FlashForward got off to a good start both in the US and internationally. Should FlashForward start to wane in the ratings we’ll see a lot of talk about its international successes.
Hopefully the ratings at home and abroad will meet with a better fate than the crows in FlashForward!
Here’s a very pretty six page presentation from ABC (PDF file) on how the premiere of FlashForward fared internationally.
Some bullet points for those who are allergic to PDF files:
- UK -FlashForward was Five’s highest ever rating premiere of a drama with the advertiser friendly 16-34 audience 9pm Mon. Premiere gained 4.1m total viewers (15%share),over 3 times Five’s primetime average audience
- Spain: FlashForward on Cuatro: highest rated foreign drama Premiere in Cuatro’s history: Premiere gained 2.7m total viewers,and a share of 20,4% with 25-44s; FlashForward on AXN: most watched series of the day on Pay TV
- Russia: FlashForward was Russia’s highest rating new US series premiere in 4 years! Premiere attracted 3.5m viewers, up +26% on Channel 1’s 23:00 Friday slot average
- Australia: FlashForward launches on Seven Network as the biggest U.S. Series premiere in 2009; peaking at 1.98 million total viewers and a commercial share of 50% for people 25-54
Still miffed at Five holding FlashForward’s UK license. They don’t have an HD channel!1
I’d be miffed too — it’s gorgeous in HD!
Five is getting a HD channel! Don’t worry!
I wouldn’t count on its success in Australia. US shows do really well for about a year or two, but then flop and get relegated into obscurity (House, Lost, Mentalist, Bones, All CSIs, Amazing Race, Survivor, though some don’t even last that long, like Mercy
etc.) It’s probably due to all the repeats we have to endure due to you guys stringing out 22 episodes for eight months. Though a few have bucked the trend, NCIS, 2.5 Men and Greys. Cable dramas usually flop immediately (Nurse Jackie, The Wire, Dexter, United States of Tara, The Sopranos etc.)
Also, Australian networks don’t value audience demo as much as Americans do due to each Australian network focusing on different demos and total people rather than the key American 18-49 model. Seven would be pleased on both counts, but probably more so with total viewers long term. Since the premier it has lost viewers and presumably demo as well. It will also lose momentum when repeats kick in and it is pretty close to end of ratings year here, so new episodes will resume next year.
And the ratings on FIVE actualy went up for the 2nd episode!!! Then back down a little for the 3rd episode, still really good though!
Yay! In my mind for FIVE Flashforward was a bigger hit than the Mentalist which quickly lost stream
Agreed on the premiere being a hit, but the subsequent episodes are getting very boring. I am going back to Bones live.
Those ratings are excellent by the standards of each of those countries. Those are particularly good ratings for Channel Five in the UK since that station usually gets more like 1 or 2 million viewers. If I’m not mistaken, only BBC1 and ITV regularly get 4 or 5 million viewers or more.
However, I wonder how much the ratings will fall off as the season progresses. I enjoyed the first two episodes but found the third episode really pointless and started to wonder if I was being led on a wild goose chase, story-wise.
Also, as Cruel_Heartless points out, maybe they should’ve waited a few more weeks before premiering the show so that they could run all 22 episodes in a row internationally. I doubt the producers/cast/crew will be able to churn ‘em out fast enough for that. Of course, here in the U.S., viewers will still whine as soon as ABC schedules a break of a few weeks (as if TV episodes grow on trees!).
in all the prelimary ratings all 3 episodes to date have scored 3.2 million viewers, the 4.1 million must be the finals:) and their great for five:)!
I live in Spain and FF is already a hit!!Tomorrow the same channel, Cuatroº starts the 6th season of House, the second US-TV-Show most viewed in Spain, just behind of the CSI franchise….
“in all the prelimary ratings all 3 episodes to date have scored 3.2 million viewers, the 4.1 million must be the finals:) and their great for five:)!”
yes, they are the finals (so taking into account time shifting viewing within 7 days). In the week of FF premiere, FIVE second most watched program (Monsterns Inc) got 2,79 million in the finals.
Overnights for the 3 first episodes have been: 3,19m, 3,26m, 3,19m.
So it’s holding up well.
Ike, the reason US shows are shown so soon in Australia is due to piracy which the networks claim make them loose eyeballs and dollars. But the exact same thing occurs when shows premiere here so soon after the US and eventually gather repeats or are split mid ratings season when the US does not. Australian produced programmes almost always air without repeats and are not usually split midseason.
Anyhow, I still think Flashforward will end up being a turkey and will be lucky to see a season 3 and maybe even a second season.
Pdf allergic? Aww, come on – pdf’s are cute *g*
The second episode of FF was ok, the third dragged a bit and felt like padding (an raging against Nazis)
they didnt mention canada, its premiere was an abysmal 725,000 on ‘A’ so FlashForward is not the hit most people are talking about.
Cruel_Heartless: You say U.S. programming ends up doing not so well in Australia. What about British shows? Our popular shows might typically have only 22 or so episodes a season, but many of theirs produce no more than 13 episodes (often fewer!) in a year.
And now I’m trying to think of any Australian shows that even air in the U.S… coming up blank. I’m sure there’s some stuff I’d like to watch, if it ever made it over here, but I have a feeling I’d be one of few viewers.
Not many Australian shows make it to the US, Lisa. I do know that the Oxygen network had McLeod’s Daughters on a few years ago but never showed it past the first 2 seasons and only showed it because it was a good-sized hit in Australia. I don’t know how well it did on Oxygen but being that Oxygen is not a basic cable network, I’m guessing not enough people subscribed to the channel for it to do that well.
with the size of russia you’d think they’d have more viewers
Another annoying problem with Australian TV networks is that even though the Seven Network has an HD multichannel, and it’s a good one, the network can be shifty and once in a while screen an episode in SD instead of HD. In 2009…it’s pathetic!
I kind of find it odd that American shows do well BETTER abroad than in the US.
For example, 30 Rock is more popular in Canada, Australia, the Philippines, Brazil, UK, etc. than in the USA. Don’t you think the TV Studios are no longer targeting Americans, but foreigners now?
^ 30 Rock is not that popular here in the Philippines but an example of a low rated US show that does well here is Gossip Girl and to some extent The Amazing Race
I hope the US networks would also consider international success of a show when it comes to renewal.
Well forg, I do have family in the Philippines and they all love 30 Rock, as well as their friends also. But I dunno if that’s reflective, because they live in a small village, and anything popular in that village, the rest of the province usually follows and goes on and on.
But American network already do consider international success as a way of renewing shows.
But I have to say 30 Rock has a large International following is from what I’ve known, it’s the other reason (other than Emmy Awards) why NBC has kept it despite it’s low ratings.
R.G: I love 30 Rock, I’m a fan, but what I consider really hits are the shows that are aired here in local TV with just a one to two weeks delay from its U.S airing and those are Desperate Housewives, Smallville, Grey’s Anatomy and Gossip Girl. Well, Glee is also a few weeks delayed here which is something new because that does not happen with new US shows. And we are just a few hours delayed for a new episode of The Amazing Race, Survivor and American Idol. American shows are low rated here in the Philippines they only grab 1-3% these days audience share but there is downloading and piracy of course so its hard to determine what the real popular shows here are. But
RG, I don’t think 30 Rock has ever been shown earlier than 10:30 in Australia. Its usual timeslot is 11:30. Not that it was ever tried in a proper primetime slot, but it’s not any sort of major success in Oz at all.
R.G, 30 Rock is not popular in Australia. Its timeslot is virtually in a wasteland. Late night is not prime time.
Lisa, British programming does way better as our public broadcaster (tax payer funded) waits and airs British programmes in thier entirety. A few commercial channels try and air British programmes but the majority of British programmes end up on the ABC as they cause less headaches for them than commercial (Law and Order UK floped on Ten, Bad Girls floped on Seven, Footballers Wives floped on Ten). Also British programmes tend to skew older viewers and demos, so they are unlikely to pirate TV shows and thus cause viewership decline. An example of a long running British programme that does very well is Midsommer Murders. Another stalwart is The Bill. It has occupied the same timeslot for over 20 years.
Also, Lisa, due to American sensibilities, apparently you cannot bear to hear Australian accents in television productions, so they do not get imported. Instead American networks buy the rights and make their own versions, usually resulting in disasters (Thank God You’re Here & Kath and Kim).
American shows are basically used as cheap filler, as it costs less to import. As soon as one American show passes its used by date it is replaced by another or by an Australian production. The turnover rate is very high and not many Americans shows can achieve longevity here.
Good for Flashforward. When i was in the UK, I learned that the soaps are VERY popular.
Ryan said: “They didnt mention canada, its premiere was an abysmal 725,000 on ‘A’ so FlashForward is not the hit most people are talking about.”
Isn’t that pretty good by the standards of A Channel? Does anything on A Channel do really really well?