Hindsight is 20/20, of course, but it’s looking like ABC and NBC may have made a tactical error by delaying the return of serialized shows like Heroes (pictured) and Pushing Daisies until this season. You remember why they did it, right? After the 100-day strike was resolved in March, ABC and NBC chose to table freshman series like Private Practice, Dirty Sexy Money, and Chuck and re-launch with the rest of the 2008-09 fall lineup. But it’s been almost a year since those shows last aired in prime-time, and they’re now getting the (low) ratings to show for it. On ABC, Practice, the Grey’s Anatomy spinoff, was down 44 percent in viewers Oct. 1 versus its September 2007 debut (14.4 million vs. 8 million), Daisies was down a whopping 52 percent (6.3 million versus 13 million) compared to its series premiere, and Money was down 32 percent (7.1 million versus 10.4 million). The news was just as bad for NBC: Life was down 47 percent (from 18.8 million to 10 million), and Chuck lost 31 percent (6.8 million versus 9.8 million). And not even the sight of a shirtless Mohinder Suresh could stop the bleeding on Heroes, which is already down 41 percent this season (from 16.9 million to 10 million).
Not everybody is singing a sad tune right now, however. Unlike the competition, CBS fired up its regular schedule right after the strike and regained the momentum it lost during the labor dispute. As a result, most of its veteran shows have posted double-digit gains in viewers since returning for the new season: Criminal Minds is up 34 percent, NCIS is up 29 percent, and How I Met Your Mother is up 14 percent.
“Holding back the shows after the strike has certainly has not proven to be the best decision,” concedes Bill Carroll, director of programming for the Katz TV Group. “We are creatures of habit, and when we no longer have the opportunity to watch our favorite show or our new favorite shows, we move on. At this point, viewers have not returned.”
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For me, it wasn’t the long delay. (I watch Battlestar Galactica, the USA network summer programs, Lost, 24, etc., so I’m fine with long delays between seasons.) For me, a large part of it was the quality of the show(s).
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Private Practice and Heroes were dreadful last year. I gave them the full (strike-abbreviated) season to get better and they didn’t, so why would I bother to come back this year?
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Pushing Daisies I gave two episodes last year (because critics raved), but disliked both and didn’t watch another episode. So, if you are comparing season premiere to season premiere, I’m sure you’re counting people like me who just watched an episode or two. A more fair comparison might be to the season finale last year.
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As far as Chuck and Life go, they were both offered as free downloads via Amazon Unbox (and other places as well). I (and I assume others) watched the Chuck season premiere that way, which doesn’t count in the numbers. I’m interested to see how it does next week.
Regarding Pushing Daisies, I did not see any promotion until this Monday that it was returning this week. So I don’t blame the strike and ABC’s decision, but their lack of publicity for its return.
Private Practice’s premiere was a fantastic episode & an improvement on last season.
But why didn’t they re-air the series over the summer ? And why did they chose to relaunch all 3 new shows together ? They should have been scheduled over different days, not in one block.
I hope they give Private Practice a better lead-in. Fringe benefited when House began. Private Practice had to make do with Pushing Daisies actually losing viewers during that show.
All this and there is another strike coming. It will kill these shows. They lost 10 precent of the audience in the late 80’s with a strike, and they will lose another 10 percent with SAG and the writers strikes.
But I agree with Sven about Daisies. I heard nothing until the last week.
CBS has been playing reruns of HIMYM all summer, had NBC and ABC tried that with their serialized dramas, they might be singing a different tune!
These ratings have nothing to do with the writer’s strike. People are watching the political coverage–the most compelling show on TV…
The cause doesn’t matter too much, though–the result will be the same. These shows require dedication, and without it, they will die…
I love Daisies, but if they cancel it, I won’t be watching much tv any longer…its not a threat, its just that they keep taking good tv shows off the air (Arrested Development, anyone?) and leaving drivel and crap on the air…I’m tired of investing my time in shows that they yank off the air…and as such, I just find other stuff to watch…so be it…
I think the networks are definitely feeling a second wave of consequences from the strike. And ABC and NBC have made a huge tactical error by not running repeats of the serialized shows during the ridiculously long hiatus. For the record, Heroes, Chuck and Pushing Daisies are awesome this year. Get back into them, people!
It’s so annoying when Heroes’ second season premiere is reported as having 16.9 million viewers, because that was the episode that NBC used the loophole of allowing two screenings of that episode count for the final ratings. Being that the rule was abolished after it was used this one time, it doesn’t seem fair to use as a showing of how Heroes’ ratings have dipped. The original FIRST TIME the S2 premiere was shown, it actually had 14.1 million, so that’s a 29% drop. Still bad, but not 41% at all.
Meredith raises a good point, so many cable shows take breaks of a year or so between seasons so loyal viewers should be able to keep up. Problem is lack of promotion and some rough time slot picks. Hopefully, that can change as things kick up with the season in full swing.
I agree with Phil, I think people are watching the political coverage. It’s the most interesting drama going on right now.
I hope Private Practice will survive. I didn’t like the first season much, but the new season premiere was fantastic. Solid storytelling and great acting. I hope they will not get canceled, this show improved so much since last season. Besides I need to see Tim Daly on my TV on regular basis. He is fantastic actor and it doesn’t hurt that he is so hot! LOL
Maybe it’s because these shows just aren’t very good
10.1 million people watched the series premiere of Life, not 18.8. The season 2 premiere had 6.9 million viewers according to your own website. You should really get your facts straight.
Heroes ratings are probably going down because people are realizing how much the show sucks now!
Private Practice is AWFUL and should be canceled.
Pushing Daises should be on cable.
Heroes time off was to long
Hmmm… I think the LOST producers should take a cue from what’s happening with these shows and start airing reruns of Season 4 soon!
I think it has to do more with the negatively affected shows, having a lack of reruns and slightly more dedication to follow them, rather than the strike (though it doesn’t help matters). You can jump in and out of sitcoms and crime dramas with nary an idea of what’s going on and still follow them. Not so much with the others (Heroes especially).
The non-CBS shows could’ve benefitted from re-airing over the summer instead of reality TV overindulgence.
ABC better support Pushing Daisies – it’s the only show I look forward to every week.
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