Terminator series gets 'Drive' ratings. Uh-oh!
Some site I've never heard of says they have sources at Fox. The sources say Terminator: SCC may get canceled due to low ratings and a small number of episodes ordered for the season. Thoughts, anyone?
Personally, I find this all very speculative. Everyone and their dog seems to have sources these days. However, the show is currently up against the CBS comedies and the NBC geek-specific actioners, not to mention Monday Night Football. I think a new night and time would solve all their problems, greatly. Wednesdays, perhaps?
October 07 2008
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Barclay | October 07, 17:00 CET
[ edited by impalergeneral on 2008-10-08 02:07 ]
impalergeneral | October 07, 17:06 CET
Any other shows I should be saving?
theclynn | October 07, 17:22 CET
EX | October 07, 17:37 CET
theclynn, you should watch live whichever show you would rather help more.
hacksaway | October 07, 17:41 CET
The Dark Shape | October 07, 18:17 CET
Actually at this point in time I am more concerned about the Future of Chuck, Heroes and Pushing Daises than I am about Terminator. Also I believe that if FOX put Terminator on after Bones the rating would improve considerably.
Zoic_Fan | October 07, 18:19 CET
leafblown | October 07, 18:48 CET
Viewing-wise, an audience has so many options on how to watch a series nowadays: Internet streaming, DVR, and waiting to purchase the DVD set. It just gets me wondering how much these network heads factor in when looking at these figures, or if they do at all...It just doesn't seem fair to judge how well a series is doing nowadays based solely on the Nielson rating :/
IcedFlame | October 07, 19:32 CET
Minxie | October 07, 19:42 CET
From Fox's perspective, why keep it?
The Dark Shape | October 07, 19:42 CET
I'm afraid to say the numbers speak for themselves.
gossi | October 07, 19:54 CET
jlp | October 07, 20:29 CET
I've no idea if they will air all the episodes. If they fail to order more production, given past experience it's very unlikely.
gossi | October 07, 20:44 CET
I so wish TV shows weren't made to make money and ratings didn't matter. Half of the stuff I like gets routinely canned.
nyrk | October 07, 20:45 CET
ETA the reminder that I much enjoyed season one, so it's not like I'm just some sort of reflexive T:SCC hater.
[ edited by theonetruebix on 2008-10-08 06:45 ]
@theonetruebix | October 07, 21:14 CET
jlp | October 07, 21:42 CET
gossi | October 07, 21:46 CET
Although saying that, the thing I'm most worried about in the article is "Taking over the timeslot from January, FOX have penciled in Joss Whedon’s upcoming drama “Dollhouse“." if the problem really is the timeslot.
flugufrelsarinn | October 07, 23:48 CET
I guess there are simply too many shows to choose from on Mondays. That makes me a little worried about Dollhouse but I'm not going to panic before I absolutely have to.
Ameer | October 08, 00:45 CET
As for the men, and some of the women, in my demo, I expect they are watching football.
I won't miss it if it goes. It would be nice to have the story continue in a movie though. I thought that format worked better anyway.
By the way, does the Nelson system assume that every household only has one TV? Does it make allowances if say, one person is watching T:SCC and another is watching football?
MysticSlug | October 08, 00:57 CET
Cameron owns the show. If they featured her nore, I think it would do better.
Dana5140 | October 08, 04:19 CET
As for Terminator, I think it's entertaining but I prefer Chuck.
Ricardo L. | October 08, 04:21 CET
gossi | October 08, 04:39 CET
Linoge | October 08, 05:08 CET
I actually think, if you ignore the name of the show, it pretty much is already. Most of the time the plot featuring Cameron feels like the A story to me with Sarah sometimes even being the C thread. And thanks to the ambiguity Summer lends the character (and the writing too) the "robot" does just fine as the emotional core IMO.
This wouldn't surprise me as news goes, it didn't seem anything like secure last season and it's doing worse this season. Gossi authored or not though, I don't think "T:SCC premiered January of this year with 18.6 million viewers — which set a record for FOX at the time — and promptly fell to an average of 11.4 million for the series." presents an accurate picture without also noting that it premiered with a huge lead-in from an American football game (i.e. most shows would drop massively the next episode after an artificially inflated first figure like that).
I'll miss it personally and certainly hope they get to make the 13 (as seems likely). At least then they might be able to provide a semi-resolution a la 'The Inside' or 'Wonderfalls'.
Saje | October 08, 05:17 CET
Saje, that sentence is accurate I think, but doesn't show the full picture - I put the graph in to give it more visual representation.
gossi | October 08, 05:20 CET
The first season benefited greatly from three factors that are no longer in play here. 1. The show premiered in January, at a time when other shows were either on break or people were hungry for something new. 2. Since the Writers' Strike hit shortly after, there wasn't much new content to turn to, so other shows weren't really getting in the way. 3. Brian Austin Green. Much like what Jason Priestly did for Tru Calling, Green's addition to the cast brought in a new, exciting dynamic to the storyline and allowed this show to flash forward (flashback?) into the future, which is what Terminator followers have been waiting on for years.
Now, the show has run into a bit of overcrowding, similar to Heroes. There are so many characters to deal with, and they're all separate from one another, many of them are on screen for maybe a couple minutes an episode, which is slowing the story down to a crawl. While Shirley Manson is helping to bring some new life to things, she has yet to interact with the main cast at this point and her motives are still unclear. Also, I feel that her "secret" was exposed way too soon (first episode of the season). At present, there are FOUR (3, if you take into account the events of this past episode) terminators running around, all scattered. One would think the antagonists would be more organized at this point.
I'm still on board with this program and I'm hopeful that if it can just make it through the football and baseball season, it will come back strong in January and the story will pick up speed. We'll see.
kungfubear | October 08, 05:20 CET
Yeah, it's accurate gossi and it doesn't show the full picture but the graph doesn't help with that IMO because the part of the picture missing isn't a number, it's the knowledge that the premiere was led into from an American football game (and if it was in January then presumably it would've been part of the Superbowl, so a big game).
I don't think it materially changes the situation though - if you took the first rating off (i.e. called it "an outlier") you'd still have figures that are steady but in the danger-zone and then dropping in season 2 (or in other words, as I say, the gist of your article seems spot-on).
Saje | October 08, 05:31 CET
deepgirl187 | October 08, 05:43 CET
gossi | October 08, 05:46 CET
...but then again, FOX and foresight aren't really suitable bedfellows, are they?
ropellaj | October 08, 05:49 CET
[ edited by Hilary on 2008-10-08 14:51 ]
Hilary | October 08, 05:51 CET
NYPinTA | October 08, 05:52 CET
Surprisingly very much. Except for Summer, I came to TSCC not knowing anything about any of the cast and having seen none of them in any show, movie, etc. As a fan of the original franchise, and with even some small appreciation for the dreckalicious T3, I may occasionally wish for tighter writing on TSCC, but on the whole I'm quite happy to be giving this show my time and attention, and I can honestly say I enjoy watching every one of the cast. As said above, it's hard to juggle this many characters (like geese). But I think the writers are doing a credible job, I love watching them all play off each other, and I would hate to see TSCC cancelled before the cast and crew can deliver on the tower of Babylon they've only just set the foundation for. (how's that for pretentious caffeinated verbiage?)
(Full disclosure: The only other current show I'm watching is Dexter. I may be an atypical viewer, even for this crowd :)
(And hey, don't diss the hair! That goofy, floppy haired smile on Dekker's face in the S1 finale, when Lena says she sent Cameron to get cake? Tres adorable, and destined for a CAKE OR DEATH? icon.)
[ edited by damaged justice on 2008-10-08 15:02 ]
damaged justice | October 08, 06:01 CET
It may not have a lot of different products, but did you know that the Connors drive an ALL-NEW DODGE RAM? Hey, look at the navigation system in this ALL-NEW DODGE RAM; we'll use it to find the military academy! Oh, and look at all the convenient storage places in this ALL-NEW DODGE RAM; we'll stuff them full of guns, right after the camera subtly (ahem) pans up from the logo on the tailgate of this ALL-NEW DODGE RAM!
:)
jlp | October 08, 06:02 CET
damaged justice | October 08, 06:06 CET
What about Cyberdyne? I now buy all my military tech from them.
zz9 | October 08, 06:55 CET
ETA: I variously do and don't like John. Right now he's meant to be a bit of an annoying teenager IMO but he's gradually developing into something extraordinary (just like Dawn ;).
[ edited by Saje on 2008-10-08 15:59 ]
Saje | October 08, 06:58 CET
gossi | October 08, 07:00 CET
redeem147 | October 08, 08:01 CET
As for TSSC.....sigh. When I first heard the show was in trouble I determined to start watching it on monday's when it aired instead of streaming it from the fox website like we usually do. And then I remembered that we don't count. We're not Nielsens.
I'll miss the show. I really like all the main cast (but Cameron so steals the show) and I was dreaming about 5 or 6 seasons worth of Terminaty goodness. I think there's a lot more of this story to tell.
And you know? Last night my friend, who likes things like Nascar, and American Idol and religion came over just as we were starting monday night's episode. Her reaction? Oh my God I love this show!! I watch it every week!
birdandbear | October 08, 08:02 CET
IrrationaliTV | October 08, 08:43 CET
ETA: I do watch it when it's on, but I also DVR it just in case anyone pays attention to those numbers. Not a neilson family and haven't been since the early 80s. Not sure if it works, but I really don't like not being counted.
[ edited by NYPinTA on 2008-10-08 19:30 ]
NYPinTA | October 08, 10:28 CET
That's good. Articles about the ratings of TSCC never seem to mention how the sales of the episodes are doing on Amazon ($1.99 per ep, buy it now!), or how the viewership is on Hula, or how the viewership on fox.com is.
Until the network starts incorporating this information, shows that appeal to the prime demographic of technologically savvy people will be canceled. I put $1.99 to the cause again this week, buying the episode on Amazon, since I know that my watching the show live -- which I do -- counts for absolutely nothing.
will.bueche | October 08, 10:47 CET
will.bueche | October 08, 10:58 CET
theclynn, there's no Whedon connection that I know of, but I would appreciate it if you would watch an episode of Sons of Anarchy on FX. New eps air on Wednesdays (tonight). The pilot episode and various clips are available on the FX official website, if you want to check it out and catch up without skewing your Neilsen report.
Sons of Anarchy is a look at a pure warrior culture in the form of an outlaw biker club, with a plot loosely derived from Hamlet. Good acting, good writing, at least one strong female character, and it deserves a larger audience.
janef | October 08, 13:45 CET
"For the week of September 15-21, Fox’s House had the largest audience via DVR viewing with 4.064 million viewers via DVRs, one of the largest DVR audiences we have measured to date. In fact, Fox had the top 5 biggest DVR audiences including Fringe, Bones and Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles and Prison Break. Rounding out the top ten for the largest DVR audiences were Big Brother, America’s Top Model, two America’s Got Talents, 90210 and Kitchen Nightmares.
The CW’s 90210 had the greatest percentage boost from DVR viewing, increasing 40.8% from its Live viewing. Rounding out the top 10 for largest % increase via DVR viewing was Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, America’s Top Model, House, Prison Break, Bones, Gossip Girl, Fringe Smallville, and One Tree Hill."
Sons of Anarchy has already been picked up for a second season. It is doing extremely well.
[ edited by TamaraC on 2008-10-09 00:51 ]
IrrationaliTV | October 08, 15:48 CET
The Nielson people ask how many TVs you have in your household and then send a separate booklet for each set. And then you list each person who was present in the room with each TV for each show/time slot in their own column (including visitors).
And there is a separate page for noting any programs which you may have recorded (and, iirc, what type of recording method - DVR, VCR - used).
LKW | October 08, 17:36 CET
zz9 | October 08, 18:20 CET
Would it be OT to discuss what we're watching regularly? I'm looking forward to Dollhouse and the return of Battlestar Galactica. Right now, I'm watching Mad Men, True Blood, The Shield and the aforementioned S of A. Tried SCC a time or two but wasn't gripped by it.
janef | October 08, 18:30 CET
IrrationaliTV | October 08, 20:28 CET
Your taste seems close to mine, The Shield and SoA is my only current must see tv, Fringe and True Blood I still watch but they are on probation, if/when something better shows up they are gone, would be watching Dexter but I prefer to wait for a finished season. House I follow on Swedish tv schedule and they have not started the third season yet.
Liked the Sanctuary web series will at least sample the show but am still angry with SciFi channel for holding up BSG.
Have sampled Mad Men and T:SCC neither one caught my attention but for very different reasons, Mad Men makes me fall asleep, hates John Connor and would cheer wildly during the episode where the Terminators rips him to pieces.
And yea who on this site isn't eagerly awaiting Dollhouse :)
jpr | October 08, 22:37 CET
I really enjoyed last weeks interaction between he and the excellent Brian Austin Green.
Shey | October 10, 04:18 CET