Looking at last night’s ratings for the major Australian networks is instructive. It demonstrates the old axiom wheeled out by Channel Ten at various times – people don’t watch Networks, they watch shows*
The case study here is channel nine which subbed the buzz show™ of the season Fringe with an actual fast-tracked success story – The Mentalist.
On Sunday Nights the mentalist has been a beacon of hope for the network recording very good ratings (it was Sunday night’s top show) with averages around 1.3 million a week. Circumstances (the Rugby League World Cup) have forced Nine to schedule the show on a new night so the choice was elementary. Indeed one could conclude with Wednesday Two and a Half Men bludgeoning the competition at 7.30 there would be an orderly flow from Nine’s sitcom hit to their new drama hit.
So much for jumping to conclusions, Criminal Minds, undoubtedly one of Seven’s must surprising performers this year has mostly held it’s ground although it suffered the biggest week on week drop losing 197,000 people to Nine, House, already in the doldrums, excised a further 25,000 viewers. The Mentalist came third in the timeslot (2nd was Spicks & Specks on 1.24 million) and improved on Fringe by 309,000 viewers.
A good result for Nine but nowhere near the 1.4 million The Mentalist achieved on Sunday night, in spite of the fact that Two & a Half Men pulled a roaring 1.4 million in the half hour prior, so what does this mean?
Essentially – it means that the people watching Two and a Half Men, are not fixated on Crime Dramas (indeed a good proportion would be switching to the ABC at 8.30 with others going to Cable and kids quite likely headed to bed) and the people watching Criminal Minds are mostly the same crowd who have been following The Mentalist.
The other conclusion we can draw from last night is that after several weeks you can stick a fork in House – he’s done, why Ten continues to piss fast-tracked episodes up the wall (they will do again next week) when their early evening sked is driving viewers away is beyond me – they should pull House and hold their fire for the new season when they can do a proper launch for the show.
*Unless that Network is Seven
The case study here is channel nine which subbed the buzz show™ of the season Fringe with an actual fast-tracked success story – The Mentalist.
On Sunday Nights the mentalist has been a beacon of hope for the network recording very good ratings (it was Sunday night’s top show) with averages around 1.3 million a week. Circumstances (the Rugby League World Cup) have forced Nine to schedule the show on a new night so the choice was elementary. Indeed one could conclude with Wednesday Two and a Half Men bludgeoning the competition at 7.30 there would be an orderly flow from Nine’s sitcom hit to their new drama hit.
So much for jumping to conclusions, Criminal Minds, undoubtedly one of Seven’s must surprising performers this year has mostly held it’s ground although it suffered the biggest week on week drop losing 197,000 people to Nine, House, already in the doldrums, excised a further 25,000 viewers. The Mentalist came third in the timeslot (2nd was Spicks & Specks on 1.24 million) and improved on Fringe by 309,000 viewers.
A good result for Nine but nowhere near the 1.4 million The Mentalist achieved on Sunday night, in spite of the fact that Two & a Half Men pulled a roaring 1.4 million in the half hour prior, so what does this mean?
Essentially – it means that the people watching Two and a Half Men, are not fixated on Crime Dramas (indeed a good proportion would be switching to the ABC at 8.30 with others going to Cable and kids quite likely headed to bed) and the people watching Criminal Minds are mostly the same crowd who have been following The Mentalist.
The other conclusion we can draw from last night is that after several weeks you can stick a fork in House – he’s done, why Ten continues to piss fast-tracked episodes up the wall (they will do again next week) when their early evening sked is driving viewers away is beyond me – they should pull House and hold their fire for the new season when they can do a proper launch for the show.
*Unless that Network is Seven
No comments:
Post a Comment