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Ratings & Scheduling: That's what more and more of you missed on Glee


Glory

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I think the bleed is/was from lots of places - new characters, split narrative, bad writing, stiff competition, behind the scenes drama, etc. It wasn't any one thing that killed the ratings, but it's been on a steady decline since season 3.

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It is the writing first and foremost and part of the writing is the decision of who and who not to focus on.  

 

They had 3 choices to extend the senior year with the orinigals, to follow grads or  to repopulate.   After the noticeable decline in season3   I do not think any of those options would have lasted more than a year.

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It is the writing first and foremost and part of the writing is the decision of who and who not to focus on.  

 

They had 3 choices to extend the senior year with the orinigals, to follow grads or  to repopulate.   After the noticeable decline in season3   I do not think any of those options would have lasted more than a year.

 

I honestly think if they pulled a Boy Meets World and shipped all the main characters to the same college it wouldn't be this bad. Would the ratings still have declined? Definitely. But I don't think to this level.

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To paraphrase James Carville; "it's the writing Stupid."

Some are gushing that the new students are different, and granted they seem less a retread then the Original Noobs, but you would still have to write STORIES for them. Sue as the nemesis, Becky being obnoxious, etc it's not as if the biggest problem would be solved which is better storylines instead of the rehash Glee does .

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Puts to bed the idea it was the newbies people weren't watching.

Not really. I think they (and the way they were handled) contributed to chasing away the GA over time, along with a lot of other factors, as mentioned. At least over 2 million people watched, but the 18-49 number is what matters (or for most shows; nothing probably matters for Glee anymore). Edited by indeed
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Well the ratings were certainly bad. Not quite as bad as I was thinking, but bad. The thing is I think those numbers might be the high point for the season. I could see some people maybe checking out the premier last night out of curiosity. Maybe they watched Glee before, heard it was going off the air, wanted to see how the last season would go. I see the ratings probably dropping going forward. People who were curious got their curiosity filled. They probably won't check back in until the series finale. That's just my theory.

 

What I find interesting is how Fox will respond. They have been having ratings problems for a while now (which is probably what has spared Glee, so long. They didn't really have anything to fill the hole.) But now it looks like they have a breakout hit with "Empire" (It is cheesy, and campy and sort of awful, but it's the type of awful I like, so I am here for it. And Taraji P. Henson.) I believe it pulled in 13 million viewers Wed. I still think Fox just let's Glee air its final 13 episodes uninterrupted. But they better be glad that "Empire" is a midseason show, because if it had come ot sooner, I cold see Fox cutting bait with Glee. We all know Glee is expensive. I'm willing to bet "Empire" is more expensive. They have two Oscar nominated actors in lead roles. Timbaland is producing the music for the show. I know he can't be cheap. 

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Some are gushing that the new students are different, and granted they seem less a retread then the Original Noobs, but you would still have to write STORIES for them. Sue as the nemesis, Becky being obnoxious, etc it's not as if the biggest problem would be solved which is better storylines instead of the rehash Glee does .

True, I also liked the noobs of season 4 in their first 2 episodes or so. And they were played by, for the most part, decent actors and singers (and dancers like Jacob and Becca).

But the atrocious writing for them turned me off from the 2.0 noobs very quickly.

 

So let's wait a few episodes and see how RIB write for the season 6 noobs: odds are high that they somehow will make people dislike them too (or worse: get bored with them). If people will still be watching after last night, that is.

 

It doesn't matter all the factors, Ryan and Company will never own up that the bucks stops with them.

Nope, instead they will blame everyone and everything else, cast, crew, Fox, the fans, but refuse to look at their own possible faults and responsibility in Glee's spectacular downfall.

 

But wow, a 65% drop and the lowest ratings of an episode on a major network ever.  Ouch.

Edited by Glorfindel
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I laugh at the apologists saying Glee will be like " Fringe."

"Fringe " ratings its last year on Fridays ranged from .8 to 1.1 and had over 3 million viewers for its premiere and finale. (1.0 rating)

At its current trajectory (the second hour of Glee at 9 PM dipped to .6) following historical patterns Glee would get " That's so Rachel" ratings in about 4 weeks. Again, if Glee dips below .5 would even FOX have the luxury to air it?

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At its current trajectory (the second hour of Glee at 9 PM dipped to .6) following historical patterns Glee would get " That's so Rachel" ratings in about 4 weeks. Again, if Glee dips below .5 would even FOX have the luxury to air it?

Maybe on Saturday.

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When Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23 (a great show that ABC treated badly) got cancelled, the eight remaining episodes went up on ABC.com, Hulu, and iTunes on the same day. I could see something similar happening with Glee if the ratings get low enough. However, Don't Trust the B was a Tuesday show in a coveted timeslot (its lead-in was Modern Family). Glee is already stuck over in the Friday night death slot, so FOX isn't expecting much and might just let the show burn itself out.

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Thing is these days there are plenty of options other than broadcasting it on TV. Hulu, iTunes, Amazon or Netflix, or a combination of those could happen.

Yeah, but they have other deals with the producers and need to keep them at least somewhat happy. Airing it somewhere nobody watches is better than those other options.

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Didn't Gracepoint tank in the ratings and yet FOX aired all of that in a coveted time slot? It's only, what?, 10 more Fridays and then FOX doesn't have to deal with Glee anymore. I'd think they'd just run the remaining without drawing any attention to it (like switching to Saturdays--unless they decide to double up a few more weeks to get it off the schedule even faster).

They could've just spun the last season as being exclusively available with a streaming service/Fox.com/on demand/whatever if they had any doubt of airing the full shortened season. Then it could've been presented as a "gift" to fans and the general TV viewers could've just been left with Rachel winking at the 4th wall, with a "positive"/hopeful ending. So, I'm guessing they'll just air it all and be done with it--the ratings shouldn't be surprising--and finish filming what was promised.

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They could've just spun the last season as being exclusively available with a streaming service/Fox.com/on demand/whatever if they had any doubt of airing the full shortened season. Then it could've been presented as a "gift" to fans and the general TV viewers could've just been left with Rachel winking at the 4th wall, with a "positive"/hopeful ending. So, I'm guessing they'll just air it all and be done with it--the ratings shouldn't be surprising--and finish filming what was promised.

Doesn't that do something different in terms of residuals and all that? I don't think it's the same thing if they're sucking up to the producers who do other things for them.

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Yeah, I don't know about all of that, that's why I assumed they would air all 13, but who knows? Just trying to figure out a way they could "save face". No matter what, it's a shame this show has fallen so low. Most long-running shows get a decent amount of fanfare for their final season, including specials and clip shows. This is all just sad.

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Most long-running shows get a decent amount of fanfare for their final season, including specials and clip shows. This is all just sad.

They pat themselves on the back often enough I'm not sure they need more whole episodes devoted to that.

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Does whether or not the various episodes actually aired on broadcast tv have any impact on negotiating deals for syndication?  I don't see that it would, but if it DID, that would certainly be a reason RIB would push to have all the episodes actually air at least once.

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The only way to spin it positively is that it's up from last year's finale in total viewers and demographics.

Isn't it still well below anything else they renewed? You can spin all you want, but it doesn't make it worth airing except as a vanity project for a pampered producer who they need for other things. 

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I'm not trying to spin it.  I think that was how Fox spun it in their press release.  They could argue it's worth airing for the sake of the remaining fans, to give them a proper ending to the series.  There aren't too many left, but I'm sure it still means something to those people.  At the end of the day, it's a business decision and they still decided to make this season.  The question is whether they will air the whole thing through.

Edited by Camera One
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You can spin all you want, but it doesn't make it worth airing except as a vanity project for a pampered producer who they need for other things. 

Yes, American Horror Story (while down from last season) is a big enough hit that Fox Networks are milking out both American Crime Story and Scream Queens. We'll see if the market becomes oversaturated with Murphy Anthology Shows...

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Yes, American Horror Story (while down from last season) is a big enough hit that Fox Networks are milking out both American Crime Story and Scream Queens. We'll see if the market becomes oversaturated with Murphy Anthology Shows...

Thats whats happening with The ShondaLand ABC has become, and I genuinely enjoy all of her shows. Just not all at once. In one 3 hour block.

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Thats whats happening with The ShondaLand ABC has become, and I genuinely enjoy all of her shows. Just not all at once. In one 3 hour block.

I meant oversaturated as in the audience getting tired with the shows.

 

Ratings for Shondaland are uniformly spectacular, so that's not applicable. 

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Bottom line:  FOX took a risk guaranteeing Glee a 2 year renewal when it was clearly declining in the ratings. I don't care how much they wanted to maintain good relations with Ryan, no way would they (nor Ryan) have expected a show with Glee's dismal S5 ending ratings to get a 6th season. Both sides miscalculated Glee's relative strength and it backfired for both sides when Glee completely imploded in S5, because Ryan burned some goodwill also.

 

Ie, Ryan may have won the " battle" but I doubt any network would that  easily give him that kind of concession again.

My guess is some of the (NEW)  brass at FOX are fuming at the turn of events. A 13 episode order to a show that premieres at .7 with no bottom yet reached?. Yikes.

Edited by caracas1914
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I thought  one of Ryan new shows was for FX and the other for Fox?    Seem Anthologies for the most part are working for the sames reasons as shorter season  cable show are working. They can rotate these things in and of the schedule take more time to write and produce and hopefully stay fresh.

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Cancellation Bear ‏@TheCancelBear

@CoryDimples wildly unlikely, Fox ran repeats on Friday until now, it’s already paid for, the ratings are irrelevant

 

As I suspected the advertising cost per commercial were already set.

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So Glee only has to maintain the ratings of the reruns that where previously in that time slot ?

The commercials seem to be bought and paid for no matter what the ratings do.

 

How they determined the price is unknown part time slot, part  part past ratings, combination of things,  no sure.

Edited by tom87
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I felt it was fewer commercials during 6x01-02 than in last year's time slot, but haven't actually checked. It makes sense that the ad buyers have already paid for the Friday slots, probably rates based on the average ratings from past season/s, idk.

Edited by fakeempress
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I agree that most likely all  the Glee episodes will air on Friday nights, (it's only 11 weeks and counting) but I will say that Cancellation Bear website are from infallible in their predictions and pronouncements.

 

Having said that, I'm still fascinated how low Glee's ratings can potentially go  in a 11 week stretch.  Already the premiere (the second hour) had  the second worst ratings ever  (,7 rating) . 

 

Now that horrible UTOPIA reality series that FOX dumped on Friday nights did dip to .5 by it's cancellation, so Glee has a bit to dip  to match that record.  I don't think a .4 is outside the realm of possibility. 

Edited by caracas1914
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To be fair all shows commercials are paid for before they air. The reason shows get cancelled is because in those contracts networks promise a certain level of ratings performance and if those ratings aren't achieved there is some sort of compensation, usually comp commercials. That said I am sure fox was smart enough to either promise a very low ratings performance or assume in their budget for glee that they will be giving advertisers comp time.

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Isn't that what the Upfronts in May are for, presentation of upcoming programming to the ad buyers so that they can work out the rates and contracts. Networks probably have some base rates for the specific day/hour slot and it goes from there, because for instance Thursdays seem to be more expensive and networks tend to put some of their biggest hits there.

Edited by fakeempress
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If Glee performs below the rating that was sold, FOX has to make up the difference, in extra airtime or whatever. It's not a cost that has 'sunk' in that sense. It will be an ongoing financial drain unless they sold it at That's So Rachel numbers.

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The ratings certainly warrant cancelations. The show leading in is a piece of garbage, but when it's pulling in a million more viewers than Glee is (viewers that are changing the channel when Glee starts), it's pretty clear that it's not the night that's causing the dismal ratings. I think that they could put Glee in the best time slot possible and we'd still see these weak ratings.

 

The only reason that I can see Fox not pulling the plug now is because they want to keep things friendly with RIB since they're going to air Scream Queens. Other than that, this is wasted air time.

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The only very minor positive out of those is that the demo is still up 0.1 from where season 5 ended.  That said the overall viewers are down compared to the season 5 finale (from 1.87 to 1.83)

Edited by camussie
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Spring always gets slightly lower ratings than winter.  The tenth is a wash. Neither is worth the hour except that they seem to have sold their soul to Ryan Murphy the same way ABC did to Shonda Rimes. The difference is that ABC got a good deal.

Edited by ComfySweater
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"Glee" has fallen far from quality, but it's sad and pathetic that more people are interested in watching "Funniest Fails".

 

I know some high school kids who still like "Glee", but they're usually out with their friends on Friday nights.

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The Hurt Locker Part One is the lowest rated episode to date, with 1.83 million viewers

 

I'd be lying if I said I didn't read this and let out an evil giggle. I'm not even sure where these high levels of schadenfreude are coming from. It's not like anyone is forcing me to watch this dreck.

Edited by CleoCaesar
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