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

[Curio]

Where is the lightness?

 

Are you saying that seeing a random horse no one can figure out whether it belongs to Snow or Regina get redemption didn't pull at your heartstrings?

[scenicbyway]

I don't know, I cannot see them justifying keep a show on the air when the season gets below a 0.9 average in the demo.  

 

They're very likely cancelling Castle for entering that number range, and it still scores a bigger audience than Once does currently, so why should Once be immune?

 

One reason for cancelling Castle would be that they can't reach a contract with the female lead of the show.  She's been missing a lot this season and its obvious the two leads only film together for about 5-10 minutes an episode now.

 

Once is likely immune from cancellation because ABC is owned by Disney and Once does very well in DVR viewing and places like Hulu and Netflix.  People are watching Once, their just not doing so live.  Which tells me it's either a time slot problem or people just want to watch when they want to watch and without commercials.

 

Are you saying that seeing a random horse no one can figure out whether it belongs to Snow or Regina get redemption didn't pull at your heartstrings?

Ha! Well I am a fan of horses.  But I might've been too distraught over Milah getting dumped in the river (murdered x2 for Rumple) or Hook's never ending blood supply on view.

Edited March 21, 2016 by scenicbyway

[YaddaYadda]

This season has been dark. One of my biggest problems with the show since season 1 ended is that the stories (characters) aren't allowed to breathe. I was exhausted after 5A was over. I felt like I ran a marathon of sorts. And it was too much for me, so much so that I was happy we were getting hiatus. I couldn't take it anymore.

 

They have to revise whatever they're doing, but they won't because they think it's genius, and the show doesn't need help, because it's doing fine. Plus I hate it when they throw that line about how no one gave Once a chance, thought they were going to be the first to be cancelled. They're so arrogant.

Edited March 21, 2016 by YaddaYadda

[Camera One]

Come on everyone, where's the most important thing we have inside of us..... HOPE!  

[maryle]

I have to admit I hope they fin a Frozen like gimmick for n'extradera year!

And I knows it is a soapy fantasy but I am Still too attach to it and the cast

Maybe Star Wars after all?

And yes! It is too dark for youg children and I cannot imagine that at least some parents stopped Their family to watch it.

[KingOfHearts]

 

I also have to wonder if the prolonged darkness is turning off some family viewers.

I'm not sure families want to watch Hook covered in blood and beaten week after week... The death theme can't be all that appealing either.

 

 

I have to admit I hope they fin a Frozen like gimmick for n'extradera year!

Many of us were worried prior to 4A that Frozen was going to be so gimmicky and cash-grabby that the show would take a backseat. Then - plot twist - it was the best part of 4A. So yeah, I'm hoping for something like that in S6, or at least something more lighthearted in nature.

Edited March 21, 2016 by KingOfHearts

[Camera One]

And the title card with Hook just hanging there was so icky.  

[KingOfHearts]

Remember when this show was about Snow White, her daughter, the Evil Queen and a curse? Wasn't that the original premise they were selling? Why the heck is it now about random adventures of peril now? I just want to see the citizens of Storybrooke attempting to live their lives in a crazy town of magical shenanigans. I thought that was what audiences were supposed to expect. A&E's idea to up the ante every season just makes things more ridiculous and derailed. They begin writing every arc by asking, "How can we top last time's pain and suffering?" You don't need to make a situation more dire in order to make it more engaging.

Edited March 21, 2016 by KingOfHearts

[Mathius]

Once is likely immune from cancellation because ABC is owned by Disney and Once does very well in DVR viewing and places like Hulu and Netflix.  People are watching Once, their just not doing so live.  Which tells me it's either a time slot problem or people just want to watch when they want to watch and without commercials.

 

But even the DVR numbers are decreasing (we're at 2.0 currently), and it'll be even worse in S6.

 

Unless some big change happens, I just don't see OUAT having an audience big enough to have it renewed for a S7.

Edited March 22, 2016 by Mathius

[LizaD]

I'm thinking this has to be due to the fact that they started late (early March) and probably want to end in early May (as they did last year) and this is the way they can keep their schedule on track.

Yes. ABC Sunday shows are strictly set by the bookends of Oscars and Billboard Music Awards. Count the weeks. That's the only determining factor.

[icewolf]

1.1 rating?

It's time to make Elsa into a main character on this show!

[Mathius]

By the way, here is a look at the especially dark episodes of previous seasons, for comparison's sake:

 

Season 1 = 11/22 Episodes
1x02 - The Thing You Love Most (Regina kills her father!)
1x04 - The Price of Gold (Rumple is a total creep in both worlds!)
1x07 - The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (The Sad Tale of Graham.)
1x08 - Desperate Souls (Rumple becomes the Dark One.)
1x11 - Fruit of the Poisonous Tree (The Genie murders Leopold!)
1x15 - Red-Handed (Ruby turns into a wolf and eats her boyfriend!)
1x16 - Heart of Darkness (Snow could be a murderer in both worlds!)
1x17 - Hat Trick (THE darkest episode of Season 1!)
1x18 - The Stable Boy (Cora kills Daniel and Regina slips into madness.)
1x19 - The Return (Rumple abandons his son and then slips into madness.)
1x22 - A Land Without Magic (Fight that dragon, Emma! Henry is DYING!)

 

Season 2 = 15/22 Episodes
2x01 - Broken (A Dementor is the main threat of the episode.)
2x04 - The Crocodile (Rumple murders his ex-wife and maims her lover!)
2x05 - The Doctor (Frankenstein!)
2x07 - Child of the Moon (Albert Spencer chops Gus-Gus in half!)
2x10 - The Cricket Game (Total unpleasantness the whole way through.)
2x12 - In the Name of the Brother (Frankenstein again!)
2x14 - Manhattan (Rumple's troubled past comes back to haunt him.)
2x15 - The Queen is Dead (Snow's mother AND surrogate mother are killed!)
2x16 - The Miller's Daughter (Snow kills Cora!)
2x17 - Welcome to Storybrooke (A dark backstory paralleling a dark present.)
2x18 - Selfless, Brave and True (Tamara kills August!)
2x19 - Lacey (Rumple skins Robin Hood alive, multiple times!)
2x20 - The Evil Queen (Regina commits genocide in the past and plans it in the present!)
2x21 - Second Star to the Right (Torture, apparent deaths, and a spooky shadow too.)
2x22 - And Straight On 'til Morning (Storybrooke's gonna blow!)

 

Season 3 = 11/22 Episodes
3x01 - The Heart of the Truest Believer (Neverland is a dark and scary place.)
3x04 - Nasty Habits (The Stiltskin family drama is heavy!)
3x05 - Good Form (Liam dies in the past, David is dying in the present.)
3x07 - Dark Hollow (It's called DARK Hollow, of course it's dark!)
3x08 - Think Lovely Thoughts (Peter Pan is WHO!?)
3x09 - Save Henry (Unite together, everyone! Henry is DYING!)
3x11 - Going Home (Death and departures all around.)
3x14 - The Tower (The story of Rapunzel played like a horror movie.)
3x15 - Quiet Minds (Rumple is ressurected, goes insane, and then Neal dies!)
3x17 - The Jolly Roger (Hook kills a man, thus sentencing another man to potential death.)
3x18 - Bleeding Through (Snow summons the ghost of Cora, who has an unpleasant backstory.)

 

Season 4 = 11/22 Episodes
4x04 - The Apprentice (Rumple is STILL a total creep in both worlds!)
4x07 - The Snow Queen (Ingrid's backstory is incredibly traumatic!)
4x08 - Smash the Mirror (Rumple tries to kill Emma, then rips Hook's heart out!)
4x09 - Fall (Anna and Kristoff almost drown, the fairies are killed, and the spell finally hits!)
4x11 - Heroes and Villains (Rumple's dark and despicable plan comes to fruition.)
4x13 - Unforgiven (Snow and Charming did a terrible thing!)
4x16 - Best Laid Plans (Ditto the above.)
4x17 - Heart of Gold (Zelena is back and raping Robin Hood!)
4x18 - Sympathy for the De Vil (Cruella's INCREDIBLY DARK backstory!)
4x19 - Lily (Emma points a gun at another woman's head!)
4x20 - Mother (Unpleasant moment after unpleasant moment, mostly thanks to Regina.)

 

With Season 5, I think literally every episode with the exception of 5x09 (The Bear King) has been particularly dark. The Dark Emma then Dark Hook stuff in Storybrooke, the corruption in Camelot complete with Arthur's magic rape dust, the Merlin-Nimue backstory, and now the Underworld, with the heroes losing and being tormented through all of these...

 

Yeah, it's been a downer.

Edited March 22, 2016 by Mathius

[orza]

Well, I know the darkness is turning me off and if I had kids they sure wouldn't be allowed to watch this unless they were 14+.  While there have always been dark elements to the show, we've never seen the blatant gore that they've had Hook enduring for the last three episodes.  Why was he still freshly bleeding in this last episode?  Shouldn't that have dried at some point at least after his rescue?  Also the title card with a hanging by the waist Hook was not something I'd want a kid to see.  I think they went way too far dark with how he's been treated and surely that's effected ratings.

Are you kidding. The kids are loving it. Kids love to be grossed out and scared. This was never a show for very young children. I doubt there are many 6-years-olds watching. But it is fine for kids 10 and up. If they pass the Santa test, should be able to handle the this show.

 

I don't consider this a dark show at all. The original source material is, after all, pretty gruesome what with people being eaten by wolves, cooked alive in ovens and pots, burnt to a crisp by dragons. amputating parts of their feet to fit into shoes, etc. I also wouldn't call the bit of blood we've seen blatant gore. Shows like Vikings, Black Sails, GoT, now there you'll see stomach-churning gore. But they are clearly not family shows. Even tonight's episode of Murdoch Mysteries had more blood and gore with the gunshot wounds and slit throats, and that is billed as a cozy mystery suitable for family viewing.

 

The live ratings won't be taken too seriously while Mad Madness is in full swing. The show is doing fine in the live+7 ratings, streaming media and international distribution.

[Mathius]

And where, pray tell, are you getting your fact?  You have never sourced them, ever.

[LizaD]

DVR numbers in terms of L+3/L+7 are completely irrelevant. They're only published for the networks' PR sakes. C3 ratings for Once pretty much look like live ratings. No one in advertising give 2 craps about L+3/L+7 and in fact don't even see them. Streaming/Online/VOD revenue a drop in the bucket right now. At the upfronts last year, the big push was for an "across all platforms" package with traditional tv and the other is pushing for hard core data driven-programmatic advertising. The latter hasn't happened yet because it's new frontier.

 

I have no info on international stuff, so here's a recent article. But I'm guessing no network has ever relied on international sales to keep a show going. Look at Body of Proof. It's been cancelled but it's still more popular than Once in the only place Once pops up, in Russia.

 

http://www.vulture.com/2015/12/most-popular-us-tv-shows-around-the-world.html

 

The biggest pro to Netflix and their ilk is to drive new and/or lapsed viewers to watch the show live. That's network convention. Key here is still LIVE viewers as the end goal. It's usually credited with year to year growth like seen with Breaking Bad or any number of procedurals on CBS or with Greys/Scandal. That has never happened for Once, aside from the Frozen anomaly. Licensing deals are a separate issue.

 

As for if S6 will be their last or not? I'm going to put my money on it. There is not another Hail Mary left for them ala Frozen. This show is not cheap to produce. I believe Robert said at some interview that it costs some $5 million per episode. It was the interviews duing Barney/Ediburgh Film Festival press stuff. Anybody think they sold $5 million bucks worth of Funko dolls?

Edited March 22, 2016 by LizaD

[Mitch]

Remember when this show was about Snow White, her daughter, the Evil Queen and a curse? Wasn't that the original premise they were selling? Why the heck is it now about random adventures of peril now? I just want to see the citizens of Storybrooke attempting to live their lives in a crazy town of magical shenanigans. I thought that was what audiences were supposed to expect. A&E's idea to up the ante every season just makes things more ridiculous and derailed. They begin writing every arc by asking, "How can we top last time's pain and suffering?" You don't need to make a situation more dire in order to make it more engaging.

 

I would like to just see one episode  (maybe in between S1 and S2 ) where nothing happens except we get to see the lives of the SB citizens doing day to day stuff,  in the goofy town. It can have drama , drama and excitment..."Someone left Red's cage open!!!!" and campy ironic humor...(If she were still "alive," Cruella pawning her furs to get money to pay back her bar tab at the "Rabbit Hole," Regina sitting in the town square and apologizing to each and every person whose family member she killed...)

[maryle]

I do not knows how much it is relevant but I keep hearing that Fox does in fact look at the live+7.

Sleepy fans hope it help them a final season.

Maybe ABC will take the live+7 more seriously if their terrible current rating with man of their show and New one.

[TheGreenKnight]

Yeah, I don't think the darkness has anything to do with it. This show has always been dark. I think it's just viewer fatigue and disinterest in Greek mythology, even though I personally enjoy it. More people know the stories of Peter Pan, Snow White, The Wizard of Oz, King Arthur, and Frozen than anything to do with Hades or Hercules' labors. It should've just been Maleficent (and Lily) last spring. The only things I can think they could do to maybe bring a few viewers back would be Aladdin/Jafar and maybe the original Ursula.

[Mathius]

Yeah, I don't think the darkness has anything to do with it. This show has always been dark.

 

Never to this much of a consistent level it hasn't.

[HoodlumSheep]

The only things I can think they could do to maybe bring a few viewers back would be Aladdin/Jafar and maybe the original Ursula.

Ugh. Aladdin makes me so, so, so very torn. I really want Aladdin and Jasmine, and I think it'd be a great chance for some lighter material...but I do not want them to touch Jafar. He was perfection in the Wonderland series. A&E will only ruin him like they did Will Scarlet. But they could twist it to be more towards the king of thieves stuff (or the original source material) and leave out Jafar.

I've thought long and hard about the LM too, but I don't know what else they could do with the material that they haven't already done. Ariel and Eric are already together. I guess they could both get memory loss and then it's up to the Nevengers to reunite them (and help them fall in love again) in 3 days time. They could include the real Ursula and have Ursula and Poseidon reappear. Blackbeard can have a cameo...

I'm getting off track now.

I don't think the Princess and the Frog would pull in the viewers either (even though I like that movie), and I can't see it stretching a whole arc.

They've basically used up all the popular stuff that could draw in viewers again.

Edited March 22, 2016 by HoodlumSheep

[Camera One]

I don't think the Princess and the Frog would pull in the viewers

 

I agree it won't be a ratings draw.  The only Disney movies left that A&E has directly referred to as "we want to do it someday" are "Princess and the Frog" and Aladdin/Jasmine.  

 

The only thing I can see which would bring in new viewers if only for curiosity would be Star Wars, and A&E has said they're not going there, since it doesn't fit with the show.  Then again, there are several space-related animated movies like Lilo and Stitch or Treasure Planet which could also play into that setting.  But none of those would be ratings draws either.

[KingOfHearts]

It's not about darkness, it's about how depressing and unpleasant it is. You can still be dark and kid-friendly, whimsical and morbid. But watching people being tortured and hung is not fun. Seeing Emma and Hook in a constant state of hopelessness and turmoil is jading. Watching villains constantly getting away with their deviousness and the heroes acting like idiots is boring. The characters don't get a break from the peril and it shows. Fairy tales, while twisted, are about justice, life lessons and complete stories. Once Upon a Time misses their point.

 

It's okay to be scary, but the direness never freaking ends. It's been a chugging freight train since 4B.

Edited March 22, 2016 by KingOfHearts

[Shanna Marie]

Right now, it's particularly dark because for the most part, a "happy ending" for each episode means that someone who's already dead gets a better kind of death. So even the little triumphs are tinged with darkness. This week, yay, they rescued Hook, but Milah was knocked into the River of Lost Souls. Just about all the guest characters are already dead. That all makes it rather relentless. Meanwhile, that "Little Big Shots" on NBC is apparently killing it in the ratings. That's probably where the family audience has gone.

[sharky]

The audience for Little Big Shots is not an audience that would've watched Once anyway. The audience for that show skews old so if anything, it's taking viewers away from a show like Madam Secretary.

[buffynut]

Yeah, I don't think the darkness has anything to do with it. This show has always been dark. I think it's just viewer fatigue and disinterest in Greek mythology, even though I personally enjoy it. More people know the stories of Peter Pan, Snow White, The Wizard of Oz, King Arthur, and Frozen than anything to do with Hades or Hercules' labors. It should've just been Maleficent (and Lily) last spring. The only things I can think they could do to maybe bring a few viewers back would be Aladdin/Jafar and maybe the original Ursula.

 

I must have viewer fatigue because I haven't watched since the mid-season finale.  I'll admit I loved the Frozen arc, so maybe I like my shows to be a bit more light. And from what I've been reading, these last few episodes certainly aren't light.  I'm not even sure what would entice me to start watching again. It's not like I'm watching something else in the timeslot, I just don't feel like watching anymore.

[Mathius]

You aren't alone: the steadiness of this season's ratings was killed by the Dark Hook stuff.

[scenicbyway]

You aren't alone: the steadiness of this season's ratings was killed by the Dark Hook stuff.

Except for Dark Hook was all of 2 episodes? Dark Swan was pretty much a failure, they couldn't have her do anything particularly dark so they made Hook dark to do the dirty work. The thing is, the characters have been stuck in battle mode since 4b and it's taking the toll on the audience in the form of tuning out. It's not entertaining.

[RadioGirl27]

Not only that, the heroes never win. Emma does something heroic, she is rewarded with darkness and the deaths of her boyfriend. Hook does something good, he is rewarded with death and torture. But Rumple does something awful and he is rewarded with Belle and a new baby. It's frustrating. And the audience wants to be entertained, not frustrated.

Edited March 23, 2016 by RadioGirl27

[maryle]

Honestly, this show really seems to go overboard to try to make the audience feel for the vilain and totally forget about the importance of the hero's journey. I mean the 100 ep. was an EQ ode and the writer dosen t seem to understand how killed Milah twice make Rumple really look.

In fact, when they do remember them they try the hardest to make them at least egal( or worse) with the supposed reddeem villain.

I am not sure that the kind of family show his audience had signed for and adding the real gruesome of this arc and the declining rating acros the board.

[Mathius]

Except for Dark Hook was all of 2 episodes? Dark Swan was pretty much a failure, they couldn't have her do anything particularly dark so they made Hook dark to do the dirty work. The thing is, the characters have been stuck in battle mode since 4b and it's taking the toll on the audience in the form of tuning out. It's not entertaining.

 

I mean that 5A had a regular audience of nearly 5 million and demo key average of 1.6 up to "Birth", when the Dark Hook reveal was made.  Afterward, the numbers dropped to the low 4 millions and 1.3 demo key average, and they haven't recovered...as of "Devil's Due", they officially gotten even worse.

 

The Hook haters will of course see this as proof that Hook is ruining the show, but given the events actually happening, I think it's a testament to Hook's (and Emma's, and CS') popularity with the general audience...there is only so much angst and torment these two can be put through before the audience tunes out because they're sick of watching that.

Edited March 23, 2016 by Mathius

[Souris]

It's a combination of things, I think. The drop-off happened after a week off for the awards show. That broke momentum. Some people thought it was the winter finale already. Some people hated seeing Emma & Hook dark. Some people got busy with the holidays.

[YaddaYadda]

It's a combination of things, I think. The drop-off happened after a week off for the awards show. That broke momentum. Some people thought it was the winter finale already. Some people hated seeing Emma & Hook dark. Some people got busy with the holidays.

 

You know what else broke the momentum? That Merida filler episode.

 

5x08 left on a cliffhanger, and I know at least a couple of people who were expecting to find out what was going on with Hook in 5x09, but we got Merida instead.

 

I know 5x09 had nothing to do with the main story, and I was disappointed that I had to wait 2 weeks to find out what was going on.

[HoodlumSheep]

^ yep, there was the Merida filler immediately after Birth that confused a lot of people and don't forget about that Presidential Address that aired the night of the finale and delayed it 15 minutes.

[Shanna Marie]

They've done a bad job in general of handling that awards show break late in the fall. In season 4, they did the two-hour episode (that was mostly filler) that ended like it was a season finale with Emma and the magical fireworks, surrounded by her family, then there was a week off, and people didn't seem to realize they were coming back for a few episodes before the real finale. In season 5, there was the big cliffhanger, followed by an entirely unrelated episode that had nothing to do with the cliffhanger, and then the week off. They need to do a better job of using that award show break in a way that heightens tension and makes it very clear that there's more to come.

[HoodlumSheep]

^ Yeah, that awards show (the AMA's?) is the real killer in my opinion. And what they always decide to do with the extra hour they have that should build up the tension going into the break.

[jjjmoss]

I do not knows how much it is relevant but I keep hearing that Fox does in fact look at the live+7.

 

Well, +7 puts one more drama ahead of Once, as for the March 6th episodes Quantico went from being 0.2 behind to being 0.2 ahead of Once with +7.

 

Gaining less than 1 point time-delayed isn't much to brag about.

[HoodlumSheep]

Well, +7 puts one more drama ahead of Once, as for the March 6th episodes Quantico went from being 0.2 behind to being 0.2 ahead of Once with +7.

Gaining less than 1 point time-delayed isn't much to brag about.

This is old but here:

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/programming/fox-ditches-live-same-day-ratings/145971

This isn't the article I was looking for; I was looking for the one that actually shows the data about how the bigger gains are +7 and/or even later than that. I don't think I worded that correctly, but I can see where they're coming from in the sense that live +same day ratings are becoming obsolete.

I don't know what abc's strategy is concerning the same stuff though.

I'd love to know where Once stands in terms of merchandising compared to its other shows, though.

Edited March 23, 2016 by HoodlumSheep

[sharky]

It's starting to look like Fox doesn't even care about +7 based on this article: Fox Ready to Do TV Ad Deals Without Traditional Nielsen Guarantees Essentially, Fox is specifically allowing advertisers to hit a certain number of ad viewers based on specific criteria. So from what I understand from the story, advertisers could basically say they don't really care about the 18-49 rating or the number of total viewers as long as they are reaching 1 million 12 to 18-year-old girls or 500k viewers who would likely buy Marvel products. Obviously, this also may be Fox reaching because their numbers are in the tank this year, but I do wonder what this could mean for those of us who over analyze Nielsen ratings. With the way things are going with the lacking Nielsen data and all the extra data that's floating around out there, I just wonder how important Nielsens will be even next season. There's finally enough extra data out there to justify using alternative methods like the one Fox is trying.

 

Speaking of which, there was some interest this week with more fans joining the ABC Advisory Board. You'll have to report back here about the polls and surveys they make you take. I'm wondering if they are cultivating data about what kind of products their viewers would buy in order to do something similar to Fox and create more ad-targeted data available to the ad guys instead of just relying on Nielsens.

 

As for merchandising, Once is one big product placement for Disney. It would go a long way to keep the show on the air if fans could find a way to show Disney that there is merchandising money in it for them even if the Nielsens may not be ideal. Perhaps everyone agrees to order a copy of a Disney movie that has Once characters from the Disney website on a specific day and make a specific comment when they buy that they bought it for Once.

[Mitch]

It's not about darkness, it's about how depressing and unpleasant it is. You can still be dark and kid-friendly, whimsical and morbid. But watching people being tortured and hung is not fun. Seeing Emma and Hook in a constant state of hopelessness and turmoil is jading. Watching villains constantly getting away with their deviousness and the heroes acting like idiots is boring. The characters don't get a break from the peril and it shows. Fairy tales, while twisted, are about justice, life lessons and complete stories. Once Upon a Time misses their point.

 

It's okay to be scary, but the direness never freaking ends. It's been a chugging freight train since 4B.

 

This I think is what is driving viewers away more then  the darkness (and yes, the show has always been dark and about a lot more then "hope" and fairytale heroe and villains) anything else. The heroes are idiots who are always saved by magic or a lucky break (that has been the way since S1, when Rump helped Charming find Snow and helped him escape the endless forest...he should have done it on his own...) and the one hero with a brain is Emma, who now has magic, and while she used to use her head and fighting skills to get out of jams, now she just POOFS herself out! Not very interesting or challenging.

 

There is no retribution for the villains and even when they reform we don't see a defining moment which could give the audience an end point... and cathartic moment...Regina actually understanding the grief she caused...(and she can still be a sarcastic, eye rolling, annoyed by the Charmings bitch goddess and still own up to her past and without being EVIL) and we SEE it, not just have her talk about it as if she had a bad day last week and was kind of grumpy.  Its a retread with no development or feeling of "Ah this is where they were going," like we did at the end of S1.

Edited March 24, 2016 by Mitch

[Hookian]

Yeah guys I don't think we should no longer expect Once to end next season. Nashville is gonna get another season, NASHVILLE! I horribly performing show in the ratings. 

 

That tells me that they're not gonna get rid of all their dramas next season. Especially not Once which is the highest performing drama aside from the Shonda trio.

 

Once will very likely get a S7.

[stealinghome]

The Hook haters will of course see this as proof that Hook is ruining the show, but given the events actually happening, I think it's a testament to Hook's (and Emma's, and CS') popularity with the general audience...there is only so much angst and torment these two can be put through before the audience tunes out because they're sick of watching that.

Yeah, but you could turn this around to explain away 2B, the ratings for which is often cited on this forum as an example of Regina overload ruining the show. Regina fans could easily say "2B butchered the Regina character"--which it did, lbr--"and Regina fans tuned out." Yet that's not what most fans on here would say.

 

Personally (not that I've watched the show in over a year), I suspect Once's dip is down to a few factors--and it's worth noting that all of ABC is pretty much crashing and burning at the moment, it's not just OUAT: it's a) old as shows go and b) the shoddy writing has finally driven even some diehards away, c) a lack of interest in Greek mythology, and perhaps d) a lack of interest in the search to save Hook--either because someone doesn't like Hook OR because people KNOW he's going to be saved and nothing on this show ever has consequences, so if this arc isn't working for you, you might as well just skip to 6A since you won't miss anything important and the show will be reset anyway.

[KingOfHearts]

Last time Once aired on Easter, we got Bleeding Through. Even though I'm not a big Hook fan, I'm confident tonight's episode will be sooo much better. I'm taking the pledge not to blame him if the ratings are low. ;)

Edited March 27, 2016 by KingOfHearts

[jjjmoss]

Seems barely down for Easter. 1.0/3.47 million. Only -2% in audience; maybe some parents thought it would be a wholesome, family friendly episode perfect for their kids on the holiday.

 

Some other shows fell down a bunch.

Edited March 28, 2016 by jjjmoss

[YaddaYadda]

Seems barely down for Easter. 1.0/3.47 million. Only -2% in audience; maybe some parents thought it would be a wholesome, family friendly episode perfect for their kids on the holiday.

 

Some other shows fell down a bunch.

 

I was almost scared of looking.

[Souris]

That's actually really good for an ep airing on a holiday! Whew!

[maryle]

Honestly I was relieved for the 1.0

Last week was 1.1 so not so big drop I was scare of.

Anyway people change the reason for the rating drop with what they like.

When it is a Hook or CS episode it is cause of that but when it is Rumple or Regina is because the episode before.

In this case we know that big Holiday do have a real impact. So hopefully it will be up a little bit weeks.

[Rumsy4]

Oh, phew. I was a little worried.

[HoodlumSheep]

Wow, Once did good considering it was Easter!

I was afraid to look at the ratings too, at first.

[Camera One]

I know some people were disappointed two weeks ago there was no Rumple.  So this makes me scared for next week, since this one again had no Rumple.

[Mathius]

Wow, that is shockingly good. For an episode on Easter, the numbers barely dropped!

However, we're close to 0.9 and under 3.00 now. I can't see how S6 CAN'T be the final season at this point. We are officially in Wonderland territory here.

Yeah guys I don't think we should no longer expect Once to end next season. Nashville is gonna get another season, NASHVILLE! I horribly performing show in the ratings.

That's because ABC renewed it prematurely before it hit cancellation-worthy numbers, just like Once. It's next season, which will run concurrently with Once's 6th season, will most likely be the last one, just like Once's 6th season.

Edited March 28, 2016 by Mathius