RATINGS
Ratings Roundup: 18th December 2011
Dec 18th
It’s time for the final Ratings Roundup of the year. So who shone – and who stunk – over the last 7 days… let’s find out!
WINNERS
FEAR FACTOR: Okay everyone – let’s put this into perspective shall we!
From all the internet hoopla surrounding the return of Fear Factor this week (yes, that would be you Perez Hilton), you’d have thought that NBC had struck the ratings jackpot with their resurrected reality franchise. Short answer – they didn’t. But Fear Factor did well nonetheless.
On Monday night the Joe Rogan hosted gross out series returned from its 5 year break to pull in 8.52 million viewers and a 3.5 18-49 rating. That’s NBC’s best score in the 9pm timeslot for over a year.
But now some perspective. Fear Factor went up against a repeat of House on Fox and Hart Of Dixie on The CW as well as a painfully low rated ABC game show (see below). Plus while that demo is good, the overall ratings aren’t astounding and are likely to fall in the weeks to come. A premier of 8 million isn’t that impressive when slippage is likely. Still even if Fear Factor settles at the 6-7 million mark – that will still pretty More >
Ratings Roundup: 26th November 2011
Nov 26th
Winners and Losers From The Last 7 Days
WINNERS
LOVE AND HIP HOP: I’ve talked frequently here at Remote Patrolled about Vh1’s ratings woes – especially late last year when the network really was in the ratings toilet.
But credit where it’s due the former music network has certainly turned the corner in recent months. Mob Wives is a solid hit for the network and about to launch its first spin-off in the Spring. And then there’s Monday nights, which Vh1 has transformed into a solid urban night – powered by standout Love And Hip Hop.
This week Hip Hop attracted 2.78 million viewers and a 1.6 18-49 share, the top rated reality show of the night, ahead of such series as American Chopper, Hoarders and Monster In Laws. Plus not far behind is fellow Vh1 reality show, Basketball Wives, which pulled in 2.26 million and a 1.3 youth share on the same night. I still don’t really know what the Vh1 brand stands for – but at least the network has some solid ratings to crow about…
Ratings Roundup: 20th November 2011
Nov 20th
Winners and Losers From The Last 7 Days
WINNERS
AMERICAN HORROR STORY: Another great week for FX’s American Horror Story, as the scariest show on TV continues to grow into a smash hit for the network.
This week’s episode, largely centering around Jessica Lange’s Constance and featuring a scene that doubtless made every guy watching wince – pulled in 3.06 million viewers and a 1.8 18-49 share, making it the most watched cable show on Wednesday night in both total viewers and demo share.
What’s more American Horror Story has been growing every week and has now almost reached its premiere levels (3.18 million). And with three episodes left in the current season there’s every chance Horror Story will set record ratings by the end of its run.
Great news for creator Ryan Murphy, especially as his OLD series, Glee, is struggling big time over on Fox. Despite plenty of press coverage and some heavily hyped episodes, Glee remains yesterday’s show – this week barely rising above the 7 million mark to 7.08 million viewers and beaten in total viewers by fellow Tuesday night shows Last Man Standing (9.06 million) and Body of Proof (9.76 million). Now that’s scary.
More >
Ratings Roundup: 13th November 2011
Nov 13th
Winners and Losers From The Last 7 Days
WINNERS
HELL ON WHEELS: I’ll be honest – I didn’t see this one coming!
AMC has had an amazing track record in recent years, scoring big with Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Killing and, of course, The Walking Dead. But it seemed to me that new western series Hell On Wheels had zero buzz and was likely headed for the one and done category also occupied by fellow AMC failure Rubicon.
Yet Hell On Wheels turned out to be no slouch in the ratings department in its Sunday night debut – pulling in 4.36 million viewers and a 1.9 18-49 share – AMC’s biggest opener ever, outside of The Walking Dead.
To be fair, Hell did inherit a large audience from its Dead lead in (6.29 million and a 3.4 18-49 share) – and chances are the show will slip in future weeks. But even so – Hell On Wheels would have to lose a heck of a lot of viewers not to score a second season at this stage. AMC does it again.
NCIS: It’s time to give credit where its due – and this week that means singing the ratings praises of long running CBS procedural NCIS.
More >
Ratings Roundup: 5th November 2011
Nov 5th
Winners and Losers From The Last 7 Days
WINNERS
REVENGE: Revenge is certainly proving sweet for ABC who’ve finally found a hit 10pm drama after a whole heap of misfires (The Whole Truth, Off The Map, Eastwick).
Revenge is still not a monster hit but anyone who knows anything about the TV industry can see when a phenomenon is brewing. Chat rooms and comment boards are filled with fans raving about the show, magazines are catching on (there’s a nice piece in this week’s Entertainment Weekly) and the show’s ratings are slowly inching up week by week.
This week’s episode of the Hamptons set soap opera pulled in 8.58 million viewers and a 3.0 18-49 share, Revenge’s highest demo score since the opening episode. And given that the show is getting better and better – and is fairly easy to pick up – I wouldn’t be surprised to see Revenge climbing above the 10 million mark in the very near future. Is the soap opera officially back?
Ratings Roundup: 30th October 2011
Oct 30th
Winners and Losers From The Last 7 Days
WINNERS
FAIRYTALE TV: Looks like there might be a couple of happy ever afters for the broadcast networks this week!
After a mixed season with several successes but no major out of the box smashes, both ABC and NBC received some good news this week from some rather unexpected sources.
For ABC the pleasant surprise was Once Upon A Time, the fairy tale series that’s been tasked with launching their whole Sunday night line-up. Given that that line-up includes Desperate Housewives and Pan Am, two shows that define the phrase fading fast that’s quite a tall order. But Once Upon A Time more than stepped up to the challenge, pulling in a terrific 12.93 million viewers and a 4.0 18-49 share. That’s ABC’s best drama premiere this Fall and LAST Fall! Now of course the question becomes – how will the ratings hold up in week 2? Remember Pan Am…
Ratings Roundup: 15th October 2011
Oct 15th
Winners and Losers From The Last 7 Days
WINNERS
LAST MAN STANDING: Okay America – what were you thinking?
For some reason there seems to be a lot of old Home Improvement fans out there. How else to explain the success of Last Man Standing – the Tim Allen comedy that scored major success for ABC on Tuesday night.
Kicking off a brand new block of comedy for the network, Standing pulled in a hefty 13.19 million viewers and a 3.6 18-49 share (which is actually a little low considering the high ratings). Still you can’t argue with those kind of numbers. Last Man Stan0ding had the unenviable task of launching a whole evening of programming for the network and received a lot less promotion than many of the other ABC Fall offerings (i.e. Pan Am and the now cancelled Charlie’s Angels) and yet ratings wise was right up there with the Modern Families and Big Bang Theories!
Of course week one numbers should always be taken with a pinch of salt – less than a month ago Pan Am was looking like a shiny new hit – but I have a feeling the Last Man Standing audience WILL stick around. Okay, now I’m officially depressed!
More >
Ratings Roundup: 8th October 2011
Oct 8th
Winners and Losers From The Last 7 Days
WINNERS
AMERICAN HORROR STORY: I think we all saw this one coming!
After all the pre-publicity hype and hoopla, American Horror Story finally launched this week, scoring 3.18 million viewers and a 1.6 18-49 rating for FX. That’s the best cable demo score of the night and good news for FX, following the failure of their last big drama, Lights Out.
Since Halloween is just around the corner I could see the Horror Story ratings staying strong. But reviews were definitely mixed – and though I liked the show, I would certainly admit it’s not for everyone. That was one seriously dark and twisted premiere.
THE X FACTOR: It’s been quite an up and down ride for the Simon Cowell talent fest. After sky high expectations at the start of the Fall season, Cowell’s ego came crashing down to earth after the X Factor premiere attracted with just 12.5 million viewers – well below the 20 million the British talent judge had hoped for and his chief rival, American Idol.
Ratings Roundup: 2nd October 2011
Oct 2nd
Winners and Losers From The Last 7 Days
Week 2 of the Fall TV season and the ratings drama continues…
WINNERS
SUBURGATORY: Fall 2011 truly is the season of the female fronted comedy.
After the success of 2 Broke Girls and New Girl (both of which held up well in week 2 – New Girl even earned the first renewal of the season) – now ABC can add its own female comedy to the list in the form of under-the-radar Suburgatory.
Yep, the Daria-esque sitcom received barely a fraction of the press and promotion awarded to the CBS and Fox comediess and still performed admirably for ABC. Suburgatory debuted with 9.81 million and a 3.3 18-49 share. That’s almost 30% higher than Better With You opened with last Fall and most impressively, built on the ratings and demo of The Middle (8.68 million and a 2.7), providing a nice lead in to Modern Family.
Plus the newbie had a higher demo rating than long running CBS shows Survivor and CSI. Not bad going! Now the big question becomes – how will those ratings hold up in Week 2 and beyond…? (I hope the show does well – I found Suburgatory pretty funny!)
More >
