Ratings Report: All Are Up or Flat
We’ve finally got some good news for basically all the syndicated game shows. But first I want to start with Let’s Make A Deal which is really the show to watch. As we reported on last time the ratings are not that bad. Obviously they aren’t fantastic but they aren’t bad. We’ve got some more figures for you courtesy of TV MoJoe. The ratings of LMAD versus the ratings of what it replaced, Guiding Light, are up 7%. It’s at an average of around a 1.6. That’s the good news. The not-so-good news is that it’s down in the key women demo. In women 18-49 it’s down 13% and in 25-54 it’s down 20%. It’s flat when we look at women 18-34 though. So the old housewives are a bit bitter I suppose. The interesting thing is it’s up a tenth of a point in the men demographic so that’s nice. I’d be curious to see if Let’s Make A Deal is doing anything with Price is Right’s ratings since they’ve been up also. But regardless the show’s not doing unbelievable so don’t get your hopes up for a complete retooling of network daytime everywhere. This could have gone so much worse, though. It’s a positive that ratings are up and we’ll have to see how it does the rest of the season.
As for syndication everything is up for flat, as the title suggests. The newest show, Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader, is flat a 1.6 rating. We talked about it a bit last week but I’m really curious as to the episodes only airing in syndication and not on MyNetwork. It’s just bizarre that we went from a 0.9 rating in the debut to a 1.6 in one week. Something’s up there. Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune continue to dominate with a 5.9 and a 7.2. Both are up 9%. Also up 9% is Who Wants to be a Millionaire at a 2.5. The Tournament of Ten begins soon and it’s guaranteed at this point that someone wins the million dollars. Let’s see if this has a positive effect on the ratings. Deal or No Deal had the largest increase at a 1.3, up 18%. People just seem tired of this format at this point. Family Feud stayed flat at 1.2.
A bit ago we got some ratings for Catch 21 and Newlywed Game from Friday, October 16th. That showed Newlywed Game at .38 and Catch 21 at .46, the highest rating of the day for the network. The primetime reruns both got a .33. The only things coming closer during the day were Deal or No Deal in 3rd place and John O’Hurley’s Family Feud in 2nd, at a .43 and .45 each.
You know, to be honest, the fact that something is on MyNetworkTV or even on that station makes it very unlikely for me to watch it, which may be hurting Deal or No Deal a lot. The CW I am kind of like that too, but not as bad. Also, I would be more likely to watch Millionaire if it weren't at 2AM. All of these things have impact on ratings, you have to take into account. Some people not tired of Deal or No Deal may not even think to watch another station than NBC, and probably got confused with all the timeslot changes.
Umm… Deal or No Deal is still in syndication. I saw two episodes at Noon in Los Angeles. I guess DOND may air repeats in MyNetworkTV.
I think he means that a lot of people don't realize Deal Or No Deal is on other stations rather then NBC for syndication now.
I am starting to like LMAD. I have to admit that I was skeptical of the hour format. I'm still not crazy about the new "Big Deal" format, but Wayne Brady is coming into his own as a host. I'd prefer to see less of the of comical stuff (since this isn't Whose Line Is It Anyway), but (when he gets down to serious stuff, he does it quite well. As for the female demographic not liking it, I think they might be boycotting the fact that GL got canceled. In other words, ANY show would have been boycotted because of that.
Matt, you are essentially right, but in my former market DOND's syndicated feed aired on the MyNetworkTV station too, and it is so in many other markets, that was part of the point as well.
That should be telling GSN something. Get some more O'Hurley Feud. I'm certain they can get some Season 2 or even Season 3 episodes. I'm assuming having episodes from both Season 1 and 2 would help out quite a bit and help stave off rerun abuse, although it's quite rerun abused already.
I wonder how stations that air LMAD at 10AM Eastern are doing vs stations that air it at 3PM. Are stations that paired it with TPIR doing better?
And Drew Carey thinks that Price fans are the telephone pole screamers… he obviously has no experience with the soap fans.
Has he ever visited G-R.net? I wonder how many there are "telephone pole screamers"?
In my areaIPhilly), it's getting about the same or slightly better numbers than the average. Certainly helps when it leads into TPIR.
That’s good news for the game show genre. Should 5th Grader stay at 1.6 or go up, it could mean that it will do what Temptation or Trivial Pursuit failed to do, get picked up for a second season. Deal or No Deal at 1.3 frightens me, seeing as it didn’t get any lower than a 1.5 last season. So what’s to blame for it? NBC’s decision to move the show to Connecticut in order to save money? Possibly. The primetime runs on My Network TV? Could be. But that’s neither here nor there. Let’s Make A Deal…no surprise that it’s off to a good start despite the fact that CBS didn’t really promote the show until a few weeks before air time.
I've heard that DOND airs at weird times (late night) in some areas, now. Maybe that's it.
I'm sure he has…but he really doesn't have to. There is a very vocal minority on G-R.net that feels it is their "Dob given right" to be anonymously abusive. A few of the "screamers" have posted on TPIR's new website (priceisright.com). A couple of them tried to infect Drew's blog with their hysterical rants. No matter how big a fan of a show you are, it's really poor form to go on someone's personal blog and tell them what a piece of crap you think they are.
We're talking about game shows here. It should be fun. And we "Buzzerbloggers" can disagree without resorting to the name-calling and abusive language that some G-R posters consider criticism. That's why some of us don't take that site very seriously. It's like the Fox News of game show sites. The "Glenn Beck's" drown out the posters who actually have positive points to make. Yeah, the rants can be entertaining, but at the end of the day, who takes them seriously?
Myke25: I agree with you. Let's just keep it simple.
Well said, Myke25. While me and you can disagree with some things, I do respect you because of your knowledge of the genre. And people need to realize that this is a blog site. So if you disagree with what we say, fine. It’s your opinion and you’re entitled to it.
In Detroit, it comes on WWJ at 1:35 AM. Motown's probably in the top 15 or 20 in terms of market size, so it has to hurt somewhat.
It definitely does have an impact, but whether we see if as fair or not, the reality is the advertisers are only going to buy based on the actual eyeballs, and not be caught up in "but it's on at 2:30 in the morning on the CW in East Bumbleford." Other than Wheel and Jeopardy, and even they get some less than stellar clearances here and there, some middle of the nighters are par for the course. So is being stuck on the My TV station surrounded by utterly incomatible programming. But keep in mind pulling stellar numbers in some other markets gives you a chance to bust out of the graveyard if an opening presents itself. Do mediocre numbers where you have a good situation, and a station manager is unlikely to consider upgrading you when they're looking at changes.
Very true, HomerJay. There are several factors come into play in this situation. Considering the fact that Deal or No Deal are, in some markets, on Fox or CW affiliates, meaning that when 5th Grader premiered, it had to move Deal elsewhere, and, since many Fox affiliates air court shows (eg. Divorce Court, Judge Alex) in the daytime, they couldn’t put it there, so it was late night. Or, some markets are “doughnut markets”, meaning it’s a market where viewers pick up stations in other markets, whether it’s on cable or whereever, so it could be that the station in the other market(s) airs it before the home market.