viewers, which was its largest audience since Season 2.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bauder |first=David |date=May 21, 2003 |title=NBC's season finale of 'Friends' tops Nielsen ratings for week |pages=8B |work=[[The Dispatch (Lexington)|The Dispatch]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KPEbAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA21 |access-date=May 9, 2022}}</ref>