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

[maryle]

 Little news from Variety their" Insider" put Once in the safe zone because of

"... writers are already been made to the writers staff which will be task with taking the show in a new direction with the lost of Some original characters in season 7."

Hmmm "some" could be just gosh or more. I find interesting they just now beginning to plan the new direction. 

Edited May 5, 2017 by maryle

[sharky]

It's been planned already. A&E have talked about pitching the reboot to ABC earlier this year. This is just the writers breaking the seventh season at the end of this month, which is typical for Once. 

[jhlipton]

Some other show (Nashville, maybe?) added new writers about a week before they were cancelled.  So this is just fluff.

[KingOfHearts]

Quote

"... writers are already been made to the writers staff which will be task with taking the show in a new direction with the lost of Some original characters in season 7."

It feels silly to take the show into a new direction if it's only going to last one more season, but many shows do that.

[TheGreenKnight]

4 hours ago, Curio said:

That's what the majority of Season 6 has been.

Maybe if the R stands for Rumpel.

[TheGreenKnight]

I was reading some article about Ryan Seacrest joining Live and in the article they talk about American Idol possibly being on ABC’s schedule Spring 2018 Sunday's. If that’s true (and honestly I hope Idol stays dead, but…), I could see them putting Idol at 8 in the Spring with OUAT following (sometimes at 9, sometimes at 10). I guess it would be a good pairing hypothetically considering Idol would be marketed at families and perhaps OUAT could gain a miniscule gain off of it (if Idol 2.0 didn't debut with lower numbers than OUAT...lol).

But I wonder what the Fall lineup would look like in that case? OUAT, then Match Game like it is now? Honestly, it would make more sense why they would renew OUAT if so--besides the fact that so many of their other shows are doing worse than OUAT and they have a horrible record creating new shows. The Fall half of OUAT will mostly stay around the area it is now (.08-1.0), but they'd likely drop to .05-.07 in the Spring. Maybe they think Idol airing in front of it would lift it to .08-1.0 in the second half so a final season would generally stay the same level throughout?

[daxx]

Until ABC makes an announcement, unless you are Dungey, then it's all still speculation, yes?

[Souris]

48 minutes ago, Tiger said:

Uh, its NBC that's bringing Idol back.  

Initial reports about the idea were NBC, but now it's indeed apparently ABC.

So either it's a short season 7 for Once, it moves or it's cancelled (I figure one of the former two, though this Idol news is a bit of a curveball). Idol was generally two hours in the past, so that takes up more of their schedule.

Edited May 5, 2017 by Souris

[ABitOFluff]

3 minutes ago, TheGreenKnight said:

I'm not surprised. But as I wrote pages ago, everyone knows the possibility of cancellation is here, so you can save your laughter and told-you-so's for yourself. We aren't less informed of the facts than you are.

Also this ABC friend is positive that the network will be all comedy and game shows on Sunday next season, even though the once prized comedies are starting to fall. I've worked for a huge international conglomerate corporation for almost 10 years. Rumors are a regular thing, but major changes are not so telegraphed.

Corporations are like Congress. No one knows anything until the last minute. I think Once will get a 7th season, but we don't know until it's happening.

[MostlyC]

We're almost at the end of the season!  Tempers run high, but we here at PTV were not raised by wolves.  Deep Yoga Breaths! Om.....

Remember, we respect each other's opinions, gracefully, politely.  We do not attack other people or their opinions- agree to disagree and move on.

If you feel that someone is working your very last nerve, there is a handy ignore feature button that I would encourage people to use.

Let's focus more on ratings and less on speculation that "this show is toast."  We won't know the show's fate until the upfronts.  If you are a network executive, kindly refrain from commenting.

Remember our OUAT mascot?  We don't want to make her cry, and that way lies dragons (and warnings and suspensions).

 

[cappoe]

Idol on Sundays in March 2018 is confirmed.

Which means a 22 episode season where OUAT aires without breaks.

A 13-17 episode final season airing in Fall and Winter before March with breaks

Or it's being moved. 

Edited May 6, 2017 by cappoe

[Camera One]

How sad that a cheap reality show could replace a serialized series like "Once".   And how unfortunate that ABC feels its money is better used bidding on a reality show than paying storytellers and actors.  

Forget the reboot.  Do half a season to properly finish the series off with everyone back.

Edited May 6, 2017 by Camera One

[sharky]

Idol hasn't been officially confirmed yet. I'm kind of surprised that there is talk of it on Sundays since the earlier buzz I saw put it on Mondays to fill in for Dancing, but I guess that's the Bachelor's job.

Articles I read said it would start in March after the Oscars so I could see either doing a shorter Once season with a season finale right before the Oscars and then Idol after that. Or perhaps putting it on after Idol and have Once have a darker feel perhaps? At the very least, a shorter season would help cut costs. And with the Sunday Night Football juggernaut in the fall, I could see Once in its normal slot as alternative programming.

Of course with the reboot they could also treat it like their new Grimm and move it to Fridays or something. 

[cappoe]

I think it's the final season and it'll be between 15-17 episodes and itll finish off the story. 

I mean as much as I would lvoe a 10 pm OUAT where CS can have all the onscreen pancakes they want I don't see that happening.

Idol is always 2 hrs for it's premieres. Maybe it could be one hr and OUAT could be moved to 9 pm slot.

Edited May 6, 2017 by cappoe

[Inquirer]

Quote

Forget the reboot.  Do half a season to properly finish the series off with everyone back.

Quote

I think it's the final season and it'll be between 15-17 episodes and itll finish off the story. 

Sorry, but it's already been confirmed that this coming season finale finishes off the story.

Any Season 7 is going to be an entirely new "chapter" with mostly new characters, according to A&E, and they're not backing off on that.

Quote

And how unfortunate that ABC feels its money is better used bidding on a reality show than paying storytellers and actors.

Its money IS far better used bidding on a reality show than paying THESE "storytellers", plus most of the actors' contracts are up.

Quote

Or perhaps putting it on after Idol and have Once have a darker feel perhaps?

Lol, how much darker can Once possible get at this point?  It's already one of the most miserable shows on television!

Edited May 6, 2017 by Inquirer

[sharky]

I do wonder if ABC got a hometown discount or if this was part of the new Seacrest deal. It doesn't seem like it would be a coincidence that this info would come out the same week Ryan gets a gig on ABC's morning anchor show. 

[jjjmoss]

4 hours ago, TheGreenKnight said:

The Fall half of OUAT will mostly stay around the area it is now (.08-1.0), but they'd likely drop to .05-.07 in the Spring. Maybe they think Idol airing in front of it would lift it to .08-1.0 in the second half so a final season would generally stay the same level throughout?

I'd say .7 fall and .5 spring based on the current rates, if Idol doesn't help.

[TheGreenKnight]

The season premiere usually begins where the last season ended (if not a little higher), and I expect 6's finale will be anywhere between 1.0 to 1.2. I'm sure it would hit those lows in the first half once or twice (perhaps in late Nov, early Dec when the holidays begin and the awards shows interrupt), but I still believe the vast majority of it would be between .07 and .09 myself.

[jjjmoss]

20 hours ago, TheGreenKnight said:

The season premiere usually begins where the last season ended (if not a little higher), and I expect 6's finale will be anywhere between 1.0 to 1.2. I'm sure it would hit those lows in the first half once or twice (perhaps in late Nov, early Dec when the holidays begin and the awards shows interrupt), but I still believe the vast majority of it would be between .07 and .09 myself.

15 fall 1.57

16 spring 1.17 (-25%)

16 fall 1.05 (-10%)

17 spring 0.82 (-22% to-date)

Another 10% drop would be rounded .7 average.

Edited May 6, 2017 by jjjmoss

[TheGreenKnight]

I'm not sure if you're talking averages, but that's not what I was referring to. I was talking about starting points:

4 Finale: 1.8

5 Premiere: 1.8

5 Finale: 1.2

6 Premiere: 1.3

6 Finale: Most likely 1.1, I'd guess

[MostlyC]

This is not a thread to discuss casting or contracts.  Nor is it the thread to discuss writers.  Talk about those topics in the appropriate threads.

Stay on topic and remain civil to each other.

I am hiding posts.

Our mascot is getting grouchy.  We do not like it when she gets grouchy.

[KingOfHearts]

Quote

This is not a thread to discuss casting or contracts.

What would be the most appropriate thread for this?

[MostlyC]

Based on the posts, I would put your comments in the Media Thread:

For Writer specific  posts:
 

[kitticup]

This is somewhat Ratings related.  I read that the OUAT musical album was 13th in US and 20th (I think) in UK.  That shows this show could be so much more.  I hope the rumor that they would get more experienced executives to reign in A&E would be great if the show is renewed.

[InsertWordHere]

3 minutes ago, Inquirer said:

They announced the Castle series finale as the "season finale" too.  It's the same case: the network heads haven't decided yet.

Just to be clear, I was not implying the promo was saying that the show is being renewed. I was merely commenting on the absence of the "series" finale label. Its absence in no way implies that it isn't the series finale. We are as uncertain about that as we were before this episode aired.

[TheGreenKnight]

On ‎5‎/‎3‎/‎2017 at 9:56 AM, Inquirer said:

They're promoting the FINAL battle.  When you hear something like that, you think "series finale".

I didn't agree about the Black Fairy backstory ep, but the 2-series finale was definitely advertised like the very end.

[sharky]

No it wasn't. The teaser called it the "season finale" which is not what you call an episode this close to upfronts unless you know its fate. Yeah, they could change their minds, but that's a rare occurance.

[TheGreenKnight]

Oh, no, I'm not saying there won't be a 7th season reboot, I still think it's likely to be renewed, but I did think all the FINAL FINAL FINAL in caps was used to advertise the episode like an ending.

[Inquirer]

22 minutes ago, sharky said:

No it wasn't. The teaser called it the "season finale" which is not what you call an episode this close to upfronts unless you know its fate.

They advertised what ended up being Castle's series finale as a season finale.  And just a few days ago at the screening of the musical episode, A&E said that they STILL have not heard back from ABC about the show's fate. So it sounds like the network is dragging its feet in making a decision here.

[sharky]

Again, as I said, those are rare occurrences. We also were well aware that there was lots of drama surrounding Castle's renewal. And Once is not really a bubble show when you compare it to what else is on ABC. Right now, its pulling in numbers similar to the network's one bright freshman drama Designated Survivor.

I can kind of see American Idol being a potential blip but that won't happen until March so there's plenty of time to run Once.

[Camera One]

#OnceUponaMusical is trending on Twitter in the US.  

[Kktjones]

Just now, Camera One said:

#OnceUponaMusical is trending on Twitter in the US.  

It's been trending for three hours now! That's probably the best it's done all of this season. I'm really interested to see the ratings and how well they held onto the audience...

[TheGreenKnight]

I know it's too much to hope for, but I'd love to see a jump up to something like a 1.5 for this episode.

[Curio]

I don't expect the live numbers to jump up too drastically, but I'm guessing good word of mouth will make it popular on iTunes, Hulu, ABC.com, etc.

[KAOS Agent]

They promoted the hell out of this episode, so I expect the numbers to be up. It would be nice if they could reach S6 fall premiere numbers.

[maryle]

I am surprised .8 for the musical and wedding episode

I know there was some award show and everytime there others thing to watch Once seems affected. Still, not a good new for rating next week or the future reboot if it happen!

[AnotherCastle]

0.8 and 0.8/0.7 in the half hours: http://www.spoilertv.com/2017/05/ratings-news-8th-may-2017.html

[Inquirer]

Between JMO leaving and the much-hyped musical episode not scoring high, this show really needs to be cancelled.

[Curio]

Before Jennifer made her announcement, I was hoping for good ratings. But now that she's not in for Season 7, I'm kind of glad the ratings didn't jump up too much. It's just one more reason for ABC to finally cancel the show.

[Shanna Marie]

It's actually rather embarrassing to get ratings this low for a much-hyped special episode. They did all the interviews, got some mainstream media coverage, released the songs early, and the songs were well-received, and they couldn't boost the ratings all that much.

[AnotherCastle]

Un-rounded 18-49 prelims for Sunday, May 7:

Quote

Once Upon a Time ................ 0.775 ... (0.802 ... 0.748)

http://www.spottedratings.com/2017/05/spotted-ratings-sunday-5717_8.html#disqus_thread

[Souris]

58 minutes ago, Shanna Marie said:

It's actually rather embarrassing to get ratings this low for a much-hyped special episode. They did all the interviews, got some mainstream media coverage, released the songs early, and the songs were well-received, and they couldn't boost the ratings all that much.

I'm actually really surprised the ratings didn't tick up a bit and actually fell. I thought they'd tick up to a 1.0. If they can't get viewers with all that promotion, how do they expect to lure back viewers for S7?

[sharky]

Yeah, that rating is worrisome. On the other hand, the songs were high in iTunes sales on Friday and the show itself did well on Twitter. I don't know. There are so many variables at this point. It's hard to figure out what they will do based on ratings alone. The show has an amazing online and social presence but is that enough to save it? Are alternative ways to get revenue like iTunes and streaming enough to give it a boost?

[Free]

42 minutes ago, Souris said:

I'm actually really surprised the ratings didn't tick up a bit and actually fell. I thought they'd tick up to a 1.0. If they can't get viewers with all that promotion, how do they expect to lure back viewers for S7?

Let alone one with several main characters gone on top of its declines.

[RadioGirl27]

1 hour ago, Souris said:

I'm actually really surprised the ratings didn't tick up a bit and actually fell. I thought they'd tick up to a 1.0. If they can't get viewers with all that promotion, how do they expect to lure back viewers for S7?

I'm surprised, too. I was expecting better numbers.

At this point I don't know what is going to happen. At first I thought Jenn's announcement was a confirmation of the renewal (what's the point of saying "I'm not going to be in season 7" if there is not going to be a season 7), but now that I know that the news of Jenn leaving where going to appear today either way, I'm thinking that maybe it was ABC trying to see the reaction (it's not a good one) before making a decision and Jennifer just wanted to be the first one to tell her fans.

I'm just worried that if ABC hasn't made a decision yet, it's going to be too late for Colin and Lana (they seem to be the only ones remaining) and for the crew members to find something new.

Edited May 8, 2017 by RadioGirl27

[General Days]

With those numbers and Morrison's departure, I think this show is dead. I really thought it would get a seventh season, but I can't imagine the network picking it up without JMO. I'm (foolishly) disappointed that Kitsis and Horowitz would even want to continue the fairy tale of Emma Swam without Emma Swan. Bah.

[Rumsy4]

16 minutes ago, RadioGirl27 said:

I'm just worried that if ABC hasn't made a decision yet, it's going to be too late for Colin and Lana (they seem to be the only ones remaining) and for the crew members to find something new.

It is too late for the Pilot season. But they could come across other opportunities.

[jjjmoss]

Prelims, retention out of AFHV was actually down. 76% rather than 80% as the last 2 weeks.

[coppersin]

I'm not surprised this week's ratings weren't spiking. Speaking as a casual viewer, I'm guessing there are plenty of people like myself that knew this episode was coming and just didn't feel any enthusiasm for it.

I've seen every episode of Galavant because that show was delightful. The recent Flash musical episode really worked (for me) because you could see how much fun the cast was having. When musical television works, it works really well. Maybe this episode did. But after so many seasons when it could've stood alone as something special in a series that seems tailor-made for a musical episode, we're instead given a last-minute effort, from a creative team that frustrates me, this close to the finale and cramming in THE wedding into the same episode?? That doesn't sound like an episode created from a spirit of fun; it just feels like a gimmick. Why waste time with that? I found pics of the Captain Swan wedding on tumblr and for me that was enough. I just can't muster more interest than that anymore, and it's probably the same for a lot of viewers.

I'm sure the ratings will go up next week for the big finale because for a lot of people this is the series finale regardless of season 7. Personally, I'll tune in for nostalgia mostly, and to say goodbye to characters that I loved even as I hated the stories. But I doubt we'll get a huge ratings bump. I think a lot of fans said their goodbyes a long time ago and don't need to see the show one last time. It will be enough to browse social media afterward out of curiosity, just like I did with the wedding this week.

[Shanna Marie]

6 minutes ago, coppersin said:

I'm sure the ratings will go up next week for the big finale because for a lot of people this is the series finale regardless of season 7.

Though it's also possible that the cast departure news will make a lot of people decide that it wasn't a black curse hitting at the end of this episode, but rather a fade to black as they all head off into a happily ever after, la, la, la not listening and just skip the finale.