Ratings and Scheduling: Who's the fairest of them all?

[TheGreenKnight]

This is nothing different than normal. Season 5 began with 1.8 in the premiere and ended with 1.3 by the end of 5A; 3A began with 2.6 and ended with 1.9; 2A with 3.9 to 3.1.  A drop from 1.1 to .9 (or lower) is far from unexpected considering the show's gradual viewer erosion.

Edited November 15, 2016 by TheGreenKnight

[icewolf]

Ratings are going to take another hit after coming back from the November one week break, they always have these last couple for seasons.

Edited November 15, 2016 by icewolf

[YaddaYadda]

As someone who said that I'd be going down with the ship, I seriously considered dropping the show altogether yesterday. 

[Tiger]

7 hours ago, Souris said:

I'd love to hear any other scuttlebutt you can share. Any direct mentions of Once?

I think it's clear there are going to be some big changes coming for ABC. Their ratings are embarrassing, especially Sundays. No way there isn't gonna be shaken up big-time. I'm not confident in a S7. If there is one, I foresee it being shortened and/or in a different time slot.

Nothing on Once.

Obviously paraphrasing, but for ABC Studios, Quantico is making fuck ton of money, and Goldbergs will be going into syndication and off-network next fall and things are looking good.  Boat and Blackish will go into syndication in Fall 2018, and may go off-network next fall.  

Last Man Standing is fucking killing it in syndication and off-network, and 20th Century is apparantly willing to do whatever it takes to secure a multi-year renewal.   

And I dont understand this but apparantly even though Middle is produced by WB, ABC Studios is getting a portion of syndication and off-network revenues.  

[Souris]

2 hours ago, Tiger said:

Nothing on Once.

Obviously paraphrasing, but for ABC Studios, Quantico is making fuck ton of money, and Goldbergs will be going into syndication and off-network next fall and things are looking good.  Boat and Blackish will go into syndication in Fall 2018, and may go off-network next fall.  

Last Man Standing is fucking killing it in syndication and off-network, and 20th Century is apparantly willing to do whatever it takes to secure a multi-year renewal.   

And I dont understand this but apparantly even though Middle is produced by WB, ABC Studios is getting a portion of syndication and off-network revenues.  

I'm curious how Quantico is making so much money when its ratings are so dreadful! What am I missing?

Edited November 15, 2016 by Souris

[Souris]

3 hours ago, YaddaYadda said:

As someone who said that I'd be going down with the ship, I seriously considered dropping the show altogether yesterday. 

I haven't watched the past two eps and the next one isn't looking good, either. I have serious doubts I'll ever watch again. I'll have to hear something majorly compelling for CS to reconsider.

[Tiger]

12 minutes ago, Souris said:

I'm curious how Quantico is making so much money when its ratings are so dreadful! What am I missing?

Netflix and international.

ETA: I believe Once got some big Netflix back a couple of yeara ago, but I havent heard peep about international and I dont believe its gone into syndication or off-network here in the States.  Shield is now airing in syndication and off-network adter only three seasons.  That Once isnt after five is concerning for the shows future.  

IIRC, it was only because of the TNT deal that Castle got an 8th season, and even with that deal the studio couldnt make a 9th work financially.  

Edited November 15, 2016 by Tiger

[icewolf]

Shows that are very episodic like CSI do much better in rerun syndication, That's why there is so much dumb cop/doctor/lawyer shows in reruns. It is more likely for someone to drop what they are doing to watch an episode, not worrying about missing episodes when they are busy.

But shows that are heavily serialized like OUAT tend to do poorly in the rerun ratings, which is why ABC never does OUAT reruns anymore. I remember LOST was a complete failure in rerun syndication. People don't want to follow old episodes every week, when they can just catch up on dvd or Netflix.

[Free]

10 hours ago, maryle said:

It is not a particularly episode that can explain a trend there since the beginning of the season. 

The commun thing is the EQ storyline, the Rumbelle soap, the lackluster Untold story and Savior mythology.  

The truth is this season is not really good, repetitive and the EQ was and still over hype.  

This was not a good basis for a season/arc so Idk what they were thinking coming up with this.

[Free]

12 hours ago, maryle said:

Helas!! 

A little bit surprised, but not really!

I kinda thought they could hang  to 1.0  but the downfall trend was already there.

I am beginning to think trying to recreate season 1 without considerate  the normal evolution of the characters and their relationship with each other should be now was a mistake.

 

There clearly something off this year for the rating to look like roller coaster.  Personal opinion they did go overboard with the Regina splitting things. And the Savior mythology lackluster.

They completely missed the whole point of S1 entirely.

Quote

There is barely anything interesting left to watch in this season.

And that's exactly the problem, they've been running on empty with little to nothing to look forward to.

[jjjmoss]

Finals didn't change.

Weirdly, it was literally the only network show 8-11 that went down from last week.

[Souris]

Or not so weirdly....

[Rumsy4]

OUAT wasn't the only show the advisory panel was seeking feedback on. The other two were Agents of Shield and HTGAWM. I doubt abc is specifically worried about one show, as much as assessing their overall strategy. I'm not as confident as some that OUAT will get a season 7 if abc decides a complete overhaul. If the ratings continue to drop, there's a chance that OUAT won't be renewed. It may get a short season order at best, with reduced budget for CGI and the guest star casting.

[YaddaYadda]

1 hour ago, Rumsy4 said:

I'm not as confident as some that OUAT will get a season 7 if abc decides a complete overhaul.

I'm not either which is one of the reasons I'm angry at the way this season is going. They're spinning their wheels with most everyone to get to specific episodes instead of actually writing something good and coherent that might make sense if this the last season. They're filming 6x12 right now. 

[Hookian]

4 hours ago, Rumsy4 said:

OUAT wasn't the only show the advisory panel was seeking feedback on. The other two were Agents of Shield and HTGAWM. I doubt abc is specifically worried about one show, as much as assessing their overall strategy. I'm not as confident as some that OUAT will get a season 7 if abc decides a complete overhaul. If the ratings continue to drop, there's a chance that OUAT won't be renewed. It may get a short season order at best, with reduced budget for CGI and the guest star casting.

A shortened season 7 is what I expect and it's pretty common for final seasons of TV shows. Glee and Bones for one all had shortened final seasons. I'm sure people can list many other shows.

It's still the middle of the pack and at the top of their drama line up.

We'll see how it comes back for 6x09. Adam and Eddy will know if it's the final season or they're getting a final one soon I'm sure.

[Camera One]

I hope we get a full final season if Season 7 must be the last.  With these writers, it won't be a case where fewer episodes = better, more compact story.  At least we can look forward to them dragging back every guest star that ever stepped foot on this show, LOL.

[Hookian]

6 minutes ago, Camera One said:

I hope we get a full final season if Season 7 must be the last.  With these writers, it won't be a case where fewer episodes = better, more compact story.  At least we can look forward to them dragging back every guest star that ever stepped foot on this show, LOL.

Realistically I say the chances of a shortened S7 are about seventy five to eighty percent. I don't see them getting a full season. I can see them using the final season of this show to branch to their next property that will premiere in Spring of the next year.

4 hours ago, Rumsy4 said:

OUAT wasn't the only show the advisory panel was seeking feedback on. The other two were Agents of Shield and HTGAWM. I doubt abc is specifically worried about one show, as much as assessing their overall strategy. I'm not as confident as some that OUAT will get a season 7 if abc decides a complete overhaul. If the ratings continue to drop, there's a chance that OUAT won't be renewed. It may get a short season order at best, with reduced budget for CGI and the guest star casting.

ABC is gonna have to cancel over 9 shows including almost their entire drama line up, I don't see that happening.

[Rumsy4]

29 minutes ago, Camera One said:

I hope we get a full final season if Season 7 must be the last.  With these writers, it won't be a case where fewer episodes = better, more compact story.  At least we can look forward to them dragging back every guest star that ever stepped foot on this show, LOL.

Haha. Agreed on all counts!

[maryle]

I was expecting a full  last season 7  and promoting as such. 

Maybe the final battle or something like that. My personal choice with Emma as leader to finalize her hero's journey.

But, I was also sure that Once with such a loyal fans base will probably  stay above 1. until the spring numbers.

Now I am afraid the famous floor crumble and they will have to butch their planning end game. 

That my biggest problem with the show not having another season.  

The weirdest thing is I enjoy all my other (timeless, Lucifer,... ) genre show more than Once and yet I don't watch anything else so closely.

[Kktjones]

So ABC has announced that it will air the game show "To Tell the Truth" on Sunday nights beginning Jan. 1 to give it's Sunday scripted shows "a break". They have not announced how long that break will be. Also interesting is according to this artcle, Secrets and Lies will be wrapping up its season with episode 10 airing in early December. I wonder what will air in it's place when the scripted shows return...

[Rumsy4]

And so it begins...

[Free]

Quote

At least we can look forward to them dragging back every guest star that ever stepped foot on this show, LOL.

They've already been doing that.

[sharky]

Don't they have Still Star Struck and that time travel show for midseason replacement? I can see either of those doing well in Sunday paired with Once. And I'm pretty sure Secrets was always planned to be one of those short season shows so that's not surprising. 

[Tiger]

I dont know what is going on and I dont think ABC does either.  A couple of weeks ago, Once and Quantico were scheduled to run new until Dec 18 and then come back Jan 8.  Now theyre ending on Dec 4 and who knows when coming back.

Similarly, Designated Survivor was going to air new till Dec 14 and then be back Jan 5.  Now one of the game shows is airing in that slot in Jan and the new eps of DS scheduled for Dec have been taken off the board.

Heck, they havent even decided what will air post-Bachelor in Jan.  

[KAOS Agent]

It seems like Once knew how many episodes were going to air going into the winter finale though. Adam and Eddy usually write the finale and then the mid season premiere and that's how it will work out this time too. It's just a question of when they come back. Has Adam responded to any questions about this on Twitter? This is something that he should be answering rather than telling Rumbellers to have hope. 

[Souris]

I suspect ABC is scrambling trying to figure out a way to stop the ratings bleeding. They're probably desperate to fix Sunday nights, hence the game shows. That may not have been their intentions previously, but there's probably a bit of panic, so they're rethinking things.

[Camera One]

I suppose if they had planned on "Once" starting right back up in January, then they might look more carefully at which episode actually has the "best" cliffhanger for a longer-than-expected break. 

[Free]

5 hours ago, Camera One said:

I suppose if they had planned on "Once" starting right back up in January, then they might look more carefully at which episode actually has the "best" cliffhanger for a longer-than-expected break. 

They really don't have much to draw viewers in anymore and they pretty much exhausted most of the fairy tale/literary characters at this point.

6 hours ago, Tiger said:

I dont know what is going on and I dont think ABC does either.  A couple of weeks ago, Once and Quantico were scheduled to run new until Dec 18 and then come back Jan 8.  Now theyre ending on Dec 4 and who knows when coming back.

Similarly, Designated Survivor was going to air new till Dec 14 and then be back Jan 5.  Now one of the game shows is airing in that slot in Jan and the new eps of DS scheduled for Dec have been taken off the board.

Heck, they havent even decided what will air post-Bachelor in Jan.  

 

5 hours ago, Souris said:

I suspect ABC is scrambling trying to figure out a way to stop the ratings bleeding. They're probably desperate to fix Sunday nights, hence the game shows. That may not have been their intentions previously, but there's probably a bit of panic, so they're rethinking things.

What a mess for ABC, for their dramas, since their comedies and unscripted shows are still carrying the network.  Yikes at DS, that was supposed to be their big new hit this season.

[Tiger]

9 hours ago, Free said:

They really don't have much to draw viewers in anymore and they pretty much exhausted most of the fairy tale/literary characters at this point.

 

What a mess for ABC, for their dramas, since their comedies and unscripted shows are still carrying the network.  Yikes at DS, that was supposed to be their big new hit this season.

It's weird because multiple times and as recently as late October, Dungey made a big deal about having more new regular programming on during Dec and Jan and explicitly stated that those shows would only take 2-3 weeks off for thr holidays.

Now that seems to be completely out the window.   But in all fairness, NBC doesnt seem to know what it's doing either, though that seems to be coming from dissention over how to schedule This is Us and which show gets that lead-out.

[Free]

6 hours ago, Tiger said:

It's weird because multiple times and as recently as late October, Dungey made a big deal about having more new regular programming on during Dec and Jan and explicitly stated that those shows would only take 2-3 weeks off for thr holidays.

Now that seems to be completely out the window.   But in all fairness, NBC doesnt seem to know what it's doing either, though that seems to be coming from dissention over how to schedule This is Us and which show gets that lead-out.

ABC seems to be panicking, all those low rated shows aren't acceptable for them.  NBC seems to be better off, it seems.

[ParadoxLost]

On ‎11‎/‎19‎/‎2016 at 5:52 PM, Souris said:

I suspect ABC is scrambling trying to figure out a way to stop the ratings bleeding. They're probably desperate to fix Sunday nights, hence the game shows. That may not have been their intentions previously, but there's probably a bit of panic, so they're rethinking things.

I'm not sure how much they are worrying about Sunday in particular.  I just don't think they expected the new dramas to tank as bad as they did.  They have several of them that got the 'no more episodes ordered' treatment.  I think there are too many empty hours in the schedule overall and not enough mid season replacements.  Its just less damaging overall to fill the holidays with something not scripted.

Edited November 21, 2016 by ParadoxLost

[YaddaYadda]

AMA ratings were down from last year.

[TheGreenKnight]

On ‎11‎/‎20‎/‎2016 at 6:45 AM, Tiger said:

It's weird because multiple times and as recently as late October, Dungey made a big deal about having more new regular programming on during Dec and Jan and explicitly stated that those shows would only take 2-3 weeks off for thr holidays.

Now that seems to be completely out the window.   But in all fairness, NBC doesnt seem to know what it's doing either, though that seems to be coming from dissention over how to schedule This is Us and which show gets that lead-out.

I'm glad they're going back to a longer break. Of course, forcing them to make the arc last a full season guarantees the 2nd half won't be any better/different.

Not surprised at all the new shows bombing since they looked bad when they were first advertised. I wonder where all the writing talent has disappeared to, because most new shows on the basic channels these days are trash.

[daxx]

Cable, Netflix, Hulu are all doing original programming that exceeds network in quality and budget.

[Free]

On 11/20/2016 at 8:42 PM, ParadoxLost said:

I'm not sure how much they are worrying about Sunday in particular.  I just don't think they expected the new dramas to tank as bad as they did.  They have several of them that got the 'no more episodes ordered' treatment.  I think there are too many empty hours in the schedule overall and not enough mid season replacements.  Its just less damaging overall to fill the holidays with something not scripted.

I would think having the whole night go fractional would send up red flags.

7 hours ago, TheGreenKnight said:

I'm glad they're going back to a longer break. Of course, forcing them to make the arc last a full season guarantees the 2nd half won't be any better/different.

Not surprised at all the new shows bombing since they looked bad when they were first advertised. I wonder where all the writing talent has disappeared to, because most new shows on the basic channels these days are trash.

Agreed, the material as is just isn't enough to sustain itself as is and the writers have been running on empty.

[jjjmoss]

On 11/20/2016 at 0:28 PM, Free said:

ABC seems to be panicking, all those low rated shows aren't acceptable for them.  NBC seems to be better off, it seems.

NBC has 5 of the top 12 network dramas right now.

[Hookian]

ABC is such a mess right now and yeah I would be panicking too if every show on my network was predicted to be DOA. I can't see OUAT ending this season. It'll get a final season and it'll be used to bridge into another series.

[Tiger]

ABC has removed the previously-scheduled eps of Once and Quantico from Dec 4.   It's now "TBA" for the night from 8 to 11.

[YaddaYadda]

Quantico's winter finale is supposed to be Nov 27th, no?

[Souris]

21 minutes ago, Tiger said:

ABC has removed the previously-scheduled eps of Once and Quantico from Dec 4.   It's now "TBA" for the night from 8 to 11.

Huh. So this Sunday's ep could be the last before the undefined hiatus?

[Tiger]

7 minutes ago, YaddaYadda said:

Quantico's winter finale is supposed to be Nov 27th, no?

It wasnt supposed to be.  First they removed the eps scheduled for Jan 8, Dec 18, and Dec 11, and now theyve removed the eps scheduled for Dec 4 too.  

A few days ago they also removed the eps of Designated Survivor scheduled for Dec, and it looks like the eps of Shield scheduled for Nov 29, Dec 6, and Dec 13 have been removed too.

[Souris]

1 minute ago, Tiger said:

It wasnt supposed to be.  First they removed the eps scheduled for Jan 8, Dec 18, and Dec 11, and now theyve removed the eps scheduled for Dec 4 too.  

A few days ago they also removed the eps of Designated Survivor scheduled for Dec, and it looks like the eps of Shield scheduled for Nov 29, Dec 6, and Dec 13 have been removed too.

Where are you looking? Once is still listed on Dec. 4 here.

[Tiger]

3 hours ago, Souris said:

Where are you looking? Once is still listed on Dec. 4 here.

No, I'm not talking about their public site.  

[ParadoxLost]

The press site is also still showing an episode on Dec 4th or at least the portion of it open to the public without logging on.

[Camera One]

I'm disappointed that they've confirmed the winter finale is December 4th.  For the first time in forever, we'll only get 10 episodes before the break, instead of the usual 11 or 12.  I'm also wary that they're not ending with their planned cliffhanger.  You can't just turn a random episode into a winter finale, can you?

[KAOS Agent]

That episode was the planned ending. It's definitely going to end with big question marks. The press is all over the finale already and without being spoilery, events in the episode supposedly launch the "major epicness" (Adam's words) of the second half. A&E wrote both 10 & 11 as they always do for the finale and premiere, which says that they were always aware when the show would break.

[YaddaYadda]

7 hours ago, Camera One said:

I'm disappointed that they've confirmed the winter finale is December 4th.  For the first time in forever, we'll only get 10 episodes before the break, instead of the usual 11 or 12.  I'm also wary that they're not ending with their planned cliffhanger.  You can't just turn a random episode into a winter finale, can you?

Adam said a while ago that 6x10 was going to be the last episode before the break. This is why this whole Once was supposed to end at this date and that date in December never made much sense to me.

Plus A&E wrote both 6x10 and 6x11. That actually confirms the show's plan and ABC's scheduling if anything since A&E always write the finales and the premieres.

[Camera One]

Okay, that is good to know.  Though it is a week or two earlier than in previous years.

[Souris]

Probably because December ratings traditionally suck.

[sharky]

You also have to remember that in the past, we've had the network add an extra episode order into the fall half season -- remember the disastrous Meirida stand alone last year? So I wonder if they thought better of doing that again since the last two years they did it, the extra episodes were hot messes shoehorned into the show.