Thank you for joining me throughout the Fall 2012 TV season. I hope you have enjoyed my recaps of the television ratings of new and returning shows this year. I certainly enjoyed watching the situations and surprises in the industry unfold on a week-to-week basis. I do not plan on continuing this blog past this post, as it was only intended for the Fall season, to see which of the new shows would sink or swim. I decided to follow 4 shows, one from each network: "Revolution" from NBC,
"Elementary" from CBS, "Last Resort" from ABC, and "The Mindy Project" from FOX. It was interesting to see how the fates of each show panned out. Some where crushed by the competition, and some thrived in their timeslots. It was very interesting for me to watch unfold, and I hope you enjoyed my play-by-play commentary these last few months.
Don't really know how to end this now.
So long, and thanks for all the fish.
(Google it)
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
4 Months Later
It's been nearly four months since the 2012 Fall TV season kicked off, and a lot has happened in that time.NBC unexpectedly rose to prominence, while previously dominating networks FOX and CBS fell, and ABC hit new lows. New shows debuted, some were major successes, and many many others were cancelled. Shows returns from last year with volatile ratings, with many being pre-cancelled (aka airing their "final season"). Here is my network-by-network recap of the happenings this fall:
NBC: I've written a lot about NBC's success in my last post, so Ill focus on the network's shortcomings here. "Animal Practice", which debuted during the Olympics for extra viewers, fell from 12.80 million viewers to 3.68 million viewers before being cancelled. It's replacement, the returning "Whitney", managed just 3.9 in it's latest episode, and is likely to be cancelled later this year as well. Otherwise, "30 Rock" and "The Office" are preforming dismally in their officially final seasons, while "Parks & Recreation" is preforming at new lows, and there aren't many hopes for midseason replacement "Community" to salvage NBC's once glorious and dominant comedy lineup either.
ABC: ABC has cancelled more hours of television than any of the other networks so far this year, with "666 Park Avenue" and critical darling "Last Resort" getting the ax, and "Private Practice" getting the 'final farewell season' treatment (which is another term for cancelled). "Don't Trust The B in Apt 23" and "Happy Endings" are also finding new ratings lows for the network. However, the network has found success in new show "Nashville", the returning "Once Upon A Time" and "Castle", and it's always dominant Thursday night lineup. Unfortunately, ABC is last place among the networks this year.
CBS: The single casualty so far this season on CBS has been "Made in Jersey", of which there was never much confidence in the show, seeing how it was regulated to a Friday night death time slot. "Elementary" premiered well for the network, and while it is maintaining over 10 million viewers weekly, it's leaving much to be desired in the 18-49 male viewership demographic. Other newcomer "Vegas" has been sinking and will not likely last beyond this TV season. All of the returning CBS sitcoms are as dominant as always and will remain for many years to come.
FOX: With "Fringe" in it's final season, "The Mob Doctor" (the intended replacement for "House") already cancelled, the comedy lineup of "Ben and Kate" and "The Mindy Project" not long for this world, "Glee" loosing viewers left and right, and "The X Factor" falling to NBC's "The Voice", FOX has fallen greatly from last year. However, they have reason to look up to the blue sky. In January, they debut mid-season show "The Following" with Kevin Bacon, which was hailed by critics during the summer. Still, one show can't save a network, and FOX has a lot of work to do to regain their viewers again.
NBC: I've written a lot about NBC's success in my last post, so Ill focus on the network's shortcomings here. "Animal Practice", which debuted during the Olympics for extra viewers, fell from 12.80 million viewers to 3.68 million viewers before being cancelled. It's replacement, the returning "Whitney", managed just 3.9 in it's latest episode, and is likely to be cancelled later this year as well. Otherwise, "30 Rock" and "The Office" are preforming dismally in their officially final seasons, while "Parks & Recreation" is preforming at new lows, and there aren't many hopes for midseason replacement "Community" to salvage NBC's once glorious and dominant comedy lineup either.
ABC: ABC has cancelled more hours of television than any of the other networks so far this year, with "666 Park Avenue" and critical darling "Last Resort" getting the ax, and "Private Practice" getting the 'final farewell season' treatment (which is another term for cancelled). "Don't Trust The B in Apt 23" and "Happy Endings" are also finding new ratings lows for the network. However, the network has found success in new show "Nashville", the returning "Once Upon A Time" and "Castle", and it's always dominant Thursday night lineup. Unfortunately, ABC is last place among the networks this year.
CBS: The single casualty so far this season on CBS has been "Made in Jersey", of which there was never much confidence in the show, seeing how it was regulated to a Friday night death time slot. "Elementary" premiered well for the network, and while it is maintaining over 10 million viewers weekly, it's leaving much to be desired in the 18-49 male viewership demographic. Other newcomer "Vegas" has been sinking and will not likely last beyond this TV season. All of the returning CBS sitcoms are as dominant as always and will remain for many years to come.
FOX: With "Fringe" in it's final season, "The Mob Doctor" (the intended replacement for "House") already cancelled, the comedy lineup of "Ben and Kate" and "The Mindy Project" not long for this world, "Glee" loosing viewers left and right, and "The X Factor" falling to NBC's "The Voice", FOX has fallen greatly from last year. However, they have reason to look up to the blue sky. In January, they debut mid-season show "The Following" with Kevin Bacon, which was hailed by critics during the summer. Still, one show can't save a network, and FOX has a lot of work to do to regain their viewers again.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
The Resurgence of NBC
By far the biggest surprise this year is NBC's dominance on broadcast television. It is the only network to increase it's viewership (up 14%) while all the other networks are seeing double digit drops. It has finished at #1 (or tied for #1) of all the networks for all eight weeks of this TV season so far. Last year (and for about half a decade before that) NBC was a solid 4th among the networks, so what is responsible for this jarring and abrupt change?
The Voice. It's all about The Voice. In the spring of 2011, NBC hit gold with the Voice, and nurtured it as it became a monster last spring. NBC took a gamble by organizing a second cycle of the show in the fall, similar to what ABC does with "Dancing With The Stars", but it's clear the move has payed off. The Voice is providing an anchor for NBC's Monday and Tuesday nights, and has helped launch Revolution as the to new drama this fall.
NBC's weak spot ironically was it's best night last year. The NBC Thursday night comedies have gone from NBC's shining hope to unwanted step child. With both 30 Rock and The Office in their final seasons, Up All Night de-facto cancelled, and Community being banished to February, NBC seems to be gearing up for a clean slate of their comedy lineup, likely led by The New Normal.
NBC has gotten off to a great start this year, and seem to be finally moving past the mess that was started when the old regime thought it was a good idea to put Jay Leno at 10pm and set this whole fiasco into motion.
http://www.thefutoncritic.com/ratings/2012/11/20/nbc-finishes-number-1-or-tied-for-number-1-during-seven-of-the-seasons-first-eight-weeks-for-the-first-time-in-10-years-999204/20121120nbc02/
The Voice. It's all about The Voice. In the spring of 2011, NBC hit gold with the Voice, and nurtured it as it became a monster last spring. NBC took a gamble by organizing a second cycle of the show in the fall, similar to what ABC does with "Dancing With The Stars", but it's clear the move has payed off. The Voice is providing an anchor for NBC's Monday and Tuesday nights, and has helped launch Revolution as the to new drama this fall.
NBC's weak spot ironically was it's best night last year. The NBC Thursday night comedies have gone from NBC's shining hope to unwanted step child. With both 30 Rock and The Office in their final seasons, Up All Night de-facto cancelled, and Community being banished to February, NBC seems to be gearing up for a clean slate of their comedy lineup, likely led by The New Normal.
NBC has gotten off to a great start this year, and seem to be finally moving past the mess that was started when the old regime thought it was a good idea to put Jay Leno at 10pm and set this whole fiasco into motion.
http://www.thefutoncritic.com/ratings/2012/11/20/nbc-finishes-number-1-or-tied-for-number-1-during-seven-of-the-seasons-first-eight-weeks-for-the-first-time-in-10-years-999204/20121120nbc02/
How The Mighty Have Fallen
Remember when Glee was a juggernaut? When it was all everyone would talk about or watch on TV? Neither do I. Times have changed and Glee has rapidly fallen from it's mighty pedestal in the past few years.
In it's first year, Glee averaged 9.77 million viewers.
In it's second year, Glee averaged 10.11 million viewers.
In it's third year, Glee averaged 8.71 million viewers.
How is it doing now? Last week, Glee received 4.62 million viewers. Since it was during Thanksgiving, that number can be excused, so lets look at the episode from 2 weeks ago: 5.28 million viewers. That is nearly half the viewership of Glee from 2 seasons ago, and over 3 million less from last season. In it's prime, it was pulling a 4.0+ 18-49 demo point. Now, it's hovering around 2.0. Glee is shedding viewers left and right and fast. The train is slowing down, or rather, speeding up as it heads down the mountain.
Glee 2 years ago: http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/05/25/tuesday-final-ratings-american-idol-dancing-with-the-stars-adjusted-up/93910/
Glee last week: http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/11/27/thursday-final-ratings-the-x-factor-adjusted-up-final-football-numbers/158882/
Glee 2 weeks ago: http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/11/16/tv-ratings-thursdaybig-bang-theory-two-a-half-men-person-of-interest-hit-season-highsgreys-anatomy-vampire-diaries-down/157997/
In it's first year, Glee averaged 9.77 million viewers.
In it's second year, Glee averaged 10.11 million viewers.
In it's third year, Glee averaged 8.71 million viewers.
How is it doing now? Last week, Glee received 4.62 million viewers. Since it was during Thanksgiving, that number can be excused, so lets look at the episode from 2 weeks ago: 5.28 million viewers. That is nearly half the viewership of Glee from 2 seasons ago, and over 3 million less from last season. In it's prime, it was pulling a 4.0+ 18-49 demo point. Now, it's hovering around 2.0. Glee is shedding viewers left and right and fast. The train is slowing down, or rather, speeding up as it heads down the mountain.
Glee 2 years ago: http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/05/25/tuesday-final-ratings-american-idol-dancing-with-the-stars-adjusted-up/93910/
Glee last week: http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/11/27/thursday-final-ratings-the-x-factor-adjusted-up-final-football-numbers/158882/
Glee 2 weeks ago: http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/11/16/tv-ratings-thursdaybig-bang-theory-two-a-half-men-person-of-interest-hit-season-highsgreys-anatomy-vampire-diaries-down/157997/
Three Forks In The Road
At the beginning of the TV season, I gave my predictions for three new shows of the Fall 2012 season. Now as we end November sweeps month, the destinies for Revolution, Last Resort, and Elementary have become very clear.
Revolution, which debuted as the top new rookie drama this Fall, has lost about 25% of it's viewership since it's premier, but remains NBC's top new drama and one of the top new shows this year. In it's Fall finale last night, Revolution received 8.7 million viewers, winning it's timeslot. NBC has decided to put Revolution on an extended vacation until March, where it will run new episodes until May. Personally, I disagree with this move. A few years ago, NBC tried the same tactic with "The Event", which flopped in the ratings after it's return from absence for months.
Last Resort on ABC has been cancelled. It will produce all 13 of it's ordered episodes, but no more after that. It's last new episode received 5.8 million viewers and was third in it's timeslot, which aren't good numbers. There are plenty of reasons why Last Resort has failed. It aired in one of TV's toughest time-slots (Thursday at 8pm) against The Big Bang Theory, Two And A Half Men, and The X Factor, all ratings powerhouses. Last Resort has been given enough notice to wrap up it's story within 13 episodes, but that's all that will come out of this critically acclaimed show.
Elementary on CBS has been a great success with viewers, with the latest episode having 10.72 million watchers. However, with only around 2.5 million of them being between 18-49 year old males, it ranks low in the advertisers demographic. Still, it is doing well enough for CBS to grant it a extra-large 24 episode season, and it is also getting the holy grail of TV time-slots: The post Super Bowl slot. Elementary will gain exposure most shows dream they could get this February.
http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/11/16/tv-ratings-thursdaybig-bang-theory-two-a-half-men-person-of-interest-hit-season-highsgreys-anatomy-vampire-diaries-down/157997/
http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/11/27/tv-ratings-monday-revolution-the-voice-2-broke-girls-mike-molly-hawaii-five-0-hit-season-highs/159016/
Revolution, which debuted as the top new rookie drama this Fall, has lost about 25% of it's viewership since it's premier, but remains NBC's top new drama and one of the top new shows this year. In it's Fall finale last night, Revolution received 8.7 million viewers, winning it's timeslot. NBC has decided to put Revolution on an extended vacation until March, where it will run new episodes until May. Personally, I disagree with this move. A few years ago, NBC tried the same tactic with "The Event", which flopped in the ratings after it's return from absence for months.
Last Resort on ABC has been cancelled. It will produce all 13 of it's ordered episodes, but no more after that. It's last new episode received 5.8 million viewers and was third in it's timeslot, which aren't good numbers. There are plenty of reasons why Last Resort has failed. It aired in one of TV's toughest time-slots (Thursday at 8pm) against The Big Bang Theory, Two And A Half Men, and The X Factor, all ratings powerhouses. Last Resort has been given enough notice to wrap up it's story within 13 episodes, but that's all that will come out of this critically acclaimed show.
Elementary on CBS has been a great success with viewers, with the latest episode having 10.72 million watchers. However, with only around 2.5 million of them being between 18-49 year old males, it ranks low in the advertisers demographic. Still, it is doing well enough for CBS to grant it a extra-large 24 episode season, and it is also getting the holy grail of TV time-slots: The post Super Bowl slot. Elementary will gain exposure most shows dream they could get this February.
http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/11/16/tv-ratings-thursdaybig-bang-theory-two-a-half-men-person-of-interest-hit-season-highsgreys-anatomy-vampire-diaries-down/157997/
http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/11/27/tv-ratings-monday-revolution-the-voice-2-broke-girls-mike-molly-hawaii-five-0-hit-season-highs/159016/
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
The Walking Dead
Ever since it's debut two years ago, "The Walking Dead" has been AMC's top rated show, and one of the biggest draws on cable. Every year it's ratings have increased, and with the third season premier two weeks ago came the largest telecast ever on cable with 15.2 million viewers. Additionally, the 5.8 point in the 18-49 years old demo was the biggest this fall across cable and broadcast networks.
To put the 5.8 rating into perspective, no scripted show across the broadcast networks broke a 5 rating during the week that The Walking Dead's third season premiered. The closest show was Modern Family, which scored two ratings of 4.9 and 4.8 that week. Including unscripted television, the only broadcast program to beat The Walking Dead was NBC's Sunday Night Football. Likewise, the only program on cable that scored more viewers in the same week was Monday Night Football on ESPN.
Compared to previous seasons, The Walking Dead is outperforming itself. It's previous high viewership mark was 8.99 million viewers for it's season two finale. The season two premier scored 7.26 million viewers, which means that The Walking Dead has doubled it's viewership year to year, a feat rarely seen in the television industry.
The Walking Dead's Ratings:
http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/10/23/sunday-cable-ratingswalking-dead-kills-it-again-breaking-amish-dexter-long-island-medium-nfl-countdown-more/154272/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Walking_Dead_episodes
Network Top 25:
http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/10/16/tv-ratings-broadcast-top-25-sunday-night-football-tops-week-3-viewing-among-adults-18-49-with-total-viewers-modern-family-number-1-scripted-show/153047/
Cable Top 25:
http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/10/16/cable-top-25-monday-night-football-again-tops-cable-viewership-for-the-week-ending-october-14-2012/153049/
To put the 5.8 rating into perspective, no scripted show across the broadcast networks broke a 5 rating during the week that The Walking Dead's third season premiered. The closest show was Modern Family, which scored two ratings of 4.9 and 4.8 that week. Including unscripted television, the only broadcast program to beat The Walking Dead was NBC's Sunday Night Football. Likewise, the only program on cable that scored more viewers in the same week was Monday Night Football on ESPN.
Compared to previous seasons, The Walking Dead is outperforming itself. It's previous high viewership mark was 8.99 million viewers for it's season two finale. The season two premier scored 7.26 million viewers, which means that The Walking Dead has doubled it's viewership year to year, a feat rarely seen in the television industry.
The Walking Dead's Ratings:
http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/10/23/sunday-cable-ratingswalking-dead-kills-it-again-breaking-amish-dexter-long-island-medium-nfl-countdown-more/154272/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Walking_Dead_episodes
Network Top 25:
http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/10/16/tv-ratings-broadcast-top-25-sunday-night-football-tops-week-3-viewing-among-adults-18-49-with-total-viewers-modern-family-number-1-scripted-show/153047/
Cable Top 25:
http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/10/16/cable-top-25-monday-night-football-again-tops-cable-viewership-for-the-week-ending-october-14-2012/153049/
The Presidental Debates
This year's series of presidential debates have come to their conclusion, and the ratings for them have been the highest in decades.
The first debate on October 3rd reached 67 million viewers, the widest viewership for a presidential debate in 32 years (Jimmy Carter vs Ronald Reagan). This makes the debate the second most watched TV event this year, behind the Super Bowl which received 111.3 million views. FOX News Channel had the highest viewership, followed by ABC, NBC, and CBS.
The second debate on October 16 drew in 65.6 million viewers, slightly down from the first debate, but still higher than any debate from previous election cycles. In round two, NBC won across both cable and broadcast networks, with 13.81 million viewers. ABC followed with 12.5, and FOX News (the cable channel, not the broadcast network) with 11.1, making this the biggest telecast ever for the FOX News channel.
The final debate from last night, which aired against a football game between the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions (ironic since Obama is from Chicago and Romney is from Detroit) and MLB playoffs, was the least watched of the debates, and the only one of the three that was down from it's 2008 counterpart. While final numbers from the debate aren't in yet, NBC again led the broadcast networks with 11.5 million viewers. The main reason why this debate will come in as the least watched is because FOX broadcast network did not show the debate due to contractual obligations to show the MLB Playoffs.
First Debate Ratings:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/obama-mitt-romney-presidential-debate-ratings-record-376575
Second Debate Ratings:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/17/second-presidential-debate-ratings_n_1974838.html
Third Debate Ratings:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/tv-ratings-nbc-leads-third-381947
Super Bowl Ratings:
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/07/entertainment/la-et-super-bowl-ratings-20120207
The first debate on October 3rd reached 67 million viewers, the widest viewership for a presidential debate in 32 years (Jimmy Carter vs Ronald Reagan). This makes the debate the second most watched TV event this year, behind the Super Bowl which received 111.3 million views. FOX News Channel had the highest viewership, followed by ABC, NBC, and CBS.
The second debate on October 16 drew in 65.6 million viewers, slightly down from the first debate, but still higher than any debate from previous election cycles. In round two, NBC won across both cable and broadcast networks, with 13.81 million viewers. ABC followed with 12.5, and FOX News (the cable channel, not the broadcast network) with 11.1, making this the biggest telecast ever for the FOX News channel.
The final debate from last night, which aired against a football game between the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions (ironic since Obama is from Chicago and Romney is from Detroit) and MLB playoffs, was the least watched of the debates, and the only one of the three that was down from it's 2008 counterpart. While final numbers from the debate aren't in yet, NBC again led the broadcast networks with 11.5 million viewers. The main reason why this debate will come in as the least watched is because FOX broadcast network did not show the debate due to contractual obligations to show the MLB Playoffs.
First Debate Ratings:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/obama-mitt-romney-presidential-debate-ratings-record-376575
Second Debate Ratings:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/17/second-presidential-debate-ratings_n_1974838.html
Third Debate Ratings:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/tv-ratings-nbc-leads-third-381947
Super Bowl Ratings:
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/07/entertainment/la-et-super-bowl-ratings-20120207
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