Ratings Report: A Note to “Fifth Grade” Producers for Season Two
We haven’t done a ratings update in a while because, well, with the season winding down we know what happens. I’ve checked on this stuff for the past few years and every season by this point the numbers dwindle as people realize that being outside is a lot of fun and this season is no exception. The one thing I do want to focus on this report, though, is Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader which had an increase during the first full week of May sweeps. The show increased 7% up to a 1.5 rating.
I’ve gone on record several times saying I am really enjoying Fifth Grader when I have the chance to watch it now. It’s quick, funny, light, and the perfect tone. It’s the best syndicated game show to come out probably since Millionaire. But, man, they ran out of episodes unbelievably quickly because of what I assume has to be poor planning. The double run in some markets was unavoidable. However, they ran original episodes often on CMT eliminating freshness there. Then they ran episodes on MyNetwork removing even more. They ran out of anything original within a few months, and that’s a giant problem. They need to be very careful, especially with the MyNetwork run. The MyNetwork airings tie in with the syndicated ratings, and the episodes are getting incredibly familiar. Plan what will air a little better next season, try to blend season one episodes in nicely if there aren’t any significant changes, and it’ll be fine. I just hope they don’t coast into next season and do some promotional effort to remind people it’s still around, unlike what Deal or No Deal did.
Speaking of Deal or No Deal, the show finally got a ratings update but it probably was best being kept away. It was down 9% to a 1.0 rating. Family Feud had a nice week, sticking at its 1.5 rating tying Fifth Grader. Let’s see what happens next season with Steve Harvey. Who Wants to be a Millionaire sank 8% to 2.2. They may want to be careful. We’ll have lots of interesting Millionaire news in the next few weeks, stay tuned. Wheel of Fortune lost 5% to a 6.2 and Jeopardy! down 4% to a 5.4.
On Fifth Grader, you said "The show increased 7% up to a 1.5 rating." That means a statistically irrelevant move from 1.4 to 1.5 .
On DonD, you said "It was down 9% to a 1.0 rating". That means a statistically irrelevant move from 1.1 to 1.0 .
When you're working with such low decimal numbers, calling attention to percent changes can be very misleading to people that don't understand statistics. Week-to-week analysis of numbers this low is meaningless because the numerical change is within the survey's margin of error.
Maybe it's me, but perhaps MyNet should consider airing just the "celebrity" episodes of 5th Grader during the season. Unlike CMT and syndie, MyNet is only airing two episodes a week. There should be enough celeb episodes over two seasons of tapings to make a "full season" of it. For "sweeps months," air civilian episodes where contestants try, or have the opportunity to try the bonus question for at least $100,000.
That could work. Have My Network TV air only celebrity episodes and have CMT air episodes 2 weeks after they air in syndication (similar to the deal Fox and Adult Swim have with Family Guy).
Lots of interesting Millionaire news in the next few weeks…After what they've done to the show I can only dread what's next.
I sure hope they aren't forcing another fake millionaire on us like that Tof10 from this year.
Yes, it's statistically irrelevant, and a dumb way of reporting the numbers at the core, but every single piece of broadcast journalism reports on ratings numbers the exact same way. Truth be told, in a world where shows that get a 1.0 rating get renewed and a 0.9 show doesn't, perhaps the percentage does hold a bit of merit.
Working in TV, margins of errors hold absolutely no meaning when reporting ratings. They exist, but a ratings point is a ratings point.
You're not the only one that works in TV. ;)