Posted by Roger in OPINION
And the X Factor winner is… Melanie Amaro. Wow, what a shocker!
I mean seriously, did anyone out there really have any doubt that the hands down strongest singer in this year’s competition was going to scoop that $5 million record deal? You think Simon Cowell was going to let The Stereo Hogzz or Leroy walk away with that prize?
Looking back, it’s been pretty obvious from day one that Simon had his sights set on crowning Melanie his first X Factor USA champ. I lost count of how many times Amaro ended a show in the prized ‘pimp’ slot. And then there was that patently ridiculous last minute switcheroo, in which Cowell pretended to eliminate Melanie at the Judges’ Homes stage of the contest, only to bring her back at the last minute as an extra contestant. Are we seriously meant to believe that Simon let Melanie go for the likes of Simone Battle? Come on!
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Posted by Roger in RATINGS
Winners and Losers From The Last 7 Days
I took a week off from the Ratings Roundup last week – but now it’s back. And guess what – sadly for the broadcast networks the ratings bad news continues…
WINNERS
SURVIVOR: SOUTH PACIFIC: I haven’t mentioned the long running CBS reality series on the site for a while now. But while other shows continue to garner all the hype and attention, Survivor has been holding steady and continues to pull in some pretty impressive figures.
Take this week for example. On Wednesday night the South Pacific edition of the show attracted 11.59 million viewers and a 3.3 18-49 share. For a show in its 23rd ‘season’ that’s pretty darn good going. And even more impressive is the fact that Survivor even beat The X Factor in the same timeslot, with the Simon Cowell music competition show managing ‘just’ 10.70 million (though the X Factor was slightly ahead in the demo with a 3.4). No wonder CBS just keeps renewing the show season after season…
PERSON OF INTEREST: Another show I haven’t written about for a while is CBS’s under the radar Person Of Interest. Launched with great expectations, the J.J.Abrams thriller has been on the bubble for More >
Posted by Roger in RATINGS
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…
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Posted by Roger in RATINGS
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.
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Posted by Roger in PREVIEWS
When Does It Start: Wednesday 30th November at 9.30pm EST on Fox.
In A Nutshell: Two former nerds try to deal with their bratty – and popular – teenage daughters.
What’s It About: Annie (Jamie Pressley) and Nikki (Katie Finneran) are two best friends who found themselves bullied during their own teen years by the popular kids at their schools. Now single parents with teenage daughters they’re determined to bring up their own kids differently to how they were raised themselves. But when their daughters start acting like Mean Girls, Annie and Nikki will need all their resources and cunning to get their kids back on the good girl track…
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Posted by Roger in RATINGS
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.
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Posted by Roger in OPINION
Question time – what was the most awkward moment from this week’s movie themed X Factor. Was it:
a) The Final 11 heading to the premiere of Adam Sandler’s Jack And Jill – a movie that looks about as appetizing as a bowlful of toxic waste – but to quote Drew ‘the funniest movie she’s ever seen!’
b) Stacy Francis’s horribly unflattering Queen Of The Night outfit (which pretty much matched the vocals). Pure cougar.
c) Paula Abdul attacking Drew’s dress – only to be told that the young singer designed it herself! Oops…
d) L.A.Reid’s ignorance of the song ‘Ain’t No Other Man’ – a major Top 10 hit for Christina Aguilera in 2006.
e) Nicole Scherzinger. Period.
So many options to choose from in the craziness that is The X Factor. To be honest I still don’t think the US version of the Brit hit has quite found its feet yet in terms of the judging panel – where only L.A. and Simon seem to want to play the game. Still this week’s show was a step up from last week as we FINALLY heard some criticisms and a couple of acts really veered of course. So once again here’s my one line recaps…
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Posted by Roger in COMEDY
As regular Remote Patrolled readers will know, I gave up on Glee a few weeks ago, after realizing that the current third series of the show simply wasn’t going to get any better.
Though I’d been a fan of Glee for it’s first two years I eventually felt so exhausted by the character inconsistencies, tiresome romances (yes that would be you Finn and Rachel) and Sue Sylvester, the most cartoonish character on TV, that I just had to bail.
But last week I gave Glee a brief second chance. Having followed The Glee Project over the summer I was interested to see how one of the winners, Damian, would fit into the show. But after just a few minutes the same old problems surfaced once again and I was out.
And it seems I’m not the only one. Since the third series began Glee’s ratings have fallen every single week. The season 3 premiere pulled in 9.21 million (down substantially from the 11.80 million who watched the season 2 finale), then hit 8.60 million, then 8.42 million and last week 7.47 million. By comparison the first five episodes of season 2 were all above the 11 million mark. Not exactly a hard trend to follow More >
Posted by Roger in RATINGS
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?
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Posted by Roger in RATINGS
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…
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