Ratings and Scheduling: Hail to the Gods

[Starfish35]

Unrounded preliminary numbers from RJK at SpottedRatings.com:

Quote

Supernatural ................... 0.567 ... (0.581 ... 0.553)
Arrow .............................. 0.419 ... (0.434 ... 0.403)

[lemotomato]

Surprisingly low demo considering they're only down ~40k viewers compared to last week's prelims, and actually the same number of viewers in last week's finals.

Edited January 26, 2018 by lemotomato

[BunsenBurner]

Maybe they should have shown everyone in the trailers that it was an Olicity fest. I guess that would have been too easy.

[tv echo]

The Flash, Black Lightning and Supergirl were all down in demo this week from the previous week, so maybe it's just the mid-season slump - or maybe it's superhero fatigue...

Cancellation Watch: The Arrow-verse is Losing Steam
By johnnyjay | January 26, 2018
http://www.cancelledscifi.com/2018/01/26/cancellation-watch-the-arrow-verse-is-losing-steam/

Edited January 27, 2018 by tv echo

[Starfish35]

Final ratings

Compared to last week's finals:

Edited January 26, 2018 by Starfish35

[lemotomato]

It's the opposite of what happened during the Slade episodes, which got series lows in viewers (1.29 and 1.28 mil) but managed to hang on to a 0.46 in demo, which rounded up to a 0.5. The 1.378 mil for last night is actually the 4th highest this season (excluding the crossover) in terms of number of viewers.

Edited January 26, 2018 by lemotomato

[Simba122504]

Did SPN beat Arrow in the ratings last season? I don't remember. It's amazing that 13 year old show is beating a 6 year old show. 

[lemotomato]

SPN is also beating Legends (3 seasons), Supergirl (3 seasons), and Riverdale (2 seasons). IMO, beating Arrow is SPN's least remarkable achievement.

[WindofChange]

I don't really know how people love Supernatural considering I rage quit after they killed off Charlie. I just don't get how it doesn't get called out for its racism/sexism (I mean there are zero women/PoC in its regular cast)... But that's just me. I don't accept the whole "They kill everyone!" argument because it's a weak one... Nor do I accept the "this is the brothers' journey!" because you have Cas who isn't related to them.

Edited January 28, 2018 by WindofChange

[Primal Slayer]

There are only 3 characters that are series regulars (and regardless of Cas joining full time in S5, it has always been about the brothers, just as Arrow is Olivers "journey")  so that has always been the least of the shows worries. But it and Greys must have tapped into something special, I think they both premiered the same year and both are still top of their game in ratings.

Edited January 28, 2018 by Primal Slayer

[Mary0360]

30 minutes ago, WindofChange said:

I don't really know how people love Supernatural considering I rage quit after they killed off Charlie. I just don't get how it doesn't get called out for its racism/sexism (I mean there are zero women/PoC in its regular cast)... But that's just me. I don't accept the whole "They kill everyone!" argument because it's a weak one... Nor do I accept the "this is the brothers' journey!" because you have Cas who isn't related to them.

I haven't watched Supernatural so I can't speak to racism/sexism on the show but I have heard some problematic things about the mains in terms of that ironically. 

[Morrigan2575]

6 hours ago, lemotomato said:

SPN is also beating Legends (3 seasons), Supergirl (3 seasons), and Riverdale (2 seasons). IMO, beating Arrow is SPN's least remarkable achievement.

Hell, SPN came within a few thousand viewers of beating BL this week.

[Trisha]

Quote

Excluding its Thanksgiving-night episode, “Arrow” hit a low last week, and as the Bear noted earlier in the season, the series is starting to look a little bit long in the tooth, ratings-wise.

Doesn’t matter. “Arrow” is still very likely returning next season, even if it’s only a reward for launching the comic-based world that takes up 40 percent of The CW’s schedule in any given week.

As the Bear said in November, “Arrow” is clearly closer to the end of its run than to the beginning. But that end is not coming this season.

[Trisha]

Ouch:

[strikera0]

Unrounded preliminaries from SpottedRatings.com:

Quote

Supernatural ... 0.553
Arrow ... 0.402

[Chaser]

No one cares about birds and co.

[SmallScreenDiva]

It's the Rise of the Black Canary 3.0. Arrow keeps putting the spotlight on the birds during the back half when the ratings aren't already particularly strong. Sara in 2B, Laurel in 3B and now Dinah in 6B. Every single time, the ratings seem to tank. And yet they keep trying. 

[Featherhat]

Not exactly good, although I guess we don't know if streaming is going down as well or if the CW even cares when they renew much younger series with similar or worse ratings.

[BunsenBurner]

Hmm, reading twitter on the ratings and it showed it was was holding steady. 

[Starfish35]

1 hour ago, strikera0 said:

Unrounded preliminaries from SpottedRatings.com:

Here's the half-hours:

Quote

Supernatural ................... (0.573 ... 0.532)
Arrow .............................. (0.432 ... 0.372)

[lemotomato]

So this week's episode started with the same demo as 611, but lost more viewers in the second half. (7% half hour drop last week; 14% this week)

On 1/26/2018 at 10:41 AM, Starfish35 said:

Unrounded preliminary numbers from RJK at SpottedRatings.com:

Arrow .............................. 0.419 ... (0.434 ... 0.403)

[Starfish35]

Yeah, next week's ratings should be interesting, as well as what happens when they return from their break.   I thought it might take another season for Arrow to get to 0.3s, but it may happen yet this season.

Edited February 2, 2018 by Starfish35

[lemotomato]

They might get a boost, however temporary, if they're smart and promote the heck out of

Spoiler

Colton Haynes's return for 615 and 616, as well as Willa's departure,

Then again, this is the CW with Chico still in charge of PR, so she'll probably promote 615

Spoiler

as a big BS/KC episode 

[Belinea]

Is the CW renewing their shows this year a little later because they want to check out their new pilots first? Because while I doubt they wouldn't give Arrow one last season, I get the feeling that S7 might be their last. Granted even the big networks seem to struggle these days with getting good traditional ratings (well, except for Grey's and the BBT) and if you put it in comparison it might not be that awful but the numbers are not wonderful by any means. 

[quarks]

1 hour ago, Belinea said:

Is the CW renewing their shows this year a little later because they want to check out their new pilots first?

I doubt it. The CW has been trying to move to year round programming for years now, and knows they have to replace at least two and possibly four to five shows - while trying to add more shows.  Marc Pedowitz sounds fairly certain about which shows are getting renewed.

The delay is more probably CW execs telling CBS and WB studios that they are not going to be paying more upfront per episode, especially since these shows are earning most of their money in post-views, not live on the CW. And possibly also asking CBS to stop dumping otherwise unwanted shows on them. (Sorry, Valor!)  Countered by CBS and WB studios pointing out that they are already getting these shows on the cheap and there's a limit to how much they can ask from The Crazy Ex-Girlfriend cast. 

[tv echo]

I don't recall. Do they wait to announce renewals until they have first decided their new weekly schedule? Or do they announce renewals first and then later announce the next season's schedule of shows?

[quarks]

8 minutes ago, tv echo said:

I don't recall. Do they wait to announce renewals until they have first decided their new weekly schedule? Or do they announce renewals first and then later announce the next season's schedule of shows?

Most networks announce renewals first.*

Years back, the CW used to wait until March or April to announce renewals.  A few years back they shocked nearly everyone by renewing all of their shows in January - shocking partly because this was an early announcement for them and mostly because this included shows with terrible numbers (hi, Reign!) that everyone had assumed would be heading for cancellation.  Since then, they've generally been making these announcements in January/February.

This year feels to me like a bit of a blend - Pedowitz casually announcing in January that a show like The 100, whose numbers severely dropped last season and which looked headed to cancellation, would probably get two more seasons, something like that January renewal announcement years back - but not making an official announcement about renewing The 100 or making official announcements about shows with better numbers either. From what he said, it sounds as if most but not all actors are locked in - and it's very possible that some contract negotiations are slowing down the official announcements - and it's also very possible that he's waiting for/getting input from the affiliate stations, who have more input than a typical NBC station. 

 

*There are a couple of cable networks who have a history of announcing the schedule before publicly confirming a renewal or, more excitingly, privately confirming an episode order with the studio. I don't recall the CW ever pulling this stunt, though. 

[strikera0]

Live+7 ratings for week 17:

Arrow (6x10): 0.9 in A18-49 and 2.388 million viewers.

Supergirl (3x10): 1.0 in A18-49 and 3.412 million viewers. 

The Flash (4x10): 1.5 in A18-49 and 4.055 million viewers.

Riverdale (2x10): 1.0 in A18-49 and 2.586 million viewers.

Black Lightning (1x01): 3.629 million viewers (A18-49 unknown).

Supernatural (13x10): 1.0 in A18-49 (total viewership unknown)

Edited February 5, 2018 by strikera0

[quarks]

The Winter Olympics start Thursday morning in South Korea - which is Wednesday evening here in the U.S. - with curling. If I understand NBC's website correctly (and I'm still sipping down the second cup of coffee, so I might not be understanding a thing here),NBC apparently intends to start live Olympics coverage this Thursday night with figure skating events (men's team figure skating) followed by showing the opening ceremony on major tape delay (with no live events) on Friday night.

I am not going to make an attempt to explain NBC's thinking here, but just noting that figure skating has historically been one of the most popular events at the Winter Olympics - and that will be airing against Arrow this week.

[Morrigan2575]

Huh i thought the Olympics started on Friday with the Opening Ceremony so weird. Yeah, Figure Skating could hurt both Arrow and SPN ratings this week.

ETA we know Arrow is on a 2 week break. We'll find out this week if it's getting a 3 week break or returns 3/2.

Edited February 5, 2018 by Morrigan2575

[Velocity23]

24 minutes ago, Morrigan2575 said:

Huh i thought the Olympics started on Friday with the Opening Ceremony so weird. Yeah, Figure Skating could hurt both Arrow and SPN ratings this week.

ETA we know Arrow is on a 2 week break. We'll find out this week if it's getting a 3 week break or returns 3/2.

Friday is the opening ceremony and Saturday the first event. 

[Sakura12]

I saw that they were airing Figuring Skating on Thursday and the opening ceremony on Friday. I don't understand that scheduling choice. 

[Morrigan2575]

2 minutes ago, Velocity23 said:

Friday is the opening ceremony and Saturday the first event. 

According to Quarks Figure Skating is airing on Thursday night which would be the first event, aired but, Curling is technically the first event which starts Wednesday night US (probably not aired).

Edited February 5, 2018 by Morrigan2575

[Velocity23]

7 minutes ago, Morrigan2575 said:

According to Quarks Figure Skating is airing on Thursday night which would be the first event, yeah?

Arent those for competitions with several rounds and if i remember correctly figurre skating has qualification first and then the first 25 go through to the main event? Just checked its a team event, that will go on for several days. The first competition day where athletes can get medals is Saturday. 

Edited February 5, 2018 by Velocity23

[quarks]

Apparently, the Opening Ceremony is at 8 pm Friday, Feb 9. Seoul South Korea time, which is 6 am Eastern Standard time in the U.S. So NBC is offering that on tape delay.

However, some events start on Feb 8 and others on Feb 9 - before the Opening Ceremony - including curling, ski jumping, luge, biathlon and, I guess, figure skating. NBC seems to think that figure skating is the only one of these early events that will interest U.S. viewers.

This is the official schedule in English. All times Seoul:

https://www.pyeongchang2018.com/en/game-time/results/OWG2018/en/general/competition-schedule.htm

[Velocity23]

2 minutes ago, quarks said:

Apparently, the Opening Ceremony is at 8 pm Friday, Feb 9. Seoul South Korea time, which is 6 am Eastern Standard time in the U.S. So NBC is offering that on tape delay.

However, some events start on Feb 8 and others on Feb 9 - before the Opening Ceremony - including curling, ski jumping, luge, biathlon and, I guess, figure skating. NBC seems to think that figure skating is the only one of these early events that will interest U.S. viewers.

This is the official schedule in English. All times Seoul:

https://www.pyeongchang2018.com/en/game-time/results/OWG2018/en/general/competition-schedule.htm

Some of them are official trainings. I know something like downhill in ski alpine has to have at least one sucessful training so there can actually be a competition. 

[Sakura12]

I don't remember them airing anything before the opening ceremony in past years. 

Edited February 5, 2018 by Sakura12

[Starfish35]

I just checked NBC local listings and, yes, I'm showing Olympics coverage during prime time Thursday night.

[quarks]

Historically, figure skating has delivered the highest ratings/viewers for the Winter Olympics, so that's presumably influencing NBC's scheduling here, even if the Thursday figure skating isn't a medal event.

[scarynikki12]

There are always events pre-opening ceremony because there’s just not enough time during the designated dates. It will draw eyes from Arrow but I’m curious to see the delayed viewing numbers.

[WindofChange]

4 hours ago, quarks said:

curling, ski jumping, luge, biathlon and, I guess, figure skating

I don't see figure skating anymore maybe they changed it?

[quarks]

1 minute ago, WindofChange said:

I don't see figure skating anymore maybe they changed it?

According to the official schedule there are figure skating events (non-medal) on Friday Seoul time, which could presumably be Thursday evening U.S. EST time. 

[WindofChange]

1 minute ago, quarks said:

According to the official schedule there are figure skating events (non-medal) on Friday Seoul time, which could presumably be Thursday evening U.S. EST time. 

damn so we will be hitting that 0.3 or even 0.2 lol

[Starfish35]

Here's a screenshot of what I'm showing for the NBC schedule (Mountain Time):

[Morrigan2575]

1 hour ago, WindofChange said:

damn so we will be hitting that 0.3 or even 0.2 lol

maybe, maybe not. Arrow has a larger male viewers than SPN so it might not be impacted by Figure Skating.

[SmallScreenDiva]

That's kinda what I'm thinking. Maybe CW figures it's counterprogramming? I do think Arrow is gonna hit 0.3 sooner than later the way this story lines are going. 

[quarks]

The CW might not have realized that NBC would start its broadcast Olympic coverage one night early. The streaming stuff, sure, but if memory serves, NBC has traditionally waited until the opening ceremonies to start broadcasting the Olympics.

Or they did, and thought, eh, figure skating. Sure, NBC might think that's popular, but we've got arrows. And demons. And in any case we're getting our revenue from post-views, so, no biggie.

[Chaser]

I love the Olympics. I watch everything. Read articles, watch specials, plan my schedule around. I had no idea some events were airing before the Opening Ceremonies.

I'm wondering how many are in the same boat.

Also, Figure Skating is a big draw but the Team competition is a relatively new event. I believe this is only its second appearance. I'm not sure if its caught on yet.

[Mellowyellow]

I learned so much about figure skating last Olympics from the old forum. I don't know if it's an indication of ratings but people were REALLY into their skating and know so much about the jumps, skaters, history. It was awesome! 

[quarks]

Well, I'll be watching the Olympics - and catching up with Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow later.