| Scoreboard |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Viewers (million) | 8.10 | 5.11 | 5.04 | 4.91 | 1.74 |
| Rating/Share: Adults 18-49 | 2.2/7 | 1.4/4 | 1.4/4 | 1.5/5 | 0.7/2 |
Things keep getting worse for Friday nights. CBS won the night overall, but both the premiere of The Ex List and the return of Numb3rs must have been a little disappointing for the EYE network. The Ex List was down off the premiere of Moonlight a year ago, but Numb3rs was also down noticeably. And every other network had woes with the night, especially the CW post-Smackdown! Even Marc Berman things the CW was a fool to let it slip away to MNT. Unfortunately MNT isn’t included in the overnights, but Bill will post the results for Smackdown! over on MNT this Tuesday when we’ve seen the data.
Despite the woes, CBS was the only network to have two shows place over 8 million viewers. And FOX, NBC and ABC are all struggling to capture viewers who do not show up. We didn’t expect much out of America’s Toughest Jobs (which is moving to Saturdays in a couple of weeks to finish its run), but even Deal or No Deal struggled. And Life in its real time slot, Fridays at 10pm finished last. But the Fox game shows and the ABC reality shows struggled as well. It’s just a really lame night for broadcast television.
CW just suffered period — although it will be interesting to see if they can make any claims at all with women 18-34. We won’t see that data until next week, but either way bleeding off ~2.5 million viewers with the departure of Smackdown! isn’t good news.
Moonlight Fans — I’m not sure this info is gloat-worthy, but I’m not sure it isn’t. There is no denying that Moonlight did have 8 million viewers in its premiere last year and that The Ex List didn’t. And although The Ex-List had slightly more 18-49 year old viewers than Moonlight’s finale, even in the finale, Moonlight drew 7.47 million. You can see last year’s numbers for Moonlight’s first-run airings here.
Full details:
| Time | Net | Show | Viewers (Millons) | 18-49 Rating/Share |
| 8:00 | CBS | Ghost Whisperer | 9.31 | 2.5/9 |
| FOX | Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader | 5.81 | 1.3/5 | |
| ABC | Wife Swap | 3.76 | 1.3/5 | |
| NBC | America’s Toughest Jobs | 3.42 | 1.0/3 | |
| CW | Everybody Hates Chris | 2.10 | 0.8/3 | |
| 8:30 | CW | The Game | 1.91 | 0.8/3 |
| 9:00 | CBS | The Ex List | 6.85 | 2.0/6 |
| NBC | Deal or No Deal | 6.26 | 1.5/5 | |
| FOX | Don’t Forget the Lyrics | 4.41 | 1.4/4 | |
| ABC | Supernanny | 4.20 | 1.5/5 | |
| CW | America’s Next Top Model (R) | 1.49 | 0.7/2 | |
| 10:00 | CBS | Numb3rs | 8.13 | 2.1/7 |
| ABC | 20/20 | 6.81 | 1.9/6 | |
| NBC | Life | 5.44 | 1.7/5 |
——————————
Shows are sorted by viewers in each time slot. Timeslot demo winners are in bold.
Nielsen TV Ratings: ©2008 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved. Source Marc Berman/Mediaweek.
Definitions:
Fast Affiliate Ratings: These first national ratings, including demographics, are available at approximately 11 AM (ET) the day after telecast, and are released to subscribing customers daily. These data, from the National People Meter sample, are strictly time-period information, based on the normal broadcast network feed, and include all programming on the affiliated stations, sometimes including network programming, sometimes not. The figures may include stations that did not air the entire network feed, as well as local news breaks or cutaways for local coverage or other programming. Fast Affiliate ratings are not as useful for live programs and are likely to differ significantly from the final results, because the data reflect normal broadcast feed patterns. For example, with a World Series game, Fast Affiliate Ratings would include whatever aired from 8-11PM on affiliates in the Pacific Time Zone, following the live football game, but not game coverage that begins at 5PM PT. The same would be true of Presidential debates as well as live award shows and breaking news reports.
Rating: Estimated percentage of the universe of TV households (or other specified group) tuned to a program in the average minute. Ratings are expressed as a percent.
Share (of Audience): The percent of households (or persons) using television who are tuned to a specific program, station or network in a specific area at a specific time. (See also, Rating, which represents tuning or viewing as a percent of the entire population being measured.)
Time Shifted Viewing – Program ratings for national sources are produced in three streams of data – Live, Live+Same Day (Live+SD) and Live+7 Day. Time shifted figures account for incremental viewing that takes place with DVRs which are currently in approximately 24.4% of all U.S. TV households. Live+Same Day (Live+SD) include viewing during the same broadcast day as the original telecast, with a cut-off of 3:00AM local time when meters transmit daily viewing to Nielsen for processing. Live+7 Day ratings include incremental viewing that takes place during the 7 days following a telecast.
For more information see Numbers 101.
It is surely divine retribution cast down on CBS for canceling Moonlight!
EHC’s 18-34 demo is 0.8/33??!! O.O
I assume it’s a typo.
18-49*
see, it’s not easy, is it!?
Fixed, and thanks…
The Moonlighters liked to brag that Moonlight always won the hour. Well, so did The Ex-List…
Interesting that Ghost Whisperer out-rated Numbers, though. That was unexpected.
Hello CBS!! Is there anybody out there? I am in your demographic, I wanted MOONLIGHT! Did you listen? No, I went elsewhere.
“LIFE” is a great show!
Check it out.
It took a disgruntled Moonlight fan 17 minutes to post a comment.
Had Robert offered me an Over/Under bet at 15 minutes, I’d have taken the Under.
Moonlight fans, you’re slipping!
I have to admit, I was hoping (not expecting) Ex-List would get great ratings just to see the reaction… Still, it didn’t wow, but in the demo it didn’t do much worse that Moonlight.
On another note: What happened to Numb3rs? It was getting around 10 mill/2.6 last fall.
EHC is one of the best comedies out there. Now that the CW has put it on Friday nights hopefully more people will find it. Chris and Greg are growing up and very funny….
Wow, Friday nights are a real dead zone. Life needs to be bumped back an hour, at 9, or placed back in its original timeslot, Weds at 10pm. I don’t understand NBC’s scheduling at all. I hear Ben Silverman is on a very short lease…
What happened to numbers is that a lot of Moonlight fans are not watching CBS PERIOD, and you are seeing that reflected in last night’s ratings. Pretty sure Ex-list will go down even more next week.
Ex-List will be lucky if it survives till next week!
Liz, Moonlight fans skipped Ex-List but came back in droves for a rerun of The Mentalist last week?
Maybe CBS will just do that–place reruns of TM on Fridays since the numbers are so great.
If they aren’t watching CBS at all, why are almost all the shows at the same level or higher than last year? WAT and the Unit are down a bit because they both lost huge lead-ins, but they are doing better than the shows they replaced. Even on Friday, GW is up from last year. Numb3rs’ drop is the exception, not the rule. So…Moonlight fans are just boycotting Number3s?
I was expecting more Moonlight fans to start jumping for joy at these numbers. What happened to them?
I don’t understand, The Ex List Only 6.85??…Oh…How can this be?? .Isn’t this the kind of show woman want to watch ???..Well, I guess woman from 1950 would have loved this show, but I guess they are not around anymore.. Ouch !
“I was expecting more Moonlight fans to start jumping for joy at these numbers. What happened to them?”
Maybe they’ve been preoccupied since they found out the owner of one of the fan boards is apparently a scam artist that’s been misusing donated funds.
I’m worried about Life. It’s a great show and I hope NBC is a kind to it as Friday Night Lights.
holly… i don’t think a small group of internet ratings obsessed nerds boycotting a network is going to have any noticeable difference on numbers.
and what about abc? last year they had a show that grabbed 9-10 million viewers. that women’s murder club. i never saw it but man it’s gotta be better than 4 million for nanny no matter how cheap it is to produce.
and 8 of the 14 series on last night were reality based. only 6 were scripted.
WOW I watched the ex list and all i can say….It was the worst tv show i have ever seen. Goodbye Ex list you wont last long, Oh wait CBS only gets rid of the shows the fan’s like. Silly me.
Frankly, although a teeny, eeny, bitty part of the “Moonlight” fan in me rejoices at the lousy ratings the Ex List got, most of my rabid, crazy, devoted self is actually watching some of the new good shows on TV–Fringe and the Mentalist being my new favorites. If anything else, the lousy Ex List numbers prove that Friday nights are dead, dead, dead (and not in that cute vampire kinda undead either).
Good job to the my Moolight Army friends. Keep up the great work of NOT
Glad Jamie you’re privy to the info!
And you too Robin!
Great job my Moonlight Army brothers. We’ll have to keep up the good work by NOT watching CBS. How sweet it is to see the numbers droping.
Holly, if you go back and look at the numbers for Moonlight (even mentioned in the article above), we beat them by 1.3 million viewers or so and even our final episode beat Ex List. I’m not boycotting all of CBS’s shows, but I didn’t like Ghost Whisperer to begin with, and Numbers is getting old fast. But because Moonlight was on, I watched Ghost Whisperer just to get ready for Moonlight, and I stayed for Numbers although I tended to fall asleep during it. The one show I refused to miss was Moonlight, not only watching it live, but DVR’ing it and downloading it on Itunes. To say that Ex List’s numbers were the same is not true. And maybe Numbers had their numbers increased because Moonlight fans stayed and watched after Moonlight which they obviously aren’t doing this year.
The premise of Ex List is just plain stupid in my opinion, and the lead actress is so annoying that I cringe even with the commercials. I even heard a commercial for Ex List on the radio yesterday. If CBS had promoted Moonlight even half of what they have Ex List, you might not have to hear all of us Moonlight fans complaining because Moonlight might still be airing.
And just so you know, we Moonlight fans are not going away. We will continue to point out all the vampire related entertainment either on TV or coming out in movies (Twilight, True Blood, Dark Shadows). Here CBS had a perfectly good vampire of their own, and they staked the show (not actor-centric, but show-centric) and the fans. When you get treated like dirt, you tend to remember and not allow the same thing to happen again. When the president of a network discounts its fans the way CBS and Nina Tassler did, it doesn’t exactly make you want to watch whatever they are trying to promote as good television.
Beaamup,
Do you guys guys blind to ratings? The Mentalist in reruns crushed originals of Moonlight. What do you say to that?
Should be, are you guys blind to ratings?
that’s enough, Moonlight fans
Why did abc cancel Womens Murder club??
Did life do any better then Las Vegas was doing last year?
you moonlight people need to get a life or death. walk outside. do something. i’m gonna go running into runyan canyon. anyone wanna come? i live near la brea and sunset.
that’s L.A.
First of all, I am not an internet rating nerd, I am happy that the ex-list
did not do well, and new it wouldn’t because Tassler likes it, the woman is
crazy to think it could replace Moonlight. I like Ghost Wisper and have been
watching it from the very beginning, numbers were okay but never really got
into it, and now Sci-Fi has Sanctuary, and I thought it was good, so I will
be watching that from now on. Face it, Friday nights are becoming boring on
the Main channels, cable is a better option.
I was just browsing through…nice website!! I’m not surprised at the year-to-year declines.
CBS
Ghost Whisperer did nice although I want it to be over 10 mil. It actually had an increase of 400,000 viewers from last year’s premiere.
The Ex-List is a disappointment although it dominated the timeslot. Moonlight last year premiered better with 8.04 mil and to top it off, The Ex-List decreased from the first to second half-hour in viewers (720,000) & in the demo (5%).
Numb3rs didn’t do bad but it was down from last year’s premiere of 9.76 million viewers and a 2.8/ 9 in the demo.
FOX
Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader & Don’t Forget the Lyrics need to be moved back to Thursdays period!! I remembered Don’t Forget the Lyrics premiering in July last year & I thought that it would be just a summer show. The ratings weren’t bad during the tv season. But it looks like FOX might be overkilling it; remember Just for Laughs(ABC), The Power of 10(CBS) & The Singing Bee(NBC)? These shows premiered in the summer and they got into the tv season and they were demolished by other popular show and later, they got canceled. I personally liked The Singing Bee & Just for Laughs.
NBC
America’s Toughest Jobs should have been a summer show and thats that.
Deal or No Deal is being overkilled and the ratings shows it. I wonder if this it last season?
Life is a great police procedural. Fridays isn’t a bad night to put it since Fridays isn’t really a competitive night unlike Sundays through Thursdays; it needs more promotion.
ABC
I didn’t see no promos for Wife Swap or Supernanny at all since tv season ended in May!! Seriously! Come on ABC promote them! These ratings look like what they get in repeats. Wife Swap supposed to have 7-10 mil & Supernanny 8-11 mil. I guess ABC is frightened by Wednesdays competition; maybe they should move them back to Mondays where they use to be or not. Ratings will go up when people will realize.
20/20 of course fluctuates in its ratings but not bad for last night.
CW
The CW Fridays will be a disaster without Smackdown; it had the best ratings a CW ever can get!!
I can tell “The EX List” will soon be our “the ex list”, it’s just not right.
CBS or CW may be feel regret about Moonlight, they were too confident about this year’s tv shows.
Hope they have enough back ups.
That’s enough Moonlight fans.
Moonglow,
The Mentalist replaced Moonlight last week, so it can be done.
But I guess you guys are into selective reading.
Ditto to what Beamup said!!!! Karma sucks, doesn’t it cbs?
Well, I am not surprised that the Ex-List did so badly. I always try to give any show a chance. I usually don’t listen to the buzz, good or bad. I tried to watch it. I lasted 10 very painful minutes. Who thought THIS was a good idea. OMG,horrific is the only word I can come up with. Yuck. All I can say is I would love to be one of the people that greenlit this mess. I want a job were you can make such bad decisions and make a lot of money. Good grief!
When DOND draws stinky numbers, you know that no one’s watching. I don’t think Crusoe is going to help NBC out when it debuts (next week?). I was looking forward to that show, but I already know that it’s not going to last long on Fri nights. Life is really hurting in this time slot. I watched a few episodes last year, but it never really did anything for me. Without the strike last year, I’m not sure that this show would have come back. How do you folks feel?
Hey, any info on Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Sanctuary? I’m really curious to see the numbers
Chmarin. We don’t get overnight ratings for cable shows. we’ll see it if it makes the weekly top 40 on Tuesday, or perhaps earlier published reports on Monday. but not likely before then
i dont feal the ex-list is made for CBS. I feel its more of an ABC show or even a CW show. CBS never airs stuff like this, they stick with crimes shows and mysteries. Which work for them! So i dont understand why the ex-list was picked up by them. Im suprised ABC didnt pick it up, and have it run for like 6 episodes behind greys anatomy, and then they will have it come back for a season 2, in a non promoted crappy time slot, and get cancelled.
Examples: October Road, Men in Trees, Dirty Sexy Money, Eli Stone.
What’s the point of jumping for joy? Moonlight is gone (before its time), and most likely gone for good. Moonlight fans(and CBS customers) went elsewhere Friday night. I watched “Ghost Whisperer”, then went over to Sci-Fi to see the premiere of “Sanctuary” and found I was disappointed in both. “Ghost Whisperer” is getting a bit stale and “Sanctuary” just moved too slowly. Perhaps the numbers for “Numb3rs” suffered due to “Sanctuary’s” premiere.
For CBS to have three disparate shows on Friday night (a tame paranormal drama, a thirtysomething comedy and a harder core police drama)just doesn’t invite inertial viewing, that is somebody tuning in for one show and staying for the others. I’ve been a fan of “Ghost Whisperer” since day one, and stayed to watch “Moonlight” when it premiered. “Moonlight”, however, became the real reason I watched CBS on Friday night. Sadly, that reason is gone and won’t likely return
I’m not surprised that the Ex-List didn’t do as well as CBS probably expected. The whole idea of the show just seems strange to me – going through ex-boyfriends to find Mr Right. I can guarantee that if Moonlight had been on, CBS would have had at least one extra viewer for the evening. I would have been glued to my tv set from 9 til 10pm and I believe a number of other Moonlight fans would have been right there with me.
The Ex-List isn’t “strange”.
It just doesn’t fit CBS’ usual slate of criminal dramas. If on ABC and after Grey’s Anatomy, I’m pretty sure it would’ve done great. CBS has promoted the HECK out of this thing, and if they’re looking for improvements and strides in the 18-49 demo, they need to move it out of the Friday deathslot that is 9pm. No show has worked there since JAG.
It would probably do best on Sundays at 8pm (and it’s also worth a try on the competition-less Wednesday at 8pm slot). Anything’s worth a try, really. CBS moved Threshold to Tuesdays at 10pm and Close to Home to Fridays at 9pm and it worked for Home, at least for two seasons. So there is the possibility that making an early switch for The Ex-List might attract more viewers there.
You know what, though… The Ex List still won the time slot in audience and demo numbers… the same way ML always did even though it had low numbers overall.
I have no interest in watching the show myself, and it may get canceled quick, but I’m not sure it’s really something to gloat about – that one soon to be canceled series faired worse than a previous canceled series. At the end of the day they’ll both be in the failed category.
Also, the idea that it failed because a few dozen obsessed people from a forum don’t watch CBS any longer is beyond delusional (and conveniently ignorant given how well The Mentalist did as a RERUN last Friday).
Furthermore, I think it’s really distasteful to wish for the demise of a project like some people are doing. Those are real people, working real jobs which they may lose if it gets canceled. How petty and vicious.
I watched Fox last night. If Moonlight was still on CBS, that’s where I would have been. Almost two and half million viewers watched GW and then turned the channel. I’ve never really been a fan of GW or Numbers, but with Moonlight nestled between them, I watched both last season. With the renewed interest in all things vampire, thanks in part to the movie Twilight, I think CBS made a huge mistake in cancelling it. I don’t blame The Ex-List. I blame the network.
Why don’t people understand that WWE SMACKDOWN does nothing to make CW more visible, smackdown is WWE not CW.
CW is trying to expand it’s own brand visibility, maybe they’re planning to sell Gossip Girl Birth Control Kit and such stuff while ABC Family inspires the teens to get knocked up.
And Everybody Hates Chris seems better-off on fridays
What you said John T. Folden. Thanks!!! I think the show SHOULD be canceled because, in my opinion, it is horrible, beyond bad. But to be happy and gloat over the fact that hard working crew members will loose their jobs is just mean and childish. Again,JMO…
Moonlight fans are simply tasteless , the show was terrible and it got axed.
Nina,
You should have kept Moonlight. Their numbers were better, and so was the show.
I’m so glad there are so many Moonlight haters out there…..since I’m a hugh ML fan it still keeps ML at the forefront…….and a BIG thorn in the hater’s side….I LOVE IT!!!!
As for Numb3rs slight downward trend, two opinions: First, it’s getting stale. In addition, LEAD-IN matters. With the Ex List scoring so low, Numb3rs came down a bit. WAT only broke the Tuesday at 10 curse, IMHO because of The Mentalist as its lead-in. One thing I cannot explain, however, is a general Friday at 9pm EST curse that CBS seems to encounter? This is nowhere near the first time ratings CBS had higher overall viewers at both 8 and 10 p.m.
clutz, Numb3rs had a bad lead-in last season and didn’t do this bad. It always built significantly from its lead-in. Lead-in might have an effect, but I don’t think that’s the whole answer. The fact that it has a crime show opposite probably didn’t help much either….Still, it seems like a big drop considering the lack of competition and how well CBS has come back so far.
The Ex List just doesn’t fit in with CBS’s Friday night line up. Moonlight did but only a little bit (since he was a private detective) but not really. So I cant blame people for not staying put when the Ex List came on they were expecting some sort of crime show and instead got a woman looking for “love” so it bombed.
I have to laugh at The CW they thought they was so good at getting rid of wrestling from their network well news for ya CW SmackDown may not have been every advertiser’s cup of tea but it brought in the numbers and now friday’s for The CW is flat and I think it is hilarious……that chick running The CW *into the ground* should be fired and I can’t wait to see SmackDown’s numbers for it’s first show on MyNetworkTV i’m curious to see how they did on the new channel
So cobby, being a gnat like annoyance is going to get your show renewed? …you are just displaying the behavior that proves why ML fandom has such a bad reputation. Such a shame… you are doing your campaigns far more damage than good.
totally agree with you, I was about to toon in to cbs when I remembered that moonlight was one of the list of shows that was cancelled and tooned in to the premier of sanctuary on sci-fi instead.
OK… First of all. The EX-List just sucked.. and no it does not belong behind Grey’s !!! As a Grey’s fan I am not sticking around to watch it or HER!! We did not like her on Grey’s What makes you think I want to see her on this crappy show. But out of Curiosity I watched. (had to see what replaced Moonlight).
So dissapointing! Imagine that pretty par for the coarse with CBS!
All I can say is this: They took away Moonlight from CBS and before that, they took off Veronica Mars before it could even start it’s fourth season!
Now, I’m not a big tv person, as I, as well as other Moonlighters here DO have lives, bob. And yeah: Karma’s a bitch. Looks like Dr. Cox got a white flash and gave you a good right hook, CBS! XDDDD …Ok, bad Scrubs joke, I know.
On the other hand though, as much as I HATE to admit it, Karen does have a point. Moonlight probably isn’t coming back. If it does, than it’s a miracle. Ultimately, it’s nice to know that CBS is missing something, and, although this is early, they seem to be paying for it, at least in the beginning.
You know what GOOD shows are on now though! ^^ ABC’S Pushing Daises, season 2 and NBC’s Chuck, season two. Now, I admit that I miss Vunerable Chuck(It’s like he’s growing up, according to the first ep. If you follow the show, you’ll know what I mean by that…I hope. XD), but, the quality is still there, and same with Pushing Daises. Actually, I’m surprised because you see…Pushing Daises is becoming alot more interesting this second season than Chuck. O.O It’s just…wow. Anyone agree with me?
…Although Moonlight’s gone, at least there are TWO good shows out there. And they aren’t on CW or CBS either, which makes me feel like I’m unleasing a bit of revenge for not flipping that remote on Friday.
Sorry: I meant they took of Veronica Mars off CW. >.< Sorry about any confusion there. ^^U
Did CBS really think “Swingtown” fans were going to eagerly wait for the premiere of “The Ex List?” The commercials for that show were extremely annoying. I fast forwarded all of the ‘List’ ads. Uhhg! Thankfully no one will have to worry about those incessant ads on Bravo!
“Sex and the City” albeit tiresome after a while, already pegged the single life of women. “The Starter Wife” will be coming back on USA. A better alternative for female viewers.
I LOVE “Pushing Daisies” too!
Not only did the CW make a mistake of letting Smackdown go, but they also doing Everybody Hates Chris and The Game a diservice by putting them on Friday night. Next thing you know they will be cancelled.
I know it was a friday night but those numbers are ridiculous. Not even a single show got 10 million viewers. This looks like a summer night of reruns. Eventually the “broadcast networks” are going to realize that this “system” doesn’t work on the new millenium. There are just too many scripted shows, its impossible for ALL OF THEM to have a large audience.
I think that all the networks should start “primetime” at 9pm (8pm c) so everyone gets the chance to watch the shows.(People in the Central time zone have to be at home at 7pm to watch american idol or dancing with the stars, that’s too early nowadays. And I believe the networks should air repeats of their shows on weekends. They should air the national news at 7:30pm (6:30c), then the entertainment news/game shows at 8pm/7c, and then the primetime at 9/8c
Most of the scripted shows (fiction) on network TV are just ridiculous on 2008. They keep doing the same thing, more conventional dramas and sitcoms( an example this season was DO NOT DISTURB) Those kind of shows are not going to work anymore. And some people avoid watching network dramas because they know they’re gonna cut the “sex scenes”.
i was trying to point out that ABC puts a new show after greys all the time. And the show never lasts long. I am a greys fan and i wouldnt stick around for it either. I was just sayin, it would have had a better chance there, then where it is now on CBS.
The truth of the matter, no matter what one’s opinion of Moonlight is, it should be apparent that CBS keeps on stupidly shooting itself in the foot, especially concerning this Friday night timeslot. Closer to Home did better than Moonlight, its true, yet CBS cancelled it and took a shot with Moonlight. Moonlight didn’t do as well as Closer to Home statistically, but then one would think that a mainstream show about a lawyer, her cute hubby, and cute kid would do better than a niche show about a vampire, but somehow that fact must have never crossed any of the network exes mind, or they would have taken that into consideration when they took a shot with Moonlight to start with. Now, CBS cancelled Moonlight, and now they have a show that attracted even less viewers in actual numbers. Even if the first show did match Moonlight in demo, if it doesn’t show any improvement in the next few weeks the demo won’t save it. Moonlight won the demo all last season, but that didn’t matter, according to CBS, because they wanted more viewers. So, unless something changes, they now have a new tv show that has even fewer viewers than its two predecessors. So, I am sorry that some Moonlight fans have aggravated and annoyed some other posters, but it’s not fair to group anyone who says they like the show with some who did get carried away with their ire about the show’s cancellation. I don’t wish the people who are actually putting the Ex-List together-the cast, crew, and other’s whose job it is to physically produce the show-any ill will at all, but there was also a bunch of people at Moonlight who also became unemployed, even temporarily, because of its cancellation.
Well, I’m jumping for joy about these numbers. And I agree with Bill, surely it is divine retribution for what the eye did to Moonlighters. Treated us like we were not worthy to be listened to. And the number say it all. Moonlight premiered with 8.54 million while the Ex List has premiered with 6.85. Moonlight never had ratings that low the whole time it was on the air. Nina you should have given Moonlight another season. It was growing a fanbase that were still showing up at the cbs site until they took it down. Thanks for posting the numbers and the article…
I’m a Moonlight fan and I’m very happy that Ex List didn’t get better numbers than Moonlight. I know everyone says get over it, its a done deal, Moonlight is canceled, ok but CBS, was greedy and not truthful to the viewers. Listen this show won Peoples Choice Awards Best New Drama now thats the show that needs to be canceled, its a fraud!!!, the other shows that lost all got renewed. Next the Strike this was a very rare situation under those circumstances no show should have been cancelled period. Nexr Mr. Les Monves stated that two new shows that were doing good were Big Bang Theory and Moonlight and no reason after strike not to renew them. Finally the critics and reviewers were all saying yes it will be back and they were liking this show and it was hitting its stride. My last point they pulled the rug out from everyone with its cancellation, so bottom line this was just someones idea to try for younger demographics so they don’t care and I feel they wanted to be a hero at CBS but bottom line is young people go out on Fridays and no show will get great ratings so they should be happy that they win the timeslot!!! Moonlight never needed to be canceled, its the principle.
“We’re a little disappointed in the ratings.” Those are the words of Nina Tassler after ending her front-running spin of elation over a new program. I wonder what she’ll say now about The Ex List?
CBS deserves a good poke in its ‘eye.’
Wow, Life is dead. Well, all of Friday’s dead.
Good to see Nina Tassler has NO IDEA what people want to watch and needs to leave her office a bit more. Ex List is a dud. Even Ghost Whisperer is down. So much for what Nina thinks she knows!
Ghost Whisperer was up 400,000 viewers from last years premiere (8.9 million) , and up 600,000 from last seasons average (8.7 million).
Wait until Crusoe premieres on NBC at 8:00 on Friday nights. I predict more bad news for CBS on Friday nights. I call this Moonlight Kharma.
I don’t know how CBS makes it’s decisions on programming, but it is definitely not by the ratings. Maybe it’s just a toss of a coin. Certainly seems that some excellent shows have been axed before their time, for what? It does not make sound business sense to dump a show that is doing well in hopes of replacing it with another that MIGHT be better. No sense at all. CBS is on a fast downhill slide. Bring back Moonlight and they will be back on top!
Along with many others, we will not watch CBS on Friday night anymore since the cancellation of Moonlight. And yes, we have a life, but it just doesn’t include watching anything on CBS anymore. It doesn’t matter however, because the networks don’t really care about what the fans want…or do they? Do you miss us now CBS?
AWWW gee what a shame The Ex-List was a ratings stinker NOT, that goes to show CBS in what they know in show, they went from a show that ranged near 8 to 8.5 million viewers a week for Moonlight to a show that can’t even draw 7 Million viewers tough luck on that CBS , guess karma really hits you in the behind
Comparing The Mentalist with Moonlight is like comparing apples and pickles. Sheesh! I am glad that The Mentalist is doing well, for Simon Baker. However, it is also following in the CBS tradition-to their chagrin, I am sure-of getting the viewers but not the demo. Last week it had great viewers numbers, and a 3.5 demo, which would be good if it wasn’t the third best of all its competition. Fringe had about five million less viewers, but beat The Mentalist with a demo of 4.5, and there was a third show-whose name escapes me right now-that had a demo of 3.7. When the Mentalist was in Moonlight’s old timeslot, it’s another mixed bag. For starters, it was going against the Presidential debate that night, so on the one hand, it got a pretty good audience under the circumstances, but on the other hand, it is not a real test of the competition, because it wasn’t up against regular programming. It got about 7 something million people and a 1.9 demo. It’s been stated that no demo below 2.0 is good in the least, and Moonlight did drop down to a 1.9, but only for its last two shows, which means the other 14 were all 2.0 and above, and most of them were above the flat 2.0, even if its fair to say maybe not by much. Granted, The Mentalist has, at the present time(and hopefully will keep it for CBS and all the cast and crew of The Mentalist’s sake)the 15,000,000 audience number, but on its rerun it fell by a little more than half to 7 million. When Moonlight went into reruns at last year’s holiday season(when tv watching is not most people’s priority anyway) while the first two did fall below half its normal audience, the rest of the time that CBS showed reruns it never fell to even half of its audience. I imagine, sadly, some of you will be snide and say, well, it didn’t have very far to fall, but it’s still a fact that Moonlight, whether one liked it or disliked it for its subject matter, or perceived quality-which is totally subjective-received a relatively decent audience number to be a a show of its genre on a mainstream network, and it did beat its competition, which was Friday Night Lights, and Women’s Murder Club, in the demo, altthough it is also fair to point out the Women’s Murder Club did, though narrowly, sometimes get a slightly biggger audience number than Moonlight. Moonlight got criticized because it’s demo wasn’t higher, but, again, it did win its timeslot. The Mentalist is drawing a big audience, and that it alot of eyeballs, and advetisers really like the demo, but they also like to have a decent amount of eyeballs seeing the ad they spent their hard earned money on. So, that is certainly good for the show, but if it wasn’t for its big viewer numbers, it would not probably be considered as doing as well as it is considerd to be doing right now.
Moonlight fans were criticized for criticizing the series Swingtown, and I stated at the time that I thought that mentioning Moonlight in reference to ratings, and how CBS was subjective about ratings, was legitimate, but not just trashing Swingtown because CBS had scheduled it, and because of its quality and subject matter, which, again, is subjective. It’s the same with The Mentalist and Moonlight. The two shows have nothing in common, with the exception that The Mentalist was shown in Moonlight’s old time slot a couple of weeks ago, and, both shows had a mixed bag showing, with Moonlight not getting numbers but demo, and The Mentalist being on the opposite end of that spectrum. So why keep comparing the two shows when they have nothing to do with each other, except for both being broadcast by CBS at some point and sharing the same timeslot once(so far.)
One final ironic note. I looked back at the demos for May 16th last spring, which was Moonlight’s series finale. Even at a 1.9 demo, Moonlight still beat out its competition, which was America’s Funniest Home Videos, a second hour of Smackdown at its then position on the CW, un unnamed movie on the Fox Channel, and American Gladiators on NBC. I’ve seen people say, yea, well, it didn’t have great competition, but it didn’t matter what the competition was or its perceived quality, it still won the hour consistently for CBS the entire tv season, such as it was, no matter what its competition was-but still got cancelled. The next week, May 23rd, CBS lost the hour to NBC with Dateline. Three weeks earlier, Dateline came in second to Moonlight.
Here are the ratings and numbers for May 16th for all the CBS shows.
GW 8.36 million 2.0 demo
ML 7.56 million 1.9 demo
Numb3rs 9.73 million 2.3 demo
These were all new shows. I believe it was also the season final of GW, but not sure about Numb3rs.
All the stats I’ve mentioned either came from this site over the past year, or from zap2it.com
It’s not just the Moonlight fans that are gloating about the “The Ex List” numbers, its also the Jericho fans and the Swingtown fans that have CBS on their “Black List”. When the fall shows first where announced I predicted that “The Ex List” would be cancelled before midseason. Can’t wait to see how it will play out.
I was actually kind of surprised CBS canceled Moonlight. Seemed like a show they needed, not so much for ratings, but so they could keep pushing into new genres. The demo for the show might have been low, but that’s probably because CBS has less of those viewers in general. They need to cultivate shows like that though to draw people in. I mean I had never even heard of the show until talk of it’s cancellation started. And of course that’s a disincentive to pick up a new show.
That’s what bothers me so much about the SyFyPortal article about TSCC. io9.com did a follow-up on that with FOX, and FOX basically said the rumors were never fact-checked with the network and that everybody should just calm down. Granted, the numbers still suck, but apparently nobody is making any decision about pulling the show just yet.
But, that said, all this kind of talk does is drive potential viewers away. I mean why start watching if the show is potentially over?
John T. Folden….and your response to me proves my point about it being at the forefront. As far as giving ML fans a bad rap….people HATED us from the very beginning and by now we have thick skins and don’t really care what people think…..and since it was cancelled and will never be on the air again….it makes my heart happy to annoy people….like you!!!
Bad numbers all around for CBS except for Ghost Whisperer who had more than 400000 viewers watching this season opener than last year season premiere.
Ex-List will be gone as soon as CBS does have something to replace it with. When the rerun of a new show, The Mentalist, do better than the premiere of a new show you know that show is in trouble.
I am bit surprised that Numb3rs did that badly. Will see if it will rebound this week.
As for Moonlight, it was never a good performer rating wise, Closer to Home was doing much better and got canceled too. So no matter how many awards or popularity contest it won, what it needed to win to stay on the schedule was ratings and it didn’t. Look at Pushing Daisies, critically acclaimed, won Emmys and the ratings are down 53% from last season premiere! It got a 6.32 Millions, demo 2.0 compared to last year 13.03 millions, demo 4.3. what a lost! That show is in danger to get canceled and that may come real fast so don’t get attached to it, you might have your heart broken.
Actually, all of ABC Wednesday night is in danger of getting canceled!
Moonlight fans have become like Cubs fans, endless public sufferers.
However, there is an important distinction. Someday, the Cubs will win.
Moonlight’s gone for good.
Way to GO Cobby!!
Nice to hear from you….
Life is the only thing on Friday’s now worth the time to watch until USA and Scifi come back with new epiodes of Monk, Psych and BSG!
All the talk of ratings but no talk that the system needs to change to reflect the technology of today and ways to view scripted TV that has changed over the last few years.
Robert…are downloads like on itunes or internet viewing being tabulated?
The Ex-List did as I was expecting (6 million range). CBS would be crazy to think it would have done better (I expect it to drop to 4 million once the first 6 episodes are done, with the original showrunner leaving and all).
Even though ML did better, the Ex-List is more demographic-oriented.
People need to start watching Life. Such an awesome show.
I left CBS when they cancelled Jericho for the second time…I only went back for Moonlight and Ghost Whisperer. Now, I only watch Ghost Whisperer… I did try the Ex-List….it totally sucks! Of course I am not 19 nor am I 49. I am 59 BUT…my children and grandchildren ALL watched Jericho and Moonlight. CBS screwed up yet again! My Fridays will be spent on SCI-FI watching Sanctuary!
This for you, Mr. Gorman…Moonlight might be gone from Television. Maybe not..who knows. BUT we are waiting for a finish for a story that Nina Tassler doesn’t have the guts to finish and, BY GOD, we will have it sooner or later. There was too much left undone.
Dear Bill Gorman
They said Star Trek was gone for good when it was cancelled in 1969, after the third season. How many movies and spinoffs have come out of that franchise?
BTW, I hear that there is another Star Trek film on the way with the original cast, even though this is almost 40 years later, and the original cast is older than the hills!
Why? because someone is smart enough to know that they will make money from passionate fans. Corporations are foolish to turn up their noses at fans, especially passionate fans, no matter what the demographic.
Angelscrest, if Moonlight ever manages to get a spin off series or a movie, I will give you $1,000. Or donate it to the charity of your choice. I’m putting this in writing now, and I won’t reneg on this. If it happens any time in the next 50 or 60 years, you just come back here and I will make good on this promise.
I watched Moonlight and loved it. I still miss it. While I liked much about Moonlight it was the romance that captured my heart.
I’m not gloating that the Ex-List didn’t live up to CBS expectations, but I’m not surprised either. How could the premise of this show; promiscuous 30-something must troll through rejected lovers to to find her true love or risk ending up a bitter old maid, appeal to viewers? It seems to have something offensive to offer every woman out there.
Basically the polar opposite of the romance that Moonlight offered its female viewers, only a network managed with the same skill as our financial industry would have believed that the Ex-List would be anything other than DOA.
LOL Julia! I love it!
It has just been announced that Moonlight will be out on DVD on January 20th, 2009. Amazon.com it taking pre-orders for it, at $37.99 plus tax and shipping, I assume. That will probably be a litmus test on whether or not the PTB at Warner Bros. and Silver Pictures will produce any more Moonlight. The probability of the show returning as a series is certainly basically zilch, but if there is enough financial incentive, there are many precedents for shows out of production, even after years, to be made into a tv movie, or maybe even straight to DVD like Stargate. Heck, MGM is stopping production on that tv series to put it out on DVD, and hacking off those fans by doing it, but they apparently don’t think they’ll PO them off enough that they won’t rent or buy the things. Of course, in that case they may find out they’re wrong, but that’s a whole other story.
I am one of those crazy Moonlight fans. Yes I am happy the Ex List did worse than Moonlight, the premier was over a million less than Moonlight. Does that make Nina wonder about her programming instincts? I also wanted to see Swingtown tank too. I checked the ratings, Swingtown showed strong, maybe 8 million but went down to 6 or so million. Moonlight was pretty consistent with 8 million. I know the audience would have grown. Some shows take longer to build an audience.
I am a woman early forties, does my opinion count? I loved Moonlight, and am sad its over its demise. Other shows have been canceled and I was a bit peeved, but got over it, but I really missed Moonlight last week, Moonlight should have been on instead of that sucky Ex list. No I dont want to see a show about a woman going through all of her past lovers, and boy she is supposed to have been some slut with all of those men in her past, no, dont really care for it. I am looking for something different on TV, sick of reality crap, maybe a wholesome show like Touched by an ANgel. PUt one on and it will do well.
What would these new shows be without the sex and cursing? THe networks think we need sex , violence, cursing, but tell me, top shows such as Cosby,no cursing, a couple that loved eachother, can anyone put on a show like that again? when now we have such awful shows as “how I met your mother?” or shows where the wife is a nasty nagging pain in the butt? But she is cute, so the husband puts up with her crap? TV is supposed to be escapism, like the movies, give me a fantasy, a dream, something to take me away from my hum drum life, not remind me of it!
Wow there sure are a lot of haters hanging out here but that’s ok cuz the numbers don’t lie. Moonlight beat The Ex List hands down and Nina and co. were foolish enough to cancel it even tho vamp shows are hot right now. Not a smart move in my opinion regardless of whether or not some of you here are not a Moonlight fan. There are many who do. And that’s been proven by the number of books Stephenie Meyers has sold with the Twilight series. Moonlight was tastefully done without a lot of violence, sex, cursing. It was all about Mick’s redemption and the romance between Mick and Beth. I hope this sends a big msg to Nina, CBS, WB, TPTB…
Heh, I think the Twilight comparison is very apt in terms of quality.
My hat is of to BYCU and all MOONLIGHT fans in regards to holding your own in hanging in there for this most awsome show. I totally agree with Denise that most of us females, me at 59, not only adored Moonlight, with our granddaughters, but adored it for the romance of Mick/Beth as well as the drama and humor of Mick & Josef. After all the weeks rutureck, it is wonderful to come to the television on Friday nights to let yourself be taken away with a love fantisy. Wonder just how many love stories are sold at Barns & Nobels???
As to you Holly adn Julia, where are you spending your Friday nights?? Hope you have a romantic person to share your time with, because not all of us do and Moonlight is just the ticket. AND we LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!! Now please tell all us females, just what in the world is wrong with that??????????
Besides, CBS has Alex O’Loughlin tied up in a contract type, so NOTHING is impossible!!!!!!!!!!11
Sirensong where are you??? browneyedaries@yahoo.com
THANKS BILL GORMAN FOR THE COMMENT. KHARMA IS TRULY THE WORD FOR CBS, ESPECIALLY SINCE VAMPIRES ARE IN AND HBO JUST RENEWED TRUE BLOOD AFTER JUST THREE OR FOUR SHOWS FOR ANOTHER SEASON AND THE RATINGS DON’T TOUCH MOONLIGHTS!!!
Melinda, there is nothing wrong with it at all. While I did not like the show, I can’t fault people for doing so. I have friends who didn’t want it canceled even if it was just for the mock factor. But that doesn’t change facts or the way this business works. A show that didn’t rate high enough to get a second season will not go on to suddenly get movies and spin offs. Star Trek was a three season show and trying to compare that to Moonlight is laughable. In the age of the internet, it is VERY easy to feel that your group of hundreds of fans is equal to millions. I know, I’ve experienced the same phenomenon. But it’s really only hundreds. Sorry.
Oh, dear. Now you’re trying to compare HBO ratings to CBS?
Russell,
Moonlight fans were disparaging Swingtown as well.
Can somebody tell me if Friday nights ever use to be popular with high rating shows and if it did when did Friday night viewing start declining?
Don’t forget, Moonlight in the mist of production was hit with the writer’s strike. Moonlight episodes just kept getting better and better. Season two would of really took off, I really, really miss that show – it was the only show I actually looked forward to watching. CBS made a very bad decision. It could come back – but will it? A lot of people have to wipe egg off their face first and I don’t see that happening. For the fans sake, I really hope they could take a hard second look at their decision making. You don’t see a cast of characters put together too often like they had on Moonlight. It’s just silly to replace such an interesting show with the Ex-list. I don’t get it at all.
Cameron…..
Dallas, Falcon Crest and The Dukes of Hazzard were all Friday night shows just to mane a few.
Dallas was a high rated show and the “Who Shot JR? Cliffhanger stated a tend in scripted television.
I think all networks are going to have to accept the fact that things are changing. First, there are many ways to be entertained today, not just the large broadcast networks. They are going to have to adjust to lower viewership numbers. Second, the almighty demos have to change, especially with todays economy. The desired 18-49 demo needs to enter the 21st century. If you are 18-30 and home on a Friday night get off the couch and go have fun with your friends. Maybe many 18-49 year olds are working extra hours due to the economy. The advertisers can be adjusted to the different demographics. Sell skin care products and items for children and grandchildren on a Friday night. I don’t understand why 18-49 is so desirable today? We 50 and 60 somethings are not the same as previous generations. I am an advertisers dream. Everything I have is paid for so I have the disposable income. Hello Oil of Olay, I’m here! This is my first post here so I do not understand the extreme dislike for the Moonlight fans. I am a Moonlight fan and I still watch CBS. I do not understand why CBS did not renew the show. They should be pleased 8 million loyal viewers. I even watched the Ex-List pilot and that was one painful hour. Now I watch the USA Network a lot. I also just found the American Life Network. It is great if you like the old shows from the 60’s like Mission Impossible, Combat, and Burke’s Law. I’ll watch old shows before some of the new junk they are making today. That is just me.
moonlight is dead sad but true,
long live true blood on hbo
I am so glad that Ex-List did poorly. It’s only going to get worse. CBS took Moonlight off and I think they made a big mistake. I also see Numbers has slipped quite a bit. Could be Moonlight gave them viewers and now they’re elsewhere!Just like me…
Robert Seidman and Bill Gorman are both assholes, if you hate moonlight and their fans that much, why do you 2 bother to add its name to a topic??……ohhh I get it, it’s only because you know that is the only way that your post will get plenty of comments right??? Both assholes but clever guys at the end hehe……I’ll give you some credits for this modus operandi.
And yeah, you bet I’m a moonlight fan and I’ve always avoided to giving comments on any of your postings and only visited this site when moonlight was on the air and now that the X-list is on the air (and just because this is the show replacing moonlight, and that is the real reason I care for the rating of this show).
I would really like all moonlight fans did/do the same as I do and avoid commenting on any of your posts that mention Moonlight, but I guess they are so naive that still haven’t find out your real intentions in mentioning our favorite show!!!
I’m a latin-american fan!!
Well, Jazmin, now you’ve done it. Because of your comment you just made Robert and Bill more $$! Now don’t you regret that?
I can say with complete certainy that Bill would be ecstatic if no hardcore, unreasonable, irrational, petty and bitter Moonlight fans ever posted a comment on our site again!!
That’s not all Moonlight fans, I know. I don’t care either way. It’s not about traffic. Kimbo Slice (even in losing in 14 seconds) generates more traffic than Moonlight ever did. But Kimbo Slice does better than Knight Rider too, if it makes you feel any better.
I mentioned Moonlight *only* because of the Ex-List premiere, it was “news”, especially among the Friday night ratings obsessed.
Julia, only if she clicked ads 5 times out of spite
Andrea,
Do you ever have anything good to say…or do you just get off being “boorish” to Moonlight fans?
We have filled the Friday night gap with cable…Sanctuary.
But then if we really started talking that up, would you also insult the Sanctuary fans???
Julia
I really don’t want your $1,000. Keep it.
I just wanted to point out that Star Trek turned into a huge franchise, in spite of the fact that people made fun of Star Trek fans, and in spite of the fact that the network thought it was finished. And they are now in the process of making a new Star Trek movie, due to be released in 2009, based on the original cast, about the early days of the Enterprise, incorporating the story of Captain Christopher Pike.
It was the Star Trek fans that kept the concept alive, just as the large body of Moonlight fans are keeping Moonlight alive.
So make fun of the Moonlight fans all you want. Moonlight is a beautifully crafted, expertly written series, and the stories do lend themselves to spin offs, because there are so many interesting threads and fascinating, well-developped characters.
Angelcrest — this isn’t an attack on Moonlight or its fans, but the Star Trek analogy doesn’t hold water. The original Star Trek got three seasons and 79 episodes and had a very long run in syndication. It was the success in syndication that led over time (and it was a long time) to movies, and then other series.
When Star Trek was initially on in syndication, the average TV viewer had less than 10 channels to choose from. With 13 episodes, and a much more competitive environment there’s zero chance Moonlight will have the same type of syndicated run the original Star Trek had.
Moonlight is a great show with talent, chemistry, great writers, etc. Just because more people watched some other show doesn’t mean it was better. I certainly don’t give a rats a$$ about what anyone thinks. Moonlight is STILL a great show regardless of the fact that people at the nutwork were too stupid to hang on to it’s original format and trying to make it into another (yawn) csi show. Hey, if you don’t like Moonlight, don’t watch it, but those of us with a higher IQ like a show with intrigue. “Reality” shows are so bloody mundane at this point, they need to go away and never come back. The half hour sit coms are the same way. The procedural cop show is getting stale. Moonlight is something fresh and new. For those of you who say it’s just a copy of Angel, you never saw either show. It’s completely different. If you want to compare the two shows, watch them both and then think about it if you’re able. VSRRR!!!
I am a Moonlight fan who left CBS. The overall network ratings are probably down due to the fact that people like me are now turning to the cable channels for their shows. In trying other networks, I have found a couple of things that I like on FOX. I have come to watch Bones and Fringe. I like both of those. I have watched the Mentalist on CBS but only on my computer. I will not give them my TV viewing time. I also like the show Life. CBS will get me back when Moonlight is back. I am still sticking to my guns.
Oh I forgot about Burn Notice and In Plain Sight. Love those two shows also.
Are you watching the Mentalist legally or illegally, Nan? Because if it’s legally, you are probably giving them more money directly than you would be if you watched it on TV, unless you are a Nielsen family.
Moonlight isnt coming back no matter how poorly Ex-List or any other CBS show does.
CBS still has 9 or 10 of the Top 20 shows – its doing rather well. Very few Moonlight fans will actually stop watching CBS permanently – they arent insane enough to think that boycotting CBS will bring it back.
I know there are several people that think all of “us” Moonlight fans are a bit off, but that doesn’t matter because no matter who you are everyone has a Favorite TV show. Mine is Moonlight, that’s why I purchased it from Amazon and that is why I have pre-purchased it from Amazon for the DVD release in January 2009.
It is really great that Warner Borhters has given the loyal fans of Moonlight a DVD set. Maybe something will come of that.
There was a post I read that talked about the romance in Moonlight and how good it was to see some of this on TV today amd there many of us out here that really agree about this aspect also. Even though I too so not fall between 18-49, I would believe like ScarecrowMrsKing wrote, that people of our age 50’s & 60’s watch more television and have more spending money than the 18-49 age bracket as our children are all groown. The Oil of Oley was funny, but true and the networks are loaded with face/wrinkle cream adds
!!
The Ex List is really a bad show, no matter what time slot it is on. Anyone know how old Nina Tassler is????
Melissa, higher IQ really? I’ve watched one episode and thought it lack imagination, the story was the same old one we have seen on other shows before.
Didn’t need much of a high IQ to get it.
Vampire stories have been done before and done better, Angel, Dark Shadow than what Moonlight was proposing. People who matter for the TV business, those with Nielsen box, have cast their votes and send Moonlight packing. It will not come back on CBS or any other Networks. Really, have asked yourself this question: if Moonlight was so popular and had the potential to be the next Star Trek, which I doubt, why hasn’t ANY Networks be it one of the big four, CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, or any of the cable channels picked it up?
Moonlight is done, no matter what you do it isn’t coming back. You don’t watch CBS because of it? Fine but do not believe for one second that will have any impact on their ratings unless you have that Nielsen box. Of all the big four Networks CBS is doing fine with or without the Moonlight fans, thank you.
Aww, what nasty back and forth just got deleted? I missed it!
I guess nothing was deleted, just delayed.
Melinda, you seem to be confused about something. It’s not us here on this site who think the 18-49 demo is the one advertisers want. It’s fact that that is what advertisers want. They have done extensive market research and found that the over 49 year olds are not the ones spending the most, even if you and others have the extra cash. There are various reasons for this (saving for retirement, spending money on their kids’ college education, brand loyalty is pretty well solidified by that age, etc.) but the fact remains the same.
Julia my take is more than exhaustive research it’s simple market dynamics. It’s just very easy to reach people 50 and over via TV advertising. They watch more TV and are abundantly available to advertise to. We think that it is the lesser availability of the under 50 crowd that drives the pricing. They’re not as available/harder to reach so their is a premium for them. It’s pretty much basic supply and demand. Something like Sunday night football scores the highest advertising because not only does it perform well among 18-49 year olds, it reaches the even more elusive males 18-34 years old.
In a nutshell, we think that availability of eyeballs rather than “how much cash they spend” drives the focus on the under 50 crowd.
Julia, in order to keep the site up and running more, we’re trying to “cache” more. Theoretically if a new comment is added you should still see it immediately, but I made some changes that might have even affected that and that may be the cause for some of your delays. Our server is under a lot of strain in the mornings Monday-Fri, particularly between 9a-noon Pacific time.
I think a Moonlight movie would go over well. You take 8 million plus fans at say $7.50 a ticket. That is over 60,000,000 dollars. I for one would probably see it more than once and then buy the DVD. Now you add in all the other countries that are yelling for more. In my opinion, WB would be stupid not to at least be considering a Moonlight movie.
I think CBS should be made to pay for cancelling Moonlight. I mean the fans have spoken out and rallied and proven they liked it better than the other shows. If it wasn’t for CSI I would stop watching CBS for good.
I’m not at all surprised with these ratings numbers. Ghost Whisperer has been dangling the “big” death all summer, so, I’m not surprised that people tuned in to see if and when it was happening. It will be interesting to see what happens when Crusoe premieres in a couple of weeks. I expected The Ex List to tank, but, not this badly on premiere night. Numbers is up against a critically acclaimed drama from last season – Life. The two of them are going to duke it out at 10 until somebody goes down. Given that many of last season’s new shows cut short by the strike are doing poorly this season, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Life either moved or cancelled.
Regardless of how anyone felt about the show, Moonlight had a predominantly female audience – the same audience that CBS is trying to lure with The Ex List. But due to the abrupt handling of Moonlight’s cancellation and the negative comments by CBS heads directed at that show’s fans, I suspect those viewers are unattainable for CBS in the near future. As I have not watched one single show on CBS since last May, I count myself as one of them. And, yes, I am in the desired 18-49 demographic. But, no, I am not some “crazed” Moonlighter, trolling the net for places to post my vitriol toward other shows’ fans. Moonlight was a genre show that fit well behind Ghost Whisperer. The fact that the show CBS has replaced Moonlight with is doing very poorly one year later, is worthy of discussion. It has been pointed out all over the industry just how popular the vampire genre currently is with various books, movies, and TV shows in production. Most of the other networks gave last season’s moderately rated shows a chance, due to the strike. Granted, some of those shows are not doing so well this season. As has been discussed so many times ad nauseum, why wouldn’t CBS follow the same model? Especially with a show whose genre has gained popularity and growth within the desired demo (women). Some have even proclaimed 2008 as the “Year of the Vampire”. IMO, CBS was foolish to cancel the ONLY genre specific show that they aired, especially one with a ratings base of 7.5 million somewhat rabid fans (90% of whom were probably female heads of household). It was a bad decision in May, and given Ex List’s poor premiere numbers, it’s an even worse decision now. And after the way “I” as a loyal viewer, was treated by the CBS, I think it is fair to allow the Moonlight fans to gloat just a little bit.
Much of the discussion about Moonlight’s 7.5 million viewer finale leave out the fact that at that time, the show had already survived 5 showrunners, serious meddling from CBS brass, and a 4 month writers’ strike. The Ex List has already lost its creative leader in Diane Ruggiero, who claims network interference for her departure. She was the best thing that the show had going for it.
CBS better hope that Harper’s Island is ready BEFORE mid season. It looks like they’re going to need it.
I still believe things are changing. Yes, Sunday night football has huge numbers because it is Sunday and football. It is a family pastime. Bonanza lasted eons on Sunday. If it is good and on a Sunday the show is good to go. Many are home getting ready for work. I think each generation is so different. I’m 51, connecting with my friends means visually seeing them not by texting, which we do too. This new economy is going to hit many people very hard. Football has lots of beer sponsors. I know that in good times and bad times people drink so these are the coveted 18-34 year old males. They also want cool cars and think that will get them a pretty girl. Am I harder to sell to? You bet because with age hopefully comes some wisdom. Do I spend money? Let’s see I’m from the generation that bought albums, 8 track tapes, cassettes, CD’s, now MP3’s. 5 different media forms. We are still need cars, computers, love my new Qosmio, travel. We still live even better than our parents. Like the ad says don’t trust anyone over 90. I guess I don’t like feeling like I’m being dismissed. My body is older, so what. Maybe they need better advertisers. I watched the original Star Trek and still watch all of them. I own them as series DVD’s, movies etc. I like to try new products. Am I the abnormal buyer? I do not know the ages of other Moonlight fans. I know Moonlight will not be back unless some almightly miracle happens. One thing you should never take away from people are their hopes and dreams. Without them you have nothing to look forward to. I love Burn Notice, NCIS, Psych, Monk, In Plain Sightand the The Closer, so where do I fit in?
Well good to see The Ex List not do so well. So lads if the numbers stay like that, will The Ex List get cancelled? Thnx
If by canceled you mean “pulled before the 3rd episode”, no.
If you mean “not get a second season”, yes.
If you mean “not last past November sweeps”, maybe.
It does make me happy that “The Ex-List” had lower numbers than “Moonlight”. However, It will be interesting to see if this trend continues for CBS. One can only hope that CBS will realize that they made a mistake in canceling “Moonlight” and bring the show back. Hey a girl can dream!
Mr. Seidman, you and Angelcrest both have valid points. Even though I was a Star Trek fan, until I went off to college-and it wasn’t a huge college-I didn’t realize there was a whole network of “Trekkies” out there who stil loved the show. I had never heard of fan fiction unti that time. However, although the syndication probably helped, I still don’t think that Paramount would have made the first Star Trek movie if Star Wars hadn’t been such a huge success. Fortunately for them they felt it was worth a shot to pull Star Trek out of the vault, and they have been profiting, in some form or another, in the almost thirty years since they did.
Also, just because there aren’t many episodes doesn’t necessarily preclude the show from making money. Look at the show Firefly. I think there are only thirteen of them, and they have just put it out on Blue-Ray, which I am sure they wouldn’t do if it wasn’t still selling after the seven or eight years since its short run on Fox. Joss Whedon is still making money with it, in one form or another, and I assume Fox does, too.
I am surprised to see so many moonlight fans here!
way to go!
I read alot of the posts here and it seems most of you think moonlight was canceled due to ratings, but that isnt true, the cbs exec’s got into a argument with the top 2 producers of the show, and some harsh words exchanged and then cbs fired those 2 producers the next day. after that they made the last 4 shows with the new producer who was a lower level producer on the show, but he didnt make all the changes they [cbs] had wanted so they canceled the show I think in part cause cbs execs really disliked the 2 producers they fired and didnt want them to profit from the show at all, so that meant canceling it and so that is what they did.
I also think that those of you here who attack or make fun of the moonlight fans are kind of low class people. why else would you make fun of them?
i am a moonligh fan and im happy that ex-list din’t get the numbers moonlight did last year..like someone said cbs thats kharma for cancelling the greates show on television. moonlight was the only show i watched on the eye network..now that moonlight is not on..i have no intrest in seeing cbs..so for me no moonlight no cbs…that simple if they want my viewing back ..bring back moonlight and i’ll be there.
I COULDN’T BE HAPPIER – CBS IS GETTING EXACTLY WHAT THEY SHOULD BE GETTING!!!! I guess when the viewers wrote in saying they wanted MOONLIGHT back on CBS should have listened!!!! CBS burned their own bridges by blowing off the loyal fans of MOONLIGHT & refusing to put our show back on for a second season. Nina Tassler didn’t use her brains (if she has any brains) on this one – cancelling MOONLIGHT was a HUGH mistake & a mistake she should have corrected ASAP!!!! But “NO” Nina Tassler came back to insult the viewers only causing CBS to lose even more viewers – to this I say HOORAY!!!! START LISTENING TO THE VIEWERS Nina Tassler & maybe CBS can come back – maybe. MOONLIGHT should be put back on the air for a Season Two & CBS should dump stupid shows like The Ex-List!!!! As for me I never turn on CBS anymore, I don’t even watch The Ghost Whisper anymore (and that was a favorite of mine just like MOONLIGHT was). I guess the best way to put it is I really don’t care one way or another if CBS folds & disappears in the sunset or if they survive. CBS showed the loyal viewers no consideration – never once listening to our requests to give MOONLIGHT another season so WHY SHOULD WE WATCH ANYTHING ON CBS????
As for those individuals who make fun of us MOONLIGHT FANS such as Bill Gorman – I say get a life!!!! We are all entitled to our own opinions – if you didn’t like MOONLIGHT than so be it, that is your opinion – it is not my opinion. NO ONE was making you watch MOONLIGHT so if you disliked the show so much why did you watch any of the shows aired???? Keep your negative comments or insults to yourself. I AM A MOONLIGHT FAN who will always be a MOONLIGHT fan so DEAL WITH IT. And for your information – yes, I will boycott CBS as long as I want – I haven’t watched one show on CBS since they cancelled MOONLIGHT & I do not plan on watching CBS anytime in the future. SO YES people can & will boycott CBS becasue they are angry with CBS – THAT IS A FACT OF LIFE whether you like it or not!!!! I really hate people like you Bill Gorman who shoot off their mouths & make fun of others because we don’t share your opinion. My advice to you Bill Gorman is watch the shows you want & leave us to watch the shows we want to watch. Your opinion Bill Gorman is not law!!!!
Well if what Bob said was true abou the proucers being fired than I would have to admit that that was its downfall.
There should have no way been a cancelation of moonlight was a peoples choice winner.
Interesting. I would say I’m a moonlight fan and was VERY surprised that it got cancelled as a “peoples choice award” winner. I must say the premise of the ex-list is stupid. Can’t imgagine going a full season of that. Makes her look very promiscuous. Never was interested.
What I thought was telling was Supernanny’s ratings were 40 PERCENT off what Women’s Murder Club did last season. The worst-rated episode of Murder Club drew 7.5 million viewers. ABC will be lucky to get 4 million viewers a week with Supernanny.
Yes, yes. I know Supernanny is a cheaper show to produce, but it still begs the question to ABC: Was it worth it?
The reality/game shows not doing as well on Fridays is definitely telling. ABC should dump that schedule ASAP. Women’s Murder Club also suffered some behind the scenes turmoil, which I believe helped push the cancellation. It, too, had a decent fanbase and storylines that looked pretty promising for a season 2. I’ve read a few of the Murder Club books, and that cast was pretty much perfect for the show.
These big networks want killer instant ratings out of the box for EVERY show. It’s a shame. The days of putting on a quality program, nurturing it, and watching the viewers build is over. At least the cable networks are willing to stick with something that looks promising and has compelling storylines. The first season of Damages on FX was absolutely riveting. But, a show like that wouldn’t stand a chance on CBS. The same goes for The Closer, Monk, Mad Men, and any other show on FX, USA, or TNT. The big networks, CBS in particular, try to “brand” everything they air as their type of show. Why can’t they just allow the creative minds to create? Everything has to be tweaked and homogenized to the point that many of the shows look and feel the same. No wonder all of the ground breaking television happens on the small cable nets. The big 4 need to get a clue.
Olá,
I’m far away from all of you but reading about ratings and how bad they appear to be on Fridays to CBS just make me happy…
Although I can’t have Moonlight I’ll always cherish the good memories of the show and its cast… and no matter what I truly believe Moonlight was absolutely amazing…
Too bad the charks didn’t realize it on due time…
Beijinhos *****
Flora