TV Ratings: "Ugly Betty" Hits Series Low
Has the Mickey Mouse network sprung a Nielsen leak? Following in the footsteps of "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives", ABC's freshman comedy "Ugly Betty" hit series low last night pulling in 9,46 million viewers.
Since CBS aired a repeat of "CSI", ABC managed to win the night both in total viewers and in the 18-49 demo courtesy of "Grey's Anatomy," the most watched telecast in America last night with 20,91 million viewers.
FOX's game show "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" edged out "Betty" for a second place in the timeslot with 9,7 million viewers. Its lead-out "Trading Spouses" however scored less than half that audience.
Wonder Woman Lynda Carter visited "Smallville" over on The CW, but the episode scored below-average 4,03 million viewers. Norm MacDonald meanwhile lifted "My Name Is Earl" on NBC to 7,15 million viewers.
Although ABC's "October Road" was a lot weaker than CBS' "Shark" (9,94 million vs. 12,43 million), it did manage to win the timeslot in the 18-49 demo (4.2 vs 3.0.) The jury is still out on whether that is sufficient to justify a second season.
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Labels: Ratings
posted by Justin Van De Kamp at
2:37 PM
9 Comments:
I definetly think that ABC renewed their new series way too soon. Ugly Betty, Bros. and Sisters, and Men in Trees. They should have waited to see how October Road and Traveler held up before making the final decision. Did October Road just get more overall viewers than Ugly Betty? I definetly would pick OR to renew over UB.
Then i am really happy you can't do that. ;P
OR is missing too much, cliche'd story, blant actors, especially the mum, never seen a more uninteresting character as her.. The actress isn't right for the part. She lacks chemistry with the kid who plays her son... She would be better suited on shows like 'dead like me' or Wonderfalls'...Shows with a bit more of an dark toned humor.. she'd be great as a snarky sarcastic person.. Or an Lawyer show... Not a drama show like OR..
But again, the show is missing great chemistry between the leads... And the story is jus crap..
I would be very, very surprised if the guy doesn't turn out to be the dad. After just one episode i was bored out of my mind
Brothers and Sisters and Ugly Betty on the other hand have strong actors with real chemistry, the kind which you hardly see on new shows like these. And great storylines.
Sure UB uses Cliche storylines too, but atleast they know it and spin it on it's head and adress it... it doesn't take itself too seriously..
No, i'd say ABC did the right thing.
:)
no hard feelings..;P
Not only is the quality of UB far superior to October Road, but the ratings aren't a fair comparison. UB has no lead-in, whereas October Road has the biggest lead-in currently on ABC (Grey's Anatomy).
I was away from the blog today, so I didn't get to respond to JJ's comment, but I am glad to see others have stepped in to defend "Ugly Betty." :)
JJ, as much as I appreciate your frequent visits and comments to the blog, I really do, I have to absolutely, completely and utterly disagree with you.
"Ugly Betty" is a hilarious and heartwarming soap opera parody which has won numerous awards not only for its exceptional writing, but also its truly outstanding cast. Every single one of them is amazing. There is no weak link in that cast.
"October Road" will not be winning any awards. I can understand the concept of "guilty pleasure," but neither its cliched writing not its mediocre, although good looking cast will change that.
Also, one of these shows is getting panned by TV critics all over the place, and the other one gets all the praise. I don't think I have to say which is which.
Finally, on the ratings front - "Ugly Betty" anchors the night, and that's a very hard task. "Betty" is however doing it very well.
Although the most recent drop is 20% below the season average, the show still generates double ratings compared to what ABC used to average in the slot over the past few years, while it was searching for the next big hit.
If "October Road" did not have one of the most lucrative lead-ins on television, I am absolutely sure it would fail to generate similar figures.
It is doing as well as "Men In Trees," but that's not necessarily a good thing. The show loses more than half of "Grey's" audience and that's quite a weak performance.
As far as those renewals, not only do I think ABC didn't make the decision too early, but they should have done it even earlier.
Renewing "Ugly Betty" and "Brothers & Sisters" was a no-brainer way back in January.
Again, sorry for attacking your favorite show JJ, but that is how I see it.
I don't think i have to say anything more, stefan and Justin said everything.
But common, UB was doing pretty well, excellent ratings until last thursday. I think is kinda radical to say UB shouldn't be picked over OR. Like the guys said, UB is so good, great writing, one of the best cast in television (IMO), amazing storylines, good dramas but also so many hilarious storylines.
Anyway, i think it's too bad that UB hit the series low. The episode was so amazing. I cried twice, but i'm an emotional girl :)
Speaking of critics panning a show, remember critics panning Brothers & Sisters? And now look at how they have changed their minds since then. And look at some of the shows that critics have all praised early in the season? They've all been either canceled or placed on permanent hiatus. Really says something doesn't it?
Yes, I'm playing devil's advocate here. :P
Anyway, I love Ugly Betty and last night's ratings is not UB's fault. ABC just didn't promote it heavily enough to say, we have a new episode at the end of April, please come watch. I think many Nielsen families are just hunkering till May to tune back in.
KC
Maintainer of Luke MacFarlane Fansite
It's no wonder My Name is Earl had great numbers. Norm playing Burt Reynolds son it definately a draw. Great stunt casting indeed.
i agree with kong, UB did not get enuff ads to say it was new. the only reason i knew it was is cos i watch every ep anyway. even repeats. unfortunately i'm in jamaica so my watching doesnt count in the all important Neilsens (sarcasm, much!).
i know its been said but i have to add to it; JJ lemme ask you - how old are you? as much as i love the leads on october road, think both are great looking and have had great roles previously there is only so much that they can do with the god-awful cliched writing they've been given. add to that the complete lack of chemistry between them and you have a farce masquerading as a drama.i barely watched 15 mins before i could tell how the episode was going to end. thats not tv for me.
UB almost always has a "Oh my god! i cant believe they did that!" moment. and even without that its still very well written and doesnt take itself too seriously while being as serious as it needs to be.
I agree that the lower ratings were a result of a lack of promotion. The only way I got to see the most recent episode was because I have the dvr set to record all new episodes of "Ugly Betty". I refuse to miss an episode. But, really, I have been thinking for weeks that they have been airing too many repeats. The whole "dang!" factor kicks in every time I would look ahead in the program guide and see a repeat (or a clip show) was coming. I could never understand why they would air so many repeats and lose all the great momentum they had built up with so many great episodes. But, of course, this is ABC we're talking about. They went from a top-notch network forever to an also-ran, in a very short time.
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