Archive for February, 2012
How Low Will American Idol Go?
Feb 28th
What a season it’s been for American Idol so far this year!
How so? Well aside from a scene featuring a contestant falling off the stage, Season 11 of the long running music competition show has been notable for one key factor – it’s almost total lack of buzz!
So far this season there hasn’t been a single contestant who’s made headlines in the way that the likes of Pia and Casey did last year, or even a terrible contestant like William Hung did several seasons ago.
The fact is NO ONE is talking about Idol this year, and this total lack of buzz is reflected in the show’s ratings. Put simply, Idol is in freefall.
I’ve already commented on Idol’s 2012 slippage in an earlier post back in January, but since then Idol has only fallen further. On Thursday night last week, Idol pulled in ‘just’ 15.64 million viewers and a 4.5 18-49 share. Wow!
How The Heck Is The CW Still In Business?
Feb 25th
Seriously, have you seen the ratings for The CW this year?
If you think NBC is in trouble – and believe me they’re in deep doo dah at the moment – their problems pale in comparison to The CW…
The 2011-12 season has been an absolute disaster zone for the network. There’s the freshmen series that have been anything but fresh in the ratings. H8R was cancelled after just four episodes. Hart Of Dixie is stuck around the 1.5 million viewers mark – and generates virtually zero buzz or publicity. The Secret Circle pales in comparison to the The Vampire Diaries. Great big hope Ringer has been losing viewers at a truly horrible rate since its ridiculous holiday hiatus (after premiering with 2.84 million viewers, Ringer recently fell to just 1.10 million a couple of weeks ago). And let’s not even get into the ill -conceived Remodeled which never even got off the starting block!
Coming Soon: GCB
Feb 21st
When Does It Start: Sunday 4th March at 10pm EST on ABC
In A Nutshell: It’s Desperate Housewives in Dallas…
What’s It About: Back in her high school days Amanda (Leslie Bibb) was the Queen Bitch who made everyone’s lives a misery. Now years later she’s a single mom returning to Dallas where she grew up. But not everyone is happy to see Amanda. Her former victims are now ruling the roost, led by the new Queen Bee, Carlene Cockburn (Kristin Chenoweth). They’re all devout Christians on the surface but deep down there’s a whole heap of blaspheming and backstabbing going on. No wonder the show was originally called Good Christian Bitches.
Ratings Roundup: 20th February 2012
Feb 20th
WINNERS
THE WALKING DEAD: Wow – who saw this one coming?
We all knew The Walking Dead was a monster size horror hit, but after a rocky Fall season (admittedly redeemed by a terrific end episode) and limited promotion for its February return I was expecting diminished returns for the return of the AMC zombie saga.
And yet The Walking Dead came back stronger than ever last week – roaring back to life with a terrific 8.10 million viewers and a 4.2 18-49 share. To put that in context, that’s better than EVERY show on NBC and The CW last week, barring The Voice. It’s also The Walking Dead’s best ratings to date – besting the season 2 opener which scored 7.26 million back in October. And the fact that the show aired during the second most watched Grammy Awards ever makes these figures even more impressive…
Now the question becomes – how big can The Walking Dead go… 9 million? 10 million? Who knows…!
UNDERCOVER BOSS: Friday night has long been a dead-zone for the broadcast networks but what do you know – suddenly the night is starting to show sparks of life…
Shark Tank recently scored its highest ratings to date and What Would You Do isn’t More >
The Voice: Why Am I Not Addicted?
Feb 15th
As you may know, I’ve had a complicated relationship with The Voice, ever since the smash NBC music competition series debuted last Spring.
At first I thought The Voice was going to bomb. Then I realized the series was definitely here to stay!
And now I’m really trying to give the show a second shot. And I like it. Kinda. But I’m just not addicted…
So do any of you out there feel the same way.
I’ll be the first to admit I’m a sucker for a good competition reality show. I used to love Project Runway and America’s Next Top Model. I currently adore Face Off. And I sat through many, many years of American Idol before it drifted into utter blandness last season. But there’s something about The Voice that just doesn’t work for me. (more…)
Ratings Roundup: 13th February 2012
Feb 13th
WINNERS
THE VOICE: Watch out American Idol, you’ve got some serious competition now!
Yep, while the long running Fox music competition show continues to hit new lows in its troubled 11th season, NBC’s hot new hit came back scorching.
Obviously The Voice got a LOT of help from its plum post-Super Bowl slot, which attracted over 37 million viewers, predictably higher than last year’s Glee extravaganza. But to be honest, post Super Bowl inflated numbers don’t count for a huge amount in the long run – aside from bragging rights.
Nope, the real test for The Voice came on Monday when the 2nd season ‘officially’ debuted. And the numbers were great – 17.84 million viewers and a 6.7 18-49 share. To put that into context that’s nipping at the heels of Idol’s Thursday episode (18.13 million) and well ahead in the demo (5.8 18-49)
However, once again the question remains – how will The Voice fare in the long run – especially once its biggest novelty, The Blind Auditions, are over?
Revenge: Are They REALLY Going To Kill Off Daniel?
Feb 11th
As you doubtless know by now I’m a huge Revenge fan.
ABC’s Wednesday night soap opera is just so darn addictive, fast paced and all round entertaining that it’s pretty much one of the TV highlights of the week.
But the next episode of TV’s best soap is also set to answer the show’s biggest cliffhanger to date. Who is the body on the beach? And are they really going to kill off one of the show’s biggest characters, Daniel?
If you’ve been watching Revenge from the start you’ll remember it began pretty dramatically with a mystery man shot to death on the beach while the show’s central villain Victoria Grayson hosted a Fire And Ice party just a few feet away. The party is in honor of our anti-hero Emily and her engagement to Victoria’s son Daniel. But of course we all know that Emily’s whole agenda is to bring down the Grayson family.
In the show’s opening moments we heard a gunshot, then saw a white tuxedo clad figure stumble and fall onto the sand. Moments later more gunshots followed, clearly at close range. Later we saw local bar owner Jack pulling the body across the sand before being disturbed by Charlotte More >
The River Hits Rough Waters!
Feb 9th
Uh-oh, it looks like ABC’s new supernatural suspense series is already taking on water.
By now you’ve probably heard about the ratings for The River, described as Paranormal Activity in the Amazon. In its Tuesday night premiere the Steven Spielberg produced series managed just 7.59 million viewers and a 2.4 18-49 share.
Now those aren’t horrible numbers. I mean we’re not talking NBC here (whose Parenthood pulled in less than 5 million at 10pm) – but there are troubling signs ahead for TV’s new horror show. For starters The River came in third in the demo in its time slot, behind New Girl and NCIS: LA. Then there’s the fact that it will likely lose viewers in future weeks. And most alarming of all – The River lost almost a million and a half viewers over the course of its 2 part, 2-hour premiere. And honestly – who can blame them!
First Impressions: Smash
Feb 7th
It was a big night for NBC last night, with The Voice and Smash both officially debuting hot on the heels of Sunday’s record Super Bowl numbers.
I’ll be talking about The Voice down the line – but first up let’s chat about Smash. After months of hype and non-stop adverts (I mean seriously, how much have NBC paid to promote this thing!) did the final product actually deliver? My verdict – kind of…
First up I have to mention that I actually watched Smash last week after downloading the pilot episode on Itunes. So I’ve had a few days to think about the show now. And my overall reaction is that I liked the pilot, but didn’t love it. But then to be honest I think it’s very difficult for a debut show to totally succeed straight out of the gate There’s always so much scene setting and character establishment that needs to be done in the first place. So I always give shows a few episodes to settle in.
Ratings Roundup: 5th February 2012
Feb 5th
WINNERS
GLEE: Hmm, maybe Glee isn’t quite as damaged as many of us suspected…
After a season featuring some pretty major ratings slippage, Glee this week bounced back with its much-hyped Michael Jackson tribute episode. Tuesday night’s episode brought in 9.07 million viewers and a 3.7 18-49 share.
Okay, so that’s still well down on the show’s Season 2 average, where the show rarely dipped below 10 million a week, but after weeks of ratings stuck in the 7 million range Fox have to be breathing a slight sigh of relief.
And how does the network choose to reward Glee for its ratings renewal… why they’re putting it on hiatus after the Feb 21st episode for almost 2 months! Genius idea – especially when Glee lost almost 2 million viewers after taking a month off in March 2011. Hmm, maybe Glee isn’t quite out of the danger zone yet after all!
THE BIG BANG THEORY: Turns out CBS’s most valuable comedy franchise isn’t Two And A Half Men after all.
Yep, while the Ashton Kutcher starring series is still a terrific performer for the Eye network, it’s on Thursdays that the real magic is happening. Now in its 5th season, The Big Bang Theory this week pulled More >
