I’ve been somewhat vocal about why this show shouldn’t have been renewed but since we are upon the date when season 2 is due to premiere I figure I might as well make my own post on this (I’ve been sick as hell for the last week and it’s pissing me off so that’s why I have so many posts today). I never watched season 1, I also have no intention to watch this new season so no this post won’t be about the issues I have with the show itself and I’m not going to kill myself watching just to have a post about that. It doesn’t work that way for me.

No I’m a numbers person and from a numbers standpoint this show should absolutely not have been renewed. It didn’t deserve the renewal when it ended in April and when you look at VH1’s year-to-date ratings it really didn’t deserve it’s renewal.

So first we should take a look at Couples Therapy season 1 ratings. For a refresher, this show also aired on Wednesdays but it was originally a 9pm show with House of Consignment airing at 10pm. House of Consignment flopped terribly and VH1 was forced to move and burn it off. Couples Therapy was then shifted to 10pm where it finished the remainder of its run. Here are the season 1 numbers.

Premiere: 395,000
Episode 2: 667,000
Episode 3: 392,000
Episode 4: 286,000
Episode 5: 552,000
Episode 6: 679,000
Episode 7: 325,000
Finale: 450,000

These numbers averaged out to 468,000 viewers for the season which was below VH1’s primetime average. Yes a pass could have been given due to the circumstances such as being on Wednesday (when VH1 typically only programs Sundays and Mondays) and the absolute bomb of House of Consignment but then you would also have to consider how the show ranked amongst VH1’s other shows at the time the show ended which is below (For the purposes of this chart and the one below it, Baseball Wives, Love & Hip Hop [Season 2, New York version] and T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle [Season 1] are omitted because all 3 shows premiered in 2011 although they aired episodes in 2012).

- [X] (Show was officially renewed at the time of this chart)
- Blue (Shows that were still currently airing at the time of the chart)
- Major schedule moves are specified
- Episode counts are noted if numbers for 1 or more episodes were missing from the ratings average or the show was still airing
- Averages do not take supertrailers, preview episodes or reruns into consideration

VH1 2012 YTD Ratings (as of May 15th 2012)

1. Basketball Wives 4- 1.929 million *13 episodes M
2. [X] Mob Wives 2- 1.552 million *17 episodes S
3. La La’s Full Court Life 2- 1.546 million *9 episodes M
4. Styled By June- 1.038 million M
5. Tough Love: New Orleans- 795,000 *5 Episodes Su
6. Mob Wives: The Sit Down- 609,000 *6 episodes S-> Tu 11pm
7. Couples Therapy- 468,000 W 9pm -> W 10pm
8. [X] Stevie TV- 358,000 S 11pm
9. House of Consignment- 223,000 W (4 episodes) -> F 8pm (2 episodes) -> Tu 10pm (2 episodes/2weeks)

Being ranked #7 of 9 shows at the time is not a great place to be. However there were not very many shows that had received their renewal papers with Mob Wives and Stevie TV (another show that completely didn’t deserve its renewal) being the only two. Though the ratings average for Couples Therapy more than doubled last place House of Consignment, I still did not believe renewal was justified and the reason why is evidenced below in the current VH1 YTD chart (Yes I’m a nerd I do keep track of these things and update my personal record every single week).

VH1 2012 YTD Ratings (as of October 2nd 2012)

1. Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta- 3.263 million M
2. T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle 2- 2.550 million *6 episodes M
3. [X] Single Ladies 2 – 2.266 million M
4. [X] Basketball Wives 4- 1.956 million M
5. Chrissy & Mr. Jones- 1.742 million *2 episodes M
6. [X] La La’s Full Court Life 2- 1.550 million M
7. Basketball Wives LA 2- 1.523 million *4 episodes M
8. [X] Mob Wives 2- 1.500 million S
9. Styled By June- 1.038 million M
10. [X] Hollywood Exes- 807,000 W
11. Tough Love: New Orleans- 700,000 *9 episodes S
12. Big Ang 651,000 S
13. Mob Wives: The Sit Down- 609,000 *6 episodes S -> Tu 11pm
14. Mama Drama- 608,000 *8 episodes W 11pm -> W 10pm (1 episode) -> W 11pm
15. Rehab With Dr. Drew – 588,000 *3 episodes S
16. Mob Wives: Chicago- 513,000  S
17. [X] Couples Therapy- 468,000 W 9pm -> W 10pm
18. [X] Stevie TV- 358,000 S 11pm
19. House of Consignment- 223,000 W -> F 8pm (2 episodes) -> Tu 10pm (2 episodes/2 weeks)

Under the current list, season 1 of Couples Therapy hasn’t changed its placement but it looks worse because since May, VH1 has premiered 10 more shows and all 10 have had a higher season average than Couples Therapy. There have also been 2 Wednesday shows that have aired since May as well and one of the two was renewed. When you look at all of the shows that haven’t been renewed that rank above Couples Therapy (and I think at least 4 of them are not coming back) it seems ridiculous that VH1 would renew this show when they struggle on Sundays. It appears as if their strategy is to only have their Monday shows carry the burden which is a good idea when the Monday shows deliver but not so good when they don’t and they have shows on Sundays and Wednesdays that perform well below average. Having a proven below-average show on the schedule does not help matters one bit.

I don’t have high hopes for season 2 of Couples Therapy. The possibility does exist that season 2’s average could surpass season 1’s average but even if that happens it still would be an uphill climb just to rank in the top 15 and the odds are certainly against it with very little (if any) promotion, being on Wednesday and having a last minute new episode of Rehab With Dr. Drew (and you see where that ranks) as a lead-in. It was unwise to give a show that failed to prove itself a second chance and VH1 may face that reality as early as tomorrow when the first episode numbers come in.