Tuesday, March 11, 2014

10 Ratings Blurbs: 3/11/14 Edition


So I didn't do a predictions post this month mostly because of a severe lack of eligible shows (I had 5 and even with obvious fillers I could only get the list up to 7 plus there weren't any shows I was interested in redoing). Even though that's taking off another month that won't stop be from doing this post.

1. Beauty and the Beast (796,000 0.2)- The CW claims the show will return sometime in the late spring or early summer to air the remainder of its episodes. That may or may not happen and the fans of this show should be aware that when the upfronts roll around in May, this show won’t be anywhere on the 2014-2015 schedule.

2. Once Upon a Time (7.66 million 2.4)- This is a little bit of an improvement from where it left off and that’s a good thing but because their Thursday night block took a pretty big dive in its second week back from the break, the people over at ABC might want to wait a couple more weeks before celebrating to be sure that their stomachs aren’t turning from people continuing to reject their lineups.

3. Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (1.947 million 0.9)- This show got absolutely no boost for the finale. Perhaps Bravo is overextending themselves by doing a 3 part reunion and a clip show. I’m not exactly sure all of that is necessary when the interest doesn’t demand it.

4. Revenge (6.60 million 1.9)- Most people are looking at this show and thinking that it should have done better with the huge premiere of Resurrection. Perhaps it should have done better at least this week but ABC also has a tricky habit of getting people to watch premieres and then 5-6 weeks down the road the ratings get worrisome. These numbers (while a little low but not as long as they have been) still have quite a ways to go before ABC can think of not giving this show the 4th season it needs for syndication and they still have much bigger issues to worry about (Resurrection holding up is one of them).

5. The Game (3.356 million 1.2)- The days of those blockbuster BET premieres are over. We know this and I’m sure BET knows this as well. This is a good start but a drop is inevitable (even as early as tonight). I get the feeling that BET continues to hold on to this show because it has been very profitable for them yet they haven’t been successful at getting a show to consistently do better than this one (Other shows experience flashes of it but nothing really long-lasting). They have certainly made some positive steps by converting to mostly scripted programming but it’s obvious that they would rather pass the headliner torch to another show.

6. Couples Therapy (583,000 0.3)- The last 3 episodes have been on a downward trend but this week was the first and last week without Mob Wives and considering how the rest of the season has done this is pretty awful (though just about average when compared to episodes from previous seasons). This really has me wondering if there was a reverse effect going on with this show where a good portion of its viewers were people who were simply waiting for Mob Wives to come on and not new viewers who were genuinely interested in the show. If that is the case then perhaps that is a strategy VH1 should consider with the next season of Mob Wives since they have ordered so many new shows that don't really have a chance to do well.

7. Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (3.27 million 0.9)- I’m not exactly sure how many episodes are left to air (It could be anywhere from 3-8). Previous seasons would have said that this show wouldn’t have gotten to air this episode in the timeslot it’s in. This season ABC has at least 2 shows (this one included and the number could actually be as high as 3) that are begging to be pulled from the schedule. At this late point in the season all 3 can’t be pulled and this show has run through over half of its order so ABC may be forced to endure these terrible numbers at least until May Sweeps begins.

8. Let’s Stay Together (1.728 million 0.9)- I find it highly odd that this show skews ridiculously young in comparison to The Game. I know people are going to look at the total viewers between the two and wonder why this show keeps coming back but the demo is why. For networks the younger a show skews (without hitting the kid or teen demos unless it is the focus of the network to attract those specific viewers) the better off it is. This show is a little surprising because it has the skew of a slightly older skewing reality show than it has for a scripted show. Makes you wonder how huge this show would be if it had more viewers.

9. The Following (4.86 million 1.5)- This gets a spot because it was renewed last week. This show was renewed and it shows how dire the situation is over at FOX. These numbers (and especially those of their live-action comedies) don’t exactly tell the tale of a strong network. While they do have a couple of pieces, we’re going to be looking at a situation where next year either sees a brutal wave of cancellations where nearly every show on the network could get the axe (2-5 shows would likely be safe but even the bulk of those have age working against them) or FOX bites the bullet and is forced to endure another brutal wave of renewals knowing that they can’t cancel everything and they have little faith in anything new doing well. This year they have the space so they can have their cake and eat it too but next year they may not be so lucky.

10. Keeping Up with the Kardashians (2.328 million 1.2)- Supposedly this is the last episode for a couple of weeks. I think now the lack of spinoffs is what is forcing these odd, ill-timed breaks and the ratings do suffer a little from that. However I will say that this show has been on so long that the people who still watch it now are the people that are most likely going to stay until the end and its days of attracting a lot of viewers outside of a major event (with this family the word major is relative) is behind it.


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