Comments on: Wednesday Ratings: A bad night for Life, Life on Mars, and Knight Rider

By: Bill Gorman

Bill Gorman — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 16:12:43 +0000

Schmokey, agreed. While the shift from broadcast to cable has been going on for a generation, in the last several years it has accelerated substantially. I don’t think we lose the big broadcast networks, but their business models will need to change.

By: Ascolti in calo per “The Little Prince” : Push the button

Ascolti in calo per “The Little Prince” : Push the button — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 08:01:52 +0000

[...] ha totalizzato circa 11 milioni di pubblico, con ottimo share demografico 18/49. Dalla prossima settimana dovr? vedersela contro il [...]

By: Schmokey

Schmokey — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 07:44:35 +0000

Bill, the interesting thing on that list you provided is the difference between what were good numbers just three seasons ago and what are good numbers now.

Law and Order was at 14 million and people were talking about it like it was fading away. Bones had 12 million viewers and was on shaky ground with a number that would be considered fine and dandy today. And then you look at Invasion’s 9 million and realize that ABC would love the have it back and doing those numbers right now.

Well, NBC would love to have it now anyway.

The drop in viewership for the broadcast nets has been staggering in just the past three years. Or at least the drop in viewership for scripted shows on broadcast nets has been staggering.

We are living through a tipping point, I think. Be interesting to see where it stabalizes. Or if it stabalizes. I still think we lose one of the big broadcast nets in the next ten years. Maybe two.

By: Gleebo

Gleebo — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 07:30:49 +0000

Seems like other places were more impressed with Life’s ratings from yesterday.

http://www.tvguide.com

Ratings: Life Makes a Lively Comeback

“9 pm
Fox’s Lie to Me stayed on top with 13 million viewers, up 900K from last week. Lost tied the Fox newbie in the demos while holding steady at 11 million viewers. NBC’s Life returned to an audience of 6.76 mil, surging 30 percent from its last fresh outing. Katie Couric’s Grammy special cued up 6.8 mil, but was bested by Life in its back half-hour.”

Too bad next fall Leno is gonna be hogging so many hours in primetime really killing any chance shows like Life have for getting another season.

By: Matt2

Matt2 — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 07:23:38 +0000

To me the American Idol group auditions were slightly better last night and Lost was just incredible! There were so many mind bending twists and turns on Lost, I was exhausted by the end. It seems each episode is a little more intense than the previous one and creates about a million more questions. A consistent ratings power, its strength, especially without a strong lead-in or lead-out show, is a testament to the quality of the writing.

I didn’t watch anything else last night but I have to agree with JT on the commercials for many of the spring shows that I have seen this week. The new promos are much more appealing. Already, we are pumped to see which stars will take the ballroom dancing plunge this Sunday night. The new Dollhouse trailer is ten times better than the first combo trailer that was created with TSCC. I was really impressed as well with crime dramas, The Unusuals and Castle. I hope they don’t have one good episode and then fall to pieces like LOM. I even liked all the new promos for sitcoms; In the Motherhood, Rules of Engagement and Parks & Recreation. I think all the major networks will see some improvement by the time they have their new schedules rolling along in March.

By: ABCFanatic2009

ABCFanatic2009 — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 06:44:37 +0000

Lost is way beetter than Life!!!

Lost is amazing! season5 is oh so great!!! I hope it gets more viewers! I don’t get why Fox’s new shows Fringe and Lie to Me are doing so well! Gahhh!.

I think there’s still hope for Life on Mars! the show is amazing I love it. Plus it won the 18-34 share at 10pm.

I just hope all the sitcoms in ABC suck (Better Off ted, Surviving Suburbia, Samantha Who and Scrubs) and all will be cancelled! ABC is better with 1hour scripted shows and they could keep those shows.

By: kyle

kyle — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 06:10:26 +0000

dissapointing for life on mars it premiered here in australia last night it won its timeslot (9:30) against the premiere of greys anatomy (which used to be pretty big!) and was the number 4 most watched program of the night!! Lie to me did blockbuster here beat ncis which is big here to

By: Jesse

Jesse — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 05:11:09 +0000

“Bones fans are liers. They claim that it never recived AI support despite knowing that’s a lie”

Count me among the type of Bones fan that doesn’t care how the show I love gets it’s ratings, I just care that it’s nice and safe, which it is. If I could stick Chuck on after Idol just for the ratings, I would.

Now then, I figure I should say something pertinent to Wednesdays’ ratings so… Am I allowed to call Lie to Me a bonafide hit now? People just can’t seem to get enough of their crime procedurals. Unless that procedural is Life, which, ironically seems like it’d be one of the better ones (never watched).

By: cool

cool — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 04:32:05 +0000

LOL I dont work for ABC, I only see Lost, DH and Dancing. But I like Criminal Minds, American Idol, NCIS and the CBS sitcoms.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 04:27:29 +0000

Yeah, awhile back i said Life On Mars was done for, and someone said “no cause abc paid alot blah blah”.

By: nstalker

nstalker — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 04:13:41 +0000

Cool,
Just because you work for ABC doesn’t mean all your posts have to pimp your shows and degrade others. Use some original thinking rather than the standard party line comrade.

By: Mr. M

Mr. M — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 03:39:36 +0000

Once the reboot started for Knight Rider I was really pulling for it. I wish NBC would promote it more and put the repeats on Saturday night again.

By: cool

cool — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 03:38:20 +0000

Desperate Housewives, I dont *think* hit 30 million but it hit 28 million for the Second Season Premiere, but the Housewives are still doing fine. It was the #1 scripted show on TV.

By: Vader

Vader — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 03:30:36 +0000

Those LOST numbers from three years ago are quite impressive especially against American Idol. Maybe I should do what Cat says and ignore the credits. I’ve gotten to the point where I can recognize anybody from the main cast plus Christian and the mysterious Matthew Abaddon (Lance Reddick from Fringe). I do hope we see both of them again soon, because both are quite interesting right now.

By: Bill Gorman

Bill Gorman — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 02:30:31 +0000

clutz, Tim Goodman the SF Chronicle TV writer (who’s link is in our blogroll) theorizes that Couric is now being groomed for some non-anchor job at CBS. She’s being wasted on the Evening News. She’s being paid real money, and Moonves doesn’t want to lose her all together, so he might as well figure out a way to have her *help* CBS instead of just keeping the Evening News status quo going. Not knowing anything of the inside dealings at CBS, it at least hangs together logically.

By: Yasser

Yasser — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 02:28:52 +0000

i think LOST is just doin more than fine !!
ppl com’on it’s on his 5th season

By: clutz

clutz — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 02:27:12 +0000

@Holly, the CBS love affair with Katie Couric is puzzling indeed. Somehow, someone became convinced that Katie is the next Barbara Walters, maybe? Barbara does the Oscar specials, so Katie tries a Grammy special? Sorry, Ms. Couric – you are no Barbara Walters.

By: Rick

Rick — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 02:07:04 +0000

Robert, 6.76 million seems alright for Life though? Isn’t that significantly higher than a lot of previous airings? Or are you talking solely about the 18-49 demo? Shame, it was a great idea for a series, and the reviews love it. I agree with others that NBC really should promote Life as much as they can.

I have a good feeling about Lie To Me! 18-49 looks pretty respectable…

By: Nick

Nick — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 01:37:32 +0000

It’s nice to see that Lost is retaining its good numbers. They’re certainly not as good as Season 1’s, but they’ve kept steady ratings this season since the premiere rather than taking giant dips like some other shows right whent eh second episode comes along. And those of you criticizing its loss of viewers, that’s only natural for a serialized show. If people were to jump into Lost now, they’d have no idea what was going on. Whereas shows like American Idol, you can just jump in at any point int the show, any season, any episode. Lost you have to see every single episode from the beginning. It’s only natural for a show like that to lose viewers. I’ve never seen Lie to Me, but what is probably the reason it’s been beating Lost is because it’s a procedural type show (right?) thus making most episodes independent from the rest and the fact that it’s in its first season (no one to be confused) in that nice little spot after American Idol.

That being said, I don’t quite see why ABC has been airing repeats of Lost in the 8 PM time slot. I mean, they could’ve taken the last 3 weeks to air the remaining episodes of Pushing Daisies which would have had similar ratings. Oh well, there’ll be a DVD. Also, things aren’t looking too good for Life on Mars. I’ll cherish what little episodes we’ll probably have left.

By: Julia

Julia — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 01:26:45 +0000

Maybe my memory is fuzzy, but when was Desperate Housewives getting 30 mil? Was it a special and happened one time?

Interesting that Lie to Me didn’t fall in the finals this week. Could it actually be developing a real audience rather than just Idol’s leftovers?

By: Robert Seidman

Robert Seidman — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 01:10:35 +0000

the Lie to Me vs. Lost horse race stayed neck and neck even in the finals, where the 4.7/12 held up for both. Lost in Mars though dropped below 6 million and to a 2.0 for 18-49s in the finals.

By: Weekend Watchers » Blog Archive » Why is no one watching “Life on Mars?”

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 00:51:42 +0000

[...] no one is watching. Last night’s episode only hauled in 6 million viewers with a 2.1 preliminary adults 18-49 rating and 6 share. That’s [...]

By: thedemonhog

thedemonhog — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 00:51:11 +0000

I response to cool, let’s not forget ‘Desperate Housewives” 30 million in 2005.

By: cool

cool — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 00:39:47 +0000

oh please, Lost is still doing good.. it premiered with 16 millions and in their FIFTH season and with 5 different timeslot, is still the #1 scripted show on Wednesdays. The fact that the DVD sales are huge and is critically acclaimed with 26 Emmy nominations. ABC doesnt care about the ratings they have an end date! It seems nobdy wants to remember that CSI was averaging 30 millions every week a few years ago and now is struggling to get 15.

By: TomSD

TomSD — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 00:25:03 +0000

Bones fans are liers. They claim that it never recived AI support despite knowing that’s a lie.

I forgot that LOST was so big, if you look at the fall 2005 numbers it’s even bigger. That season LOST started a decline which continues to this day. The combination of 3 bad episodes in a row, tons of repeats betwine new episodes, and the highest rated AI (with the lamest winner) killed LOST as a broad appeal show.

In 3 years LOST lost over 7 million viewers, L&O lost 6, and BIGGEST LOSER dubled it’s viewership.