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Last Week, NBC Had Its Worst Ratings In History (Probably)

cnn.com — The network, which dominated television in the late 1990s and earlier this decade, averaged only 6.8 million viewers in prime time last week, according to Nielsen Media Research. That's believed to be lowest weekly average that NBC has recorded during a TV season since the advent of Nielsen's "people meters" 20 years ago, and likely ever.

Who dugg this? Made popular Apr 19, 2007

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  • rmany2k, on 10/12/2007, -3/+145No, that's what happens when you put Heroes on a hiatus.
  • Akaji, on 10/12/2007, -2/+40You beat me to it, rmany2k. Heroes brought in a massive amount of people. It's back on next week (Apr. 23), so I suspect that NBC's ratings will go right back up.
  • Artifez, on 10/12/2007, -3/+30I liked Drive, it was fairly original and you can't beat Mal for a main character.
  • tc811, on 10/12/2007, -5/+29Fools, you all forgot The Office, the best show ever!
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+21My favorite network shows are the Office and Heroes... so I dunno.
  • Charlesbian, on 10/12/2007, -0/+21Andy Barker has unfortunately been axed. It will have a limited run but then not be renewed. It was a better than average show
  • Strongbrau, on 10/12/2007, -2/+21I smell a conspiracy, NBC planned the shootings.
  • sctechguy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19NBC has:

    The Office
    Heroes
    30 Rock
    Andy Barker


    The first two being the big ones, though, granted, they only make up an hour and a half out of the 15 hours of primetime programming slots in any given week...
  • skunkit, on 10/12/2007, -4/+20Does anyone actually care that NBC has bad ratings?
  • reddevil3, on 10/12/2007, -2/+18Yeah I do. That means shows like The Office, My Name Is Earl, 30 Rock and Scrubs could get canceled, which are all great, funny shows.

    Andy Barker P.I was also pretty good, but it's ratings were horrendous.
  • ObiusX, on 10/12/2007, -3/+18Don't forget Scrubs.
  • LordSkywalker, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13@sctechguy:

    Heroes is on hiatus and Andy Barker P.I. was canceled.
  • atticus8, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13This was dugg for the Mal reference but then doubledipperduggered on mcatrage for even noticing that black cop guy was the bounty hunter. That ***** weirdo was the best non-cast character on Firefly. (maybe that triple-crossing, orange-haired whore also, because she's pretty cute)
  • snlildude87, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12To save its ratings, apparently.
  • SniperX, on 11/07/2007, -4/+15Exactly, go figure, the first week The Black Donnelly's was cancelled this news comes out. Heroes is awesome, and it being on hiatus doesn't help, but it has been on hiatus for over 4 weeks and this news just came out.

    With that said, NBC pretty much always sucks now. Heroes and The Black Donellys were it's only saving graces.
  • wedges, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10Nielsen ratings are flawed and inaccurate. That's why shows can have terrible ratings, but have top-selling DVD sets. Network TV heads don't know ***** about what people really want to watch.
  • rhfb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Cancelling Black Donnellys and Andy Barker... Two bad moves :(
  • popophobia, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10The media package from that killer in VTech massacre may have saved NBC rating. I still don't understand why he sent it to NBC but not other station (CNN maybe).
  • themastersb, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10Hiro from Heroes... now that's a real hero.
  • weizilla, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I only know what days shows are on so I can get the bittorrent in the morning after
  • inactive, on 11/07/2007, -3/+10Ummm..considering Te Black Donnellys was cancelled due to abysmal ratings, it is kind of a stretch to suggest that the low ratings this week had anything to due to its cancellation.
  • pooper, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9the Nielsen Ratings are stupid and broken...
  • bbhh, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6yeah i don't care as long as the office, heroes, and 30 rock don't get canceled.
  • rstarr, on 10/12/2007, -4/+10@sniper

    Umm...[scrubs] not good enough for you?
  • theexit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Cancelling The Black Donnellys and putting Heroes on a break was the dumbest thing they could do. If they were smart they'd keep The Donnellys and never put a show like Heroes on a break again.
  • thatbox, on 11/07/2007, -5/+11They keep cancelling all the good *****, like The Black Donnellys and Andy Barker PI, and they aren't showing any Sorkin anymore. Serves them right!
  • nukethewhales, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Too bad. They had the best lineup of new shows, but people aren't watching.

    Heroes is on hiatus. Studio 60 was good but it got worse after the pilot, though I think it got better before it got canceled. Friday Night Lights is one of the best hours of television. And 30 Rock made their Thursday the best since Seinfeld went off the air.

    So what happened?
  • PhoenixAvatar2, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Except if Scrubs were ever canceled, ABC would pick it up in an instant.
  • ErrandboyOfDoom, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5As Nate Corddry revealed in his interview with Terri Gross*, The Black Donnellys was competing with only one other show: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. It was originally slated to fill in the ER hiatus, but then ER had a sudden surge in ratings, so they used ER reruns to fill in for ER. Black Donnellys was suddenly competing with Studio 60 for its established spot. Studio 60 premiered at the regular time of the year for new shows, so it got the normal network push to all the critics, who in turn gave it good buzz, which in turn generated a more established fan base. The Black Donnellys, on the other hand, got no such push. Sadly, Donnellys was destined to fail, because the network + critics aren't prepared to create any buzz or support for midseason shows.

    I like Studio 60 enough, don't get me wrong.

    The tragedy is that so many people still watch neverending, formulaic hospital dramas and game shows that are essentially a series of coinflips. Innovative attempts at actual storytelling are all forced to fight for the crumbs that fall off the table.

    The trend is that content producers are no longer shopping innovative ideas to broadcast, they are going straight to the cable networks.** If this is the rule at NBC, seems the pattern will only continue, until former FCC chair Michael Powell's prediction is realized: we are witnessing the "death of free TV."*** I think he's right, but it's not a murder, it's a suicide.

    * http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7773229
    ** http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2007/04/so_long_tony.html
    *** http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/media/july-dec01/powell_8-9.html
  • sctechguy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5@ObiusX: Damn, I forgot about Scrubs. That was definitely an oversight. Thanks for the clarification.

    Ok, So, NBC has two hours, out of a 15 hour primetime programming schedule.
  • nukethewhales, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Actually I think most shows were new last week. They had new episodes of The Office, Scrubs, My Name is Earl, and 30 Rock . They also had the series finale of Friday Night Lights. But you not knowing shows how bad their marketing department is.
  • mistical, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6I only tune into NBC to watch The Office, My Name is Earl, Heroes, Law and Order: SVU and The Black Donnellys. I am disappointed that NBC has cancelled The Black Donnellys. It always seems to me that NBC never gives any of its shows a chance. Majority of what I read over at TV.com and other forums, most people loved the show and want it back. For how people get their TV shows today, more people watch it then they think and they need to look at these statistics too. The Office was almost cancelled its first season but thanks to some other places like iTunes and such (I can't remember exact details of how it was saved) we are able to still watch this hilarious show today. I wouldn't be too disappointed if Earl got cancelled though I do like the show but only giving The Black Donnellys 7 episodes was terrible imo, they could of at least shows the rest of the 6 they had filmed (which I know usually doesn't happen but if they air maybe someone new will turn in that week and tell their friends about the show, etc things could happen). And yes, I know you can go watch The Black Donnellys at NBC.com (as I have) but it's still a huge in convince, terrible quality and I don't like their setup of watching episodes.
  • dext3r, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Andy Barker was alright. I think if it had more time it could have become funnier.

    Andy Richter controls the Universe was *damn* good. I wish they'd at least release it on DVD so i can get some good quality rips. Then I can study for my Zuminion.
  • wierdaaron, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3NBC was almost all reruns last week. What would you expect? These days with digital cable, satellite, tivo, and TV Guide, people know when shows will be reruns and don't bother watching. NBC has had reruns of The Office and ER for a while now, and Heroes has been gone. Quite annoying.
  • OhROFL, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Hey, I have a FUN idea. Let's capitalize RANDOM *****. Well, sometimes it's just the first TWo letters.

    Nielsen ratings aren't accurarte. NBC shouldn't have given Heroes such a long hiatus. They need to put Black Donnellys and Andy Barker back on. Screw American Idol.
  • kiantech, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3The TV guide doesn't come in the sunday newspaper anymore as of 2 weeks ago, well at least with the LA times.
  • RandomGuySteve, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3*Arson. The little man loved fire. *
  • Marijuana, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7With the footage that was sent in by the Virginia Tech killer Cho Seung-Hui, NBC should be ranking in ratings THIS week.
  • iWANTmySNback, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Donnelly's is on hiatus, just like heroes and studio 60, no mater how slow a start, or HUGE in heroes case, I would like a constant stream of new episodes, and some kind of finale when you paln on taking a break. If I wanted random spurts of useless unfinished video I would just watch youtube. Your the Big guys and your being out produced by kids with shotguns on their nuts, and trampoline accidents.
  • InetRoadkill, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5I haven't watched network TV for a long time now. I don't even open the TV guide that comes in the Sunday paper.
  • punx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3OMG, the Black Donnelly's was cancelled? My husband is going to be so pissed...hope he doesn't see that before I have a chance to tell him. Crap, that makes me feel terrible. The poor guy watches very few things on tv, and always has to sit through Survivor with me. Damnit, but it figures I heard it on Digg first.
  • Barbarino, on 10/12/2007, -5/+8I don't know anyone my age (30) who watches network tv. Plus once I got a tivo, I have no idea what day of the week any show is on.
  • PaulLev, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This is just part of a bigger decline of all television networks, which are slowly sinking in the sun... http://www.paullevinson.net/archives/the_end_of_mass_media.phtml
  • Rued, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Are people still watching TV? who cares?!
  • Rickler, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2So many people do not know that they can get high-def 1080i shows over the air free. All you need is a TV with an ATSC tuner and a antenna.

    http://www.antennaweb.org/ see what channels are in your area.
  • thezettabytes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Scrubs is by no means a hit it got 2.9 in 18-49 demo last night's episode. 30 Rock is a big flop so was Any Barker. NBC has only The Office and Heroes and to an extent Deal or No Deal that can be considered ratings successes.
  • emjaymj, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Now that was an example of a gorram amazing show with awful ratings.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Um...no they aren't. YouTube is NOT replacing TV, no matter what you think in your fantasyworld.
  • Cerebral, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@smkoehler
    I agree get rid of the mid-season break bull. Just run the episodes and change the face of television by going 36 weeks. I think it can be done and the first show that does it will build such a good following that it will change the face of the industry (one can hope right).

    @hdtvdust
    First of all costs would not SKYROCKET as you put it. You can work around that, develop deep plots that way the action can have a rightful place. Don't tell me TBD had huge production costs. Heroes was also lower budget and that was part of what made it great. They built STORY and didn't just flash effects in people's faces and when they did, it mattered. Also if you have actors and writers who are unwilling to do 36 episodes/yr. then simply get new ones. There are actors and writers out there with talent that would be happy to do it. It's just like any other job, if they don't want to do the work then get rid of them. I don't think I have ever seen one of the people from TBD on anything else ever but I loved that show.

    I wish Hollywood would realize that you don't need big names to have a great show. What happened to MAKING big names? George Clooney was nothing before he was on ER.

    I really hate NBC right now because of the Heroes "break" as well as killing Studio 60 right when it was hitting it's stride and killing TBD right when that show started hitting it's stride. ***** you NBC.

    All I can say for TV right now is that I'm glad that Heroes is coming back next week and the fact that LOST has really turned things around and are trying to fix their problems.

    EDIT: With all of the new high tech gadgetry you would thing that NEILSON would no longer be needed but then again, just as with the RIAA, we see a case where failure to evolve with technology is only causing more headaches to the customer. THANKS ASSHATS! If they want to use Neilson then everyone should be able to sign up and take part!
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