That seems like good news though my head isn't one for numbers. It of course is too late for TSCC, or at least it is my opinion. If I were them I would beg fox for 6 episodes to wrap it up next season but they probably wouldn't really see a profit just an improvement of the pinion of fox's heavy hand with the axe. Though to be fair the hand needed to come down I think, season two was weak and until the last one I don't feel it hit the first season groove.

To Dollhouse: I hope it sticks, I am enjoying it and though not in love yet I see a lot of forward momentum. It feels like the twistiest ride Joss has written yet, I like twists.

Obviously disagree with me if you must but I'd like to know why, on both the shows, particularly TSCC if you like because my opinion of Dollhouse is just that it is good, not quite great. I'm getting there though

Stargyn | March 24, 22:14 CET

This is good news for TSCC and dollhouse hopefully fox will see these numbers and want 2 renew both shows

zee | March 24, 22:16 CET

I don't think that a 1.50 with DVR numbers is going to be enough to save TSCC.

Let's hope that the same can not be said for Dollhouse's 2.11.

Septimus | March 24, 22:55 CET

I don't see how those numbers are good for T:SCC. As the post says, the percentage increase might be impressive out of context, but the actual rating actually remains basically anemic.

ETA: Or, what Septimus said.

[ edited by The One True b!X on 2009-03-24 22:56 ]

The One True b!X | March 24, 22:56 CET

So, now we have:

Ep 1 - Ghost: 4.76m, 5.8m, 2.0, 2.6
Ep 2 - Target: 4.25m, 5.25m, 1.67, 2.21
Ep 3 - Stage Fright: 4.18m, 5.28m, 1.61, 2.19
Ep 4 - Gray Hour: 3.57m, (maybe 4.97m?*), 1.5, 2.11
Ep 5 - True Believer: 4.26m, xxxx, 1.6, xx
Ep 6 - Man on the Street: 4.1m, xxxx, 1.5, xx

So 'Gray Hour' has a small decrease, but smaller than it had in the non-DVR numbers. Which is good, as it shows that Dollhouse is more stable than we thought, right? Otherwise, Dollhouse's ratings seem quite stable to me, although episode 4 does have the lowest absolute number of viewers, but then viewing figures were down across the board, seeing as the share hasn't decreased that much.

* I guesstimated this by using the increase for the demo and increasing the total number of viewers by the same amount. Obviously, this is not air tight.

GVH | March 25, 00:33 CET

Just to add the legend (Live, Total, Live 18-49, Total 18-49) rounded to the nearest 0.0x

So, I'm not surprised at any dip in the DVR numbers for Gray Hour. It would reflect on the follow on loss from Stage Fright

[ edited by Ivalaine on 2009-03-25 01:03 ]

[ edited by Ivalaine on 2009-03-25 01:41 ]

Ivalaine | March 25, 01:03 CET

Wasn't Gray Hour on the night of the premiere of Watchmen, which was partly blamed for lower live watching. This should be reflected by a higher DVR viewership. Indeed we have
(total - live) going 0.6 / 0.54 / 0.58 / 0.61, so the highest DVR numbers yet. This must be good news therefore, but it is not really overwhelmingly better.

Celebithil | March 25, 04:19 CET

I may sound crazy for saying this, but it seems to me that Dollhouse ain't doing all that bad. I mean, I'm still not getting my hopes up for a second season yet. But the dropoff isn't that bad, and DVR-ing is pretty high.

WilliamTheB | March 25, 16:41 CET

It's not doing horribly, but it may not be doing enough.

TamaraC | March 25, 17:21 CET

It seems to be doing just well enough to allow for some hope.

Sunfire | March 25, 17:40 CET

Hope seems to be the theme for 2009. ;)

korkster | March 25, 20:13 CET

As much as I follow the overnight, +SD and +7 numbers, more often than not they have precious little to do with whether a show gets picked up.

Nine times our of 10 a show's ratings and share (without DVR seepage) is what the president of programming looks for. The reason? It's those numbers alone that determine the costs of commercials during sweeps. The DVR numbers don't count because we all speed past the commercials when it's pre-recorded. The advertising (and various merchandising, although that is minor) is what pays the network enough to pay the studio for the show (which takes it's large cut before passing the rest to the production to cover their budget). If the advertising can't cover the costs of the show and give a profit, then there is no incentive to keep a show past a certain point.

Now, if the network mucky-mucks loves the show creatively and want to keep it in the hopes that it will eventually turn into a Cheers or MASH, then great, they eat the costs a bit and make cut backs. But they can't do that with every show.

CHUCK is a show that costs relatively little to produce, is mostly shot in soundstages and on the backlot. The stars are not over-paid and it is a tight ship. That goes in their favor. And Brad loves the show. Those two things may give us another year for a better timeslot and ratings to emerge (again alà Cheers and MASH)

I do not know if TSCC has the creative support from FOX (I hope so!), and it kind of looks expensive (which may count against). I am crossing my fingers that both Adam Baldwin and Summer Glau's shows come back or season three, but theyare on the not-so-good side of the bubble.

TartFuel | March 25, 21:40 CET

Final DVR-numbers for "Gray Hour" are in.

ETA: Seems like Watchmen alone doesn't explain the drop in that week.

ETA2: And it makes that much more of a miracle what "Gray Hour" did for the ratings of the following weeks.

[ edited by wiesengrund on 2009-03-26 15:15 ]

wiesengrund | March 26, 15:08 CET

Thanks for the link Weisengrund. Interesting to see that Ghost Whisperer actually gets more DVR viewers than either Terminator or Dollhouse.

helcat | March 26, 19:20 CET

So we have for consecutive ratings total numbers for anyone who cares for them (Live, DVR, Total, Live 18-49, Total 18-49) rounded to the nearest 0.0x

Ep 1 - Ghost: 4.76m, 1.6m, 5.8m, 2.0, 2.6
Ep 2 - Target: 4.25m, 1.46m, 5.25m, 1.67, 2.21
Ep 3 - Stage Fright: 4.18m, 1.7m, 5.28m, 1.61, 2.19
Ep 4 - Gray Hour: 3.57m, 1.61m , 4.63m , 1.5, 2.11
Ep 5 - True Believer: 4.26m,xxxx,xxxx, 1.6, xx
Ep 6 - Man on the Street : 4.1m, xxxx,xxxx, 1.5, xx

Ivalaine | March 27, 00:52 CET