Where Has the Time Gone?
- October 13
Wow... three weeks since the last Numbers Game? Where
has the time gone? Where have I gone? What's up with the
delay?
Let's just say I'm the
biggest victim of circumstance ever and be done with it.
To open up this round of TNG, let's hear it for another
victim of circumstance (not to mention bad taste), "The
Apprentice: Martha Stewart".
When we started...
We had a talk show and
almost every waking hour on NBC to hype the show up. Did
it work? Not quite... The show attracted 7.65 million
viewers, scoring a second-place 6.7/10 in the overnights
and a 2.5/7 among adults 18-49 from 8-9 p.m. ABC could
be the culprit in this debacle, as they did air a
"Destination: Lost" special opposite, but most of the
blame is squarely on the franchise itself.
If you were one of the
7.65 million viewers watching, then you did notice more
than one striking aspect of show cloning. Teams, tasks,
and the eventual firing were all sterilized for the new
post-prison Martha image. As a result, everything that
was appealing about "The Apprentice" was gone in an
instant. And so were the viewers, apparently. Let's take
a look as time marches forward...
Later on...
The following week:
erosion sets in. Despite having no "Lost" milk special
opposite the show, it only managed a 5.7/9 in the
overnights, second place tie, and a fourth-place share
in viewers (6.22 million viewers) and 18-49ers (2.1/6).
Last Wednesday...
a switch to 9p, and a fourth-place finish as a result:
5.3/8 in the overnights, 6.48 million viewers, and a
2.5/ 7 among adults 18-49 in its new time period. Even
opposite "Lost", it gained some viewers, but not enough
to warrant its continued existence on any network.
Yesterday... NBC was in
fourth overall, and The Apprentice was hardly any better
with a fourth-place 5.1/8.
The last couple of
weeks, it should be noted, were baseball division series
weeks.
So why the erosion?
Could it be that NBC once again is desperate for a hit
that it'll clone one of its bigger ones (we all remember
the debacle that is "Coupling")? Or could it be that NBC
has done that... and in the process underestimated the
intelligence of the audience? After all, we all know
that the Queen of Good Things is hardly a "good thing"
herself. Someone busted for insider trading has to have
a seedier dark side. Similar in stature to money woes
that plagued the Donald earlier in his career, instead
of embracing that dark side (which made "The Apprentice"
work in the first place - remember the mantra: "It's
nothing personal, it's just business"), Martha shies
away from it, opting even for a cordial parting gift of
a letter. Viewers called her on it, and as a result,
they never came back.
In other numbers...
- Is "The Amazing Race"
a family affair after all? Last week's show posted
thusly: third-place (and biting) 7.4/10 in the
overnights and 11.35 million viewers, with a second
place demo finish (4.4/11). One week prior, 7.6/11 in
the overnights for a tie at third, 11.40 million viewers
for second, and a 4.2/11 among adults 18-49. One week
prior than that, the premiere scores thusly: Overnights:
7.3/10; Viewers: 10.71 million; A18-49: 4.4/11. This was
a two-hour show. Expect this to be a competitive, but
level, par for the course on the diluted (yet still
enjoyable) Race.
- The season-finale of
Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance" signed off at a
respectable 5.5/8 in the overnights (#3), 8.00 million
viewers (#3) and a second-place 2.9/8 among adults
18-49, according to Mediaweek.com. Does that mean we'll
see more of it? It all depends on the ever-changing
whims of the Fox heads, but if such were the case, I
would not be surprised.
We're gonna make some
more time each week so this kind of gap doesn't happen
again. Until next week, remember, the numbers never lie.
You can probably
tell, but Chico Alexander is in the minority, as he
doesn't get "Lost". E-mail him at chico@gameshownewsnet.com |