Whedonesque : Comments on 12978 : Drive launch event ratings.

And in millions of viewers (plus 18-49 demo) from pifeedback.com

8:00 p.m. Viewers: 6.41 million (#4), A18-49: 2.6/ 7 (#3)
8:30 p.m. Viewers: 6.32 million (#4), A18-49: 2.6/ 7 (#3)
9:00 p.m. Viewers: 5.87 million (#4), A18-49: 2.6/ 6 (#3)
9:30 p.m. Viewers: 5.59 million (#4), A18-49: 2.6/ 6 (#3)

helcat | April 16, 21:08 CET

Cheers, helcat.

I'm now viewin' this as one of the BBC mini-series we UKers all know and love.

gossi | April 16, 21:09 CET

Well at least this time, one can't blame Fox on not promoting this thing, from the reports I have heard, Fox stopped short of knocking on people's doors to watch this thing. *sigh*. So is this really really that bad? Would they try to re-air the pilot in another slot to get more viewership maybe? *sigh* it was nice while it lasted...

kurya | April 16, 21:13 CET

They need a massive surge for tonight's episode which seems unlikely but who knows.

helcat | April 16, 21:14 CET

Everybody who enjoyed it last night talked about it at work this morning, so we'll see what impact that has tonight when it's on at the regular time.

Pointy | April 16, 21:14 CET

The only problem tonight is it's against a reality show -- the Dancing With The Stars thing. That's a big, big show. Which killed Tim's last show, The Inside, in the ratings.

Like I say, I'm in BBC mode now. I'm on board for the ride.

gossi | April 16, 21:18 CET

I really really like this show. I have to admit though, I didn't see one single commercial for this show. I didn't see one poster or one ad for this show. The only reason I knew about this show was because of this site. So I am not sure how effective FOX has been in their advertising outside showing commercials on FOX.

Hopefully, the word gets out about the show. This is already one of my favorites. Having said that, I have ZERO faith in FOX (a.k.a - Network with a quick AXE) if the ratings don't pick up by episode 5.

I think getting a new show on FOX is sort of a love hate thing. The writer/producer loves the opportunity but in the back of their heads is probably going... FOX... nooooooooooooooooo.

DarenG | April 16, 21:28 CET

BBC mode? you mean only have 13 episodes to see? Oh wait if this show isnt doing well.. I guess they won't even show the latter 7 episodes?

kurya | April 16, 21:29 CET

Actually, there was a lot of cross promoting on other channels. ESPN, SPEED, TNT and the like. I am really keeping my fingers crossed that the word will spread and that Drive will keep moving forward, and then up in the ratings.
pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease

mifeng | April 16, 21:33 CET

Holy Cow, People. Give it a little time.

It needs a little time to grow some legs. And besides, maybe these numbers are on average with a new premiere. I doubt all premieres launch in 1st place. Heck, I'd love to know what Buffy's ratings were for its premiere.

And at least they beat the CW. And furthermore, it was SUNDAY night. The actual slot for this show is MONDAY. And trust me, there's nothing on tv on Monday so it's bound to do well.

[ edited by kerfuffle on 2007-04-16 18:35 ]

kerfuffle | April 16, 21:33 CET

What were Prison Break's ratings?

C. A. Bridges | April 16, 21:34 CET

Sorry kerfuffle! You're right though...
I dont know what the numbers mean for sure, but Fox makes me so nervous!

mifeng | April 16, 21:37 CET

Prison Break did better at first, apparently.

I think Drive did better in the key demographic than it did in the overal ratings, but I'm not sure. Keep the faith!

Septimus | April 16, 21:41 CET

I'm hoping FOX, having already committed a lot to this, will let it find its audience.

C. A. Bridges | April 16, 21:43 CET

I actually saw quite a bit of promotion for this show. There was always an ad I'd TiVo through while *cough*watchingAmericanIdol*cough*, and I saw one on FX while watching a Buffy rerun, too.

I watched last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. I can't say I got the complaints I've read here and there that things weren't explained enough or too confusing. Compared to Lost, it was downright spelled out for you, except for the main mystery of who runs the race and why. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it sticks around.

karosurly | April 16, 21:43 CET

Ooh, that's a good point about the demos.

*keeps fingers crossed*

blueanddollsome | April 16, 21:45 CET

*fingers crossed and praying to all hindu deities...* oh this will take a little while... *sigh*

kurya | April 16, 21:48 CET

I actually saw tons of promotions for this show. I can't count the number of times I was watching a channel and saw a promo for and questioned why this channel was promoting it. FX, FXM, Speed, TNT and Fox all had promos for it shortly after they cast Nathan. Hell one of them was so long ago it still had Alan Ruck in it. So this is one of the times when we really can't place the blame on Fox for not promoting it.

I definitely dug the show. I hope it sticks around for a while. There is one thing on monday, How I Met Your Mother, but from what I understand that show is on the "bubble" too.

war_machine | April 16, 21:50 CET

From Hollywood Reporter website:

Meanwhile, Fox's two-hour premiere of "Drive" averaged 6 million viewers and a 2.6 rating/6 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, according to preliminary data released Monday by Nielsen Media Research. It stayed steady in adults 18-49 but dropped in viewers from 6.4 million viewers at 8 p.m. to 5.9 million at 9:30 p.m. It finished third in the demo and fourth in viewers.

I agree with everything gossi has said here, plus *weeps quietly* damn allergies. :-(

I saw commercials all the time for DRIVE on Fox, Speed, FX, E!, and more. Plus, there were publicity events -- the wonderful screening sponsored by SoCal Browncoats had lots of news programs there, from what I remember on that thread, plus live blogging on Twitter (well, that was mostly for us fans), etc. I can't blame Fox at all; I have to admit they did a good job with promoting it.

billz | April 16, 21:53 CET

I'm scared about the fact that it's up against Dancing With The Stars. I hope the word-of-mouth thing will help the ratings.

Ameer | April 16, 21:58 CET

Tonight, Drive is up against:
- Dancing with the Stars (ABC)
- Deal or No Deal (NBC)
- How I Met Your Mother rerun at 8, The New Adventures of Old Christine at 8:30 (CBS)
- Everybody Hates Chris rerun at 8, All of Us rerun at 8:30 (The CW)

After tonight's 'sode, we'll be 1/2 way through season 1 (as Season 1 is split). So watch it!

Arabchick | April 16, 21:58 CET

I am sure that within the decade we will find shows being canceled before the two hour premiers have been completely aired. Indeed, some may only get to show the first ninty minutes of the two hours, and the last thirty minutes will be replaced by a solid block of advertisments for other shows.

htom | April 16, 22:13 CET

Fox cannot be blamed for the low ratings. I think they did a great job of promoting the show. I just hope they give it time for word of mouth to help it grow. Everyone I know that saw it enjoyed it a great deal. Unfortunately, the split season will not help matters.

Ninja MALi | April 16, 22:31 CET

I feel awkward that we don't have Fox to kick around anymore. Ummm. Crap. In the past it was "What happened!. Dunno! Blame Fox anyhow!".

It's a sad day for us headless chickens.

Though despite living in the age of instant reaction angst, I'm sure the ratings will do ok.

Simon | April 16, 22:43 CET

i really had fun watching last night's eps and will be watching tonight's too - i'm in for the whole drive, as it were, so i hope it's given a chance to find it's audience. mind you, i didn't see a single ad for the show until just a couple of days ago, so that doesn't seem like much of a campaign to me.

millions of people don't watch FX and Speed, so they might want to consider broadening their target group.

t r a c y | April 16, 22:49 CET

htom, if that ever becomes the case, we can probably say goodbye to big expensive series premieres. Networks don't waste all that money on big sprawling dramas with unique settings (from Lost to Carnivale) only to give them a one episode chance. Cheaper shows can be cancelled more quickly it seems. I remember a David E. Kelley drama that had three female lawyers--Girls Club, with Kathleen Robertson, Chyler Leigh, and Gretchen Mol--that only aired for two episodes before being pulled, despite having 13 in the can. I have yet to see something expensive like Drive only get pulled after a couple eps though.

Was Wonderfalls very expensive? For starters, it was filmed up here on the Canadian dollar, so it must've been cheaper than it would've been if they'd filmed on the American side of the Niagara Falls border...but that pilot was awfully nice-looking too. At only four episodes aired, that might've been the most quickly cancelled of any show I've loved.

I missed Drive last night. It was my sister's b-day, was doing family stuff. Had little cousins over, was too busy playing games on the Nintendo Wii, forgot to set it to tape. Guess it'll be DVD-only then.

Kris | April 16, 22:52 CET

This sucks. I love the series. I just keep hoping somehow this won't be the end, but will start searching for reasons why it is fox fault in case the worst does happen.

the Groosalugg | April 16, 22:52 CET

I don't watch FX or Speed but saw endless trailers for "Drive". I really don't think the problem here was a lack of promotion.

helcat | April 16, 23:00 CET

I hate to be gloomy, cuz I dug the show, but these numbers are a big, big problem. More people in the U.S. watch TV on Sunday night than any other night of the week, and if a show on a Big 4 network can't pull more than a 3.7, it's in trouble. We can hope for growth tonight, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Sucks, but there it is. I'd love to be wrong.

jlp | April 16, 23:04 CET

Kris: I thought that Katie Finneran (Wonderfalls) was cast to play Alex Tully's sister. But nothing on her IMDB site. Probably set to be in yet-to-be-filmed episodes beyond the five already in the can. I hope she actually gets the chance...

Flyvote | April 16, 23:15 CET

I thought the show was OK. They had a tremendous number of characters to introduce and that can be tedious. I will watch again because I sense potential.

I thought Fillion was the best actor of the bunch. Many of them are not especially convincing and a couple of them overact to a scandalous degree.

I saw numerous promotional spots for the show but I often watch Bones and wouldest-ette watches House (both on Fox) so its no surprise that the network would promote its own show.

wouldestous | April 16, 23:17 CET

Are they going to put Drive on the Fox Myspace video on demand?
http://creative.myspace.com/VOD/

A month or two ago a column on ratings said they count online viewings through network websites in the overall ratings. With the short leash given many new series, they should start doing this for Drive today.

jubal lives | April 16, 23:33 CET

Hoo boy...I was afraid this would happen. But I didn't think it would lose viewers as the show moved along. Did all the backstories make things dull, or maybe the fear that we'll never see the whole story because Fox will AGAIN not give it a chance. I just hope, no matter what, Tim films the final part of the race. We've got to see who wins this thing, or maybe Mrs. Tully escapes before the homestretch and rightfully ruins it for everyone--especially the Organizers.

[ edited by impalergeneral on 2007-04-16 20:43 ]

impalergeneral | April 16, 23:42 CET

Millions of people may not get Speed or FX, but they do watch American Idol, and Drive was pushed hard to that demographic. There was a good IMDB promotion too. I think it's probably too early to tell how Drive is going to do. After all, Buffy's early numbers were dismal too.

I quite enjoyed 'Drive.' Nathan was awesome as always, and I liked the writing and the characters. Here's hoping it finds it's audience tonight!

ladygrey | April 16, 23:43 CET

Flyvote: That was definitely Katie Finneran's voice on the phone to Alex in that early scene.

RachVG | April 16, 23:44 CET

The worst part of it is it got beaten by a RERUN of Deal or No Deal. This does not bode well for the future of television.

I thought this time though that Fox could not be blamed. I saw a lot of commercials for it, they advertised it heavily on the highly rated show American Idol among other things.

Myself, I loved Wonderfalls, so I started watching it and taping it at the same time, twenty minutes in I decided I would rather go find some con reports from the Grand slam, but I kept taping it planning to watch it later.

If I had really found it compelling I probably wouldn't have left the room.

Still I'll check out tonights episode as well, although I hate to get attached to something that might get cancelled, so maybe I'll just tape it. And no I don't have Tivo (embarassed).

Xane | April 16, 23:48 CET

:(

Dalton | April 16, 23:50 CET

I think the fact that they waited until April to air this show is it's biggest liability. If a network picks up a show and doesn't air the series premiere until April the general feeling amongst the viewing public is that it can't be that great. If it were, why did they wait so long to air it?! That's my feeling as it concerns the poor showing in the ratings.

I thought it was great and hope it grows, but I am not incredibly optimistic... :(

CrazyMutha29 | April 17, 00:01 CET

Holy Cow, People. Give it a little time.

Tell that to the network. In all seriousness, these numbers are - uhm - really bad. DRIVE is not a cheap show -- massive cast, visual effects heavy, 2nd unit shooting car chases.. Also, big promotional push, which is expensive. To put it simply, this date last year FOX were running reruns of existing programs, and those reruns beat Drive's premiere.

Everything rests on tonight. If it looses audience tonight, this is going to be one of FOX's biggest bombs for a good while. I really, really hope that doesn't happen.

gossi | April 17, 00:01 CET

RachVG: You have a GOOD ear. It was only after Alex's conversation with her that I thought "Oh, yeah - Katie is supposed to be his sister". She stole Wonderfalls.

Flyvote | April 17, 00:06 CET

I was really excited about Katie being in it (though I noticed her name wasn't on as a guest star, so wasn't expecting to see her) so as soon as he said "Hey, sis!" my ears pricked up :D

RachVG | April 17, 00:20 CET

Does anyone know why the decision was made to air two episodes on Sunday night and kick off its regular time slot with Episode 3? If I was a mildly interested viewer I doubt I would remember to watch this yesterday and probably wouldn't try to pick up a series a couple of episodes in. I think putting it in at 7 with Heroes at 8 (albeit on another network) is actually not a bad counter-programming move. But this sort of stunt scheduling networks engage in these days needs to stop. Watching stuff on DVD is heaven by comparison and it just makes me less interested in trying out anything being broadcast.

yourlibrarian | April 17, 01:12 CET

I didn't watch last night because I don't get F#x, but I did have my sister tape it for me. I'm considering not watching it after seeing the ratings - I hate to get attached to anything when its fate is uncertain (and looking gloomy). And yourlibrarian I totally agree with questioning the Sunday/Monday airing. To me it makes much more sense to have the pilot air in the normal time slot. Plus another episode the very next night?? I'm not sure I see the logic.

onthedrift | April 17, 01:56 CET

Hm I hoped for more.

Just let us hope FOX will give it some time to grow and not cancel it after the third episode.

*keeps fingers crossed that lots of people find it*

Kessie | April 17, 02:19 CET

Damn it! I actually really enjoyed those two hours. The whole two hours and not just the bits with Nathan like I was expecting. I just hope I don't have to buy DVDs in a few months just to see how it ends.

CaptainB | April 17, 02:23 CET

So very sad! Hopefully tonight it will pick up. Does anyone know if Drive will eventually run up against Heroes? That airs Monday nights and it would be a shame for the two to compete (if Drive makes it that far).

AthenaMuze | April 17, 02:38 CET

Heroes airs at 9, it competes with 24.

delirium_haze | April 17, 03:02 CET

I feel a little bad that I didn't watch it last night. But I did record it. Not that it would matter. Ratings come from people with Neilson boxes or something right?

I'm a bit hopeful. I'm sure after several episodes air they will have a 'Drive' marathon. Marathons are usually what gets me hooked to a show anyway.

Also, Nathan should take advantage of his 20,000 Myspace friends and send everyone a bulletin every Monday and tell them to watch the show.

[ edited by kerfuffle on 2007-04-17 00:16 ]

kerfuffle | April 17, 03:11 CET

I'm pretty sure Nathan's MySpace friends are already watching the show...

As for a marathon. Darn right they should do that! They should also re-run the shows weekly on FX so people can catch up.

I think after all of the money they've put into Drive with such an extensive marketing campaign and stuff Fox will have to at least give it a chance. I think we'll see at least through the May 7 episode. (If it has abysmal numbers for every episode through May 7, well, then I won't really be able to blame Fox if they choose not to bring it back.)

Septimus | April 17, 03:40 CET

All good things take time. X-Files was not an overnight Hit. Family Guy was canceled and brought back from the dead. Let's just hope Fox has the good sense to give Drive the time it needs to find it's Audience. I understand the pessimism, though; We've been through this before... And Fox deciding to split the season before it even Aired... well, that seems like a stupid move, IMO.

TDBrown | April 17, 04:10 CET

Oh! HIMYM is a rerun...be it an extremely funny one, but maybe that will help Drive? Yes, and running the reruns on FX as marathons would be awesome. That helped Prison Break (FX) and Ugly Betty (ABC Family).

Harmalicious | April 17, 04:40 CET

Do I live under a rock? I didn't see any promo's for Drive either. I learned about it from this forum. Maybe the marketing was a little too targeted. BTW, I really liked it and I'm enjoying it tonight as well.

austinglobe | April 17, 04:58 CET

TDBrown, when was the last time Fox had patience with a show? And X-Files was of another TV era entirely. The rules are completely different now.

eta: The promotion for this show was unlike any promotion I have ever seen for a show I was actually interested in. Fox pulled out all the stops. It was everywhere on TV and on the Internet. There can be no blaming Fox for not promoting the show.

[ edited by TamaraC on 2007-04-17 02:04 ]

TamaraC | April 17, 05:02 CET

Do these numbers include Canada too? Because according to some Canadian IMDb users, during tonights episode, they had shakey "webcam" video and the audio was skipping, which I'm thinking will hurt the ratings alot.

hitnrun017 | April 17, 05:06 CET

I just finished watching it and there were no audio or video issues. I watched on FOX through Rogers in Toronto (just cable)

Tonight's episode was much better, mostly because of lots of Nathan .

Ruadh | April 17, 05:15 CET

Tonight's episode WAS much better. There was lots of Nathan, it's true, but more to the point, he was a bad-ass with a tendency towards thievery (don't know the proper way to do spoilers), a role in which we tend to like him. Also, there was little (almost no) new character background exposition, which left more room for action and actual character interaction in the present.

Septimus | April 17, 05:33 CET

Heh, Septimus - you faked up "inviso text" very cleverly...

Here's where you can find the tags for that & more: clicko-clicko.

QuoterGal | April 17, 06:04 CET

Thanks, QG!

Septimus | April 17, 06:08 CET

I didn't see a single commmerical for Drive that made me want to watch it. Also, it wasn't clear why the heck they were driving anywhere to begin with.

themayor | April 17, 06:37 CET

So, you didn't watch it, themayor? I mean, since you're here, I assume that that you're a Whedon fan, wasn't Tim and Nathan's involvement enough for you to give it a try?

Septimus | April 17, 06:42 CET

I have it all on tape or DVR but haven't had time to watch it yet. I was working on Sunday night and tonight. I do have one thought on the Sunday night ratings dropoff, though. How stupid was it to put it up against the 2nd episode of the final season of The Sopranos? The 2nd episode of the new and final season of that show aired against the 2nd hour of Drive. I feared it was doomed when I saw that.

Bobbi | April 17, 06:50 CET

kurya | April 16, 18:13 CETW

Fox stopped short of knocking on people's doors to watch this thing.

I knocked on people's doors or like cubie walls.

Anonymous1 | April 17, 06:53 CET

lol! Anonymous1 I am soo not surprised! That is one thing for certain, that you would spread the word hehe.

kurya | April 17, 07:16 CET

Ep 3 was amazing!

AthenaMuze | April 17, 07:36 CET

Pointy: "Everybody who enjoyed it last night talked about it at work this morning, so we'll see what impact that has tonight when it's on at the regular time."

Anonymous1: "I knocked on people's doors or like cubie walls."

I work only with my partner, and I don't have a water cooler in my office, so I went across the hall to my partner's office, where we do have a water cooler, and stood and talked with him about the show. We both agreed that we enjoyed it Sunday night when we watched it together, and made plans to watch tonight's episode when we got home. Which we did.

We both enjoyed tonight's episode, too - mainly because Nathan is just that good, and the action moved right along. I still note the lack of the grit and the quirk, and I wish that tonight's dialogue had had more punch. I'm willing to watch it while it grows, though, as long as it does...

And, man, seriously, do not mess with Wendy Patrakas - I'm pretty sure she will frak you up.

QuoterGal | April 17, 08:29 CET

Tonight's episode was really great...at least the Tully parts. I don't want to be mean, but my analysis is that they had better start featuring Tully and Wiles more. Nathan eats the other actors alive. It's not that the others are terrible, but they don't hold the screen like Nathan does and IMO, most of the other characters are downright boring compared to Tully and Wiles. With the exception of the Salazars, every time the other characters are on, I find myself wishing they'd get back to the Tully storyline. I'm not saying to get rid of them entirely, but putting more focus and screentime on Tully would really help this show.

Ninja MALi | April 17, 08:52 CET

My husband and I were thinking virtually the same thing, MALicious.
We both looked at each other during the other story lines and shrugged...then when it was over discussed how we'd rather see Tully/Wiles on screen and that was the part that was riveting us.

FollowMal | April 17, 09:18 CET

Me three, MALicious and FollowMal. I have especially had it with the too-good-to-be-true Army boy and his too-hot-to-be-real wife. Their story should be moving -- good gods, we are very bring-the-troops-home in our house -- but because I'm not connecting with the actors, I'm not connecting with their story. They seem right out of The Amazing Race, not unique, not more than meets the eye. The Katrina pair who were left behind, I knew nothing about them, so I'm not interested yet. I wished the wonderful Katie Finneran had more to do than exposition, but at least she and Richard Brooks are still on my screen. I'm getting with the Alex/Corinna story, the Salazars story (someone said there'd be a great drinking game if you drank every time Winston said "Homes," I counted tonight -- gods, you'd be wasted, lol!) and also the John/Violet story, because I'm liking a hot teen who is intelligent and funny without being a cliche -- Emma was wonderful in the scenes where her dad passed out. Tonight's ep was BY FAR my favorite of the 3 so far, b/c there was so much more fleshed out of the characters, and the darkness is coming out quite nicely. :-)

billz | April 17, 12:23 CET

Oh, also, another story (from Variety) about the Sunday ratings, nothing about Monday yet (it's still the middle of the night, yo).

billz | April 17, 12:58 CET

... from the reports I have heard, Fox stopped short of knocking on people's doors to watch this thing.

Bloody Fox, it's just like them to not do everything they can. Do they hate this show, is that it ?

(happy now Simon ? ;)

OK, doesn't seem too good numbers wise but maybe they'll give it a chance ... Damnit, I almost kept a straight face there ;).

People talking about the expense, wasn't 'Serenity' - the 'Firefly' pilot not film - around $12 million to make ? Pretty costly considering they stuck it at the tail end of a cancelled run of a show they seemingly almost deliberately killed. As per usual, wait and see, cross fingers and don't, above all, get too attached. Come on Fox, surprise us all and give it a fair crack (if it still fails after that, well, at least they tried).

Saje | April 17, 13:02 CET

QuoterGal,
"And, man, seriously, do not mess with Wendy Patrakas - I'm pretty sure she will frak you up."

i totally agree. she is my favorite character. of course i'm a little biased because Heavenly Creatures is my 2nd favorite movie ever. and, if THAT is anything to go by...she will definitely frak you up. yeah yeah, it's a character but still.....the actress has got it in her.

i wasn't too sure about the pilot but after seeing it on Monday night....i love it. i just hope it's able to hang on so we see the complete story.

death is my gift | April 17, 17:45 CET

The overnights for Monday are in:

Drive 3.7/6
24 7.4/11

NB Overnights are not directly comparable to the fast nationals (quoted at the beginning of the thread). However, this suggests to me that we're not going to see a big jump up for Monday's episode.

helcat | April 17, 18:33 CET

Monday ratings not good!
Drive Monday debut 3.7/ 6 (fourth-place), that's 35% down from what Prison Break was.

demon magnet | April 17, 18:59 CET

At risk of seeming crazily optimistic, one day strikes me as not long enough for the 'water-cooler effect' to work.

Say people go into the office/garage/whatever and rave about the show on Monday, most folk aren't going to watch the third episode of a recommended show first, they'll try to get hold of Sunday night's eps then watch Mondays. It's at least possible that there could still be an upswing next week.

Saje | April 17, 19:18 CET

Calling all yanks.. take a tape or DVD of the shows to work or give them to friends, talk up the show everywhere you go..
The rest of the world is depending on you!!

[ edited by demon magnet on 2007-04-17 16:30 ]

demon magnet | April 17, 19:30 CET

Count me in with those who are kinda bored by storylines not involving Nathan. And I'm not some rampant Nathan worshipper who will praise anything he does, but he's the only decent actor in the bunch. (Though I could do without the blonde with him. Hubby pinpointed exactly what I was feeling...she's the 'Kate' of Drive--the blah blonde that is just annoying and needs to go away.)
Tully's mystery is the only one I care about, and I don't know if that's just due to Nathan or what.

Rogue Slayer | April 17, 19:55 CET

The fast nationals are now in. Not a massive decline from Sunday's numbers but no climb either.

Drive – Viewers: 5.64 million (#4), A18-49: 2.3/ 6 (#4)

Fast national rating 3.5/6

[ edited by helcat on 2007-04-17 17:18 ]

helcat | April 17, 20:03 CET

Here's more specific news on last night's Drive ratings:

"Fox drama Drive debuted in the time period with a mere (and fourth-place) 3.7/ 6, which was a decline of 35 percent from former occupant Prison Break on the year-ago Monday (5.7/ 9 on April 17, 2006). One week earlier, a repeat of Fox's House scored a considerably heftier 5.6/ 9 in the overnights."

Those declines from Prison Break and a House rerun are not positive, obviously, and Fox has surely never shown itself to be a patient network.

BTW, I'm a new member and more than thrilled to be here.

dougschoemer | April 17, 20:09 CET

Septimus, I'm a Whedon fan through Buffy then Angel. NOt really Firefly or Serenity, so Nathan Fillon doesn't necessarily make a show a must-see, although he's fine as an actor. And my support starts and ends with Whedon and a few actors/actresses from Buffy/Angel. Don't really care what the other writers do unless it's Buffy/Angel related. :)

themayor | April 17, 20:58 CET

Tully's mystery is the only one I care about, and I don't know if that's just due to Nathan or what.

That's because he's the only one who has a mystery. For all of the other characters, there's not much mystery at all (well, maybe why they're in the race, but often not even that, and maybe why whatsisname was in jail). The rest of the characters, at least at the moment, appear to be just regualr folks with no mysterious backstory (or, as in Tully's companion's case, a backstory that's already explained).

Septimus | April 17, 22:24 CET

Okay, here is where Simon gets his wish to have somebody rant about Fox. ;)

Now, I'm not going to accuse them of not doing the right thing by Drive. I'm from the UK and so I have no real idea about how they promoted the show but from what I have heard they have made a more than fair attempt to get the show noticed. But I fear that they are now seeing past viewer experience bite them in the ass.

The fact is that people have little or no faith in any Fox show these days but especially one with an ongoing storyline. I could be wrong but the last series with a really "arcy" style to it to survive on Fox was 24, now in it's sixth year. Since then pretty much all Fox's success stories have come from shows like Bones and House that provide much more self contained episodes. Now add the fact that this show is being advertised as the new Lost and you don't give anybody with any knowledge of Fox any good reason to want to get into this story and these characters. They just know that the show won't see a second season. Thus, nobody watches to begin with and you have yourself a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I promise you that if this show had been on ABC or NBC, networks that have a proven recent history of giving new series room to breathe, there would have been a lot more people willing to give it a chance. Damn you, Fox!

Happy, Simon? ;)

WhedonTrivia | April 17, 22:33 CET

Welcome, dougschoemer, and thanks for posting very complete news, even if it's sad. We don't shoot the messenger around here, so you're safe -- well, except, there was that one time, but he had it comin', I swear! ;-)

Seriously, this is -- serious. No increase from the previous night, a slip from the House rerun last week, less than half the viewers of 24 just afterward (according to the Hollywood Reporter story on the ratings, 24 got 11.1 million viewers, 4.3/10, even with last week. :-(

With ratings like this, I think I'm still in BBC mode, with gossi. It's just such a shame, 'cause the Monday ep was definitely the best one yet, and Tim and Nathan both are so talented and deserving. Well -- trying to think happy thoughts! *forces a :-)*

billz | April 17, 22:35 CET

I promise you that if this show had been on ABC or NBC, networks that have a proven recent history of giving new series room to breathe, there would have been a lot more people willing to give it a chance.

I really don't think this is true. ABC has dumped two of it's own heavily serialised shows this season (The Nine, 6 Degrees) because of lousy ratings. NBC cancelled Kidnapped because of ratings.

These shows survive if people watch, if people don't watch they don't survive. Occasionally a show is given an extra chance (FNL on NBC for example) but that usually requires someone high up in the network to believe in it and a lot of critical love.

helcat | April 17, 22:45 CET

These shows survive if people watch, if people don't watch they don't survive. Occasionally a show is given an extra chance (FNL on NBC for example) but that usually requires someone high up in the network to believe in it and a lot of critical love.

Which was kinda my point, helcat. I'm not saying that ABC or NBC would have been very happy with the ratings that Drive got this weekend. They would be crazy to think those numbers were promising.

I'm saying that there would have been more people willing to give Drive a chance had it been on one of the other networks. Every thread I've seen discussing Drive around the various forums I check out has had a number of people say something along the lines of "It's on Fox? Cancelled in six episodes!". That is just the perception that people now have. I'm sure that a good number of Whedonesquers have thought the exact same thing themselves despite watching to support Nathan's new gig.

I think that if Fox want to turn this perception around then they need to stick with a show or two that aren't doing so well to begin with, and Drive would be a very good show to start with. Until they do then it won't matter how well they promote.

WhedonTrivia | April 17, 23:02 CET

But there weren't more people willing to try 6 Degrees or Kidnapped for instance. I just don't see the evidence that people are specifically avoiding serialised shows on FOX in particular.

helcat | April 17, 23:12 CET

In the cases of 6 Degrees or Kidnapped I think the problem was that the shows simply were not interesting enough and far too much like what was already available. 6 Degrees was more or less just Lost without the island, for all intents and purposes. I heard very little buzz about either one, to be honest. Certainly nothing to convince me that I should be watching. The fact that I simply cannot remember either a good or bad word said about either show tells me that they probably died on their own merits, regardless of network.

In the case of Drive you have a situation where people are discussing it with praise, saying that it looks interesting but not willing to watch yet another quickly cancelled series, whether it be simply a Fox issue or that combined with the history that poor old Tim Minear has had with the network. Either way there does seem to me that there is a considerable number of people that may have watched Drive had Fox not been part of the equation.

WhedonTrivia | April 17, 23:32 CET

April 16 2007