Struggling in the ratings
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TV ClubHouse: Archives: Struggling in the ratings

Weinermr

Saturday, November 02, 2002 - 08:02 am EditMoveDeleteIP
From the Los Angeles Times
November 2, 2002

QUICK TAKES
Lingerie special to air even earlier


By Brian Lowry


Despite controversy related to last year's telecast, CBS has rescheduled its Nov. 20 telecast of this year's "Victoria's Secret Fashion Show" from 10 p.m. to 8 p.m., the network announced Friday.

The 2001 version of the lingerie special was broadcast at 9 p.m. on ABC and prompted complaints to the Federal Communications Commission, which ruled in March that "it does not appear we have any basis for action."

Some parents groups and legislators felt the program was too revealing, yet CBS is airing this year's edition at an earlier hour, when more children are apt to be watching television. Last year's program drew an estimated 12.4 million viewers and, like the upcoming one, was scheduled during the November rating sweeps.

"Everybody's going to know in advance what it is and what it's going to be about," said Jack Sussman, the CBS executive in charge of specials, regarding the propriety of the scheduling shift, which figures to provide a stronger lead-in audience to CBS' struggling "The Amazing Race." At a news conference this summer, CBS Television President Les Moonves said the decision to pick up the show demonstrated the network was "not your grandmother's CBS."

-- Brian Lowry

Kitt

Monday, November 04, 2002 - 02:37 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I can't believe it's struggling!! It's so much better than Survivor. :( :(

Uhoh

Monday, November 04, 2002 - 09:52 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
this is the first time i've watched AR, and actually prefer survivor. i don't feel as though i'm getting to know the characters as well on AR, and there's a lot of sameness on AR as teams race around doing the same things.

my favorite episode though was last week with the diesel vehicles! that was great and a wonderful twist.

still not sure if i'll watch it again, so can understand why it's struggling a bit...

Tabbyking

Tuesday, November 05, 2002 - 08:06 am EditMoveDeleteIP
i love the amazing race! my kids are already upset that it won't be on this week. of course it is the 'same' because they are headed for the same pit stop, but i love the things they have to do. last year more of the daredevil stuff was toward the end, with bungee jumping in new zealand, sheepherding 3 black sheep from the flock, etc. it is also less confusing as they get down to 5 or 6 couples and there is more air time for each couple.
putting 'victoria's secret fashion show' in front of 'the amazing race' will not help garner a crowd at our home! i just hope we remember to turn the tv to the right channel after that stupid idea for a show is off! if you want to see sexy lingerie, you read the catalogue.

have you ever seen 'sears and roebuck's tools to make the man in your life hot' special? no! how about, 'penney's--the next adventure in purchasing back-to-school clothes' special? or ' jc penney: the big book. how to get just what you want for christmas' special? no! and we don't need it on tv, either! lol

Dahli

Tuesday, November 05, 2002 - 10:30 am EditMoveDeleteIP
oh goodie CBS, all porn all the time is what you're aiming for? - I can just see these suits yankin' on the bit trying to get as much smut on the air as they can and pushing pushing pushing it down our throats... in hopes that enough pathetic types will be drooling all over women they don't even know to give them their 'numbers. it certainly will not be on in this house either, why does programming have to be only that that appeals to men? - I'm sick of it, even in sitcoms a father talking to his kid, telling him if he's not careful, he'll be stuck in the 'never touch a boobie club' good grief

Lumbele

Tuesday, November 05, 2002 - 11:24 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Now hold on, gang. Tabby's Sears & Roebuck idea just *might* get *my* attention. And here they say CBS is the Geritol crowd's network.lolb

Calamity

Tuesday, November 05, 2002 - 11:47 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Tabbyking, thanks for the laugh!

Dahli, I'm tired of tv's frat boy mentality, too, and the ever increasing crudeness. Even so, while it's more than likely that the VS fashion show will attract a wave of slobbery, straight male viewers (a highly desirable demographic group for advertisers - I'm not being sarcastic), I bet a lot of women might watch it, too, among others.

They always say that the prime audience for beauty, whoops, "schoolarship" pagents is women. I remember being astounded when that icky "Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?" special was a hit because so many women watched it. (Am I the only one who thought it was funny that it aired against the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show?) As for "The Bachelor", I've never seen the show and think the concept is demeaning, but according to ratings reports the show is most popular with women. (This isn't meant to be a criticism of people who enjoy these shows although it probably seems like it is.)

I just think it isn't fair to blame men for this type of sleazy programming when so often it's actually women viewers who support the shows.

Tabbyking

Tuesday, November 05, 2002 - 01:42 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
calamity--am i the only one who opted for the dog show? the kennel one, i mean!

when i hear of 'bachelorettes in alaska' and some of the other stupid things they come up with, i feel it is really a putdown to both women and men. are both so desperate to have someone, they would go on national tv to hope to match up with someone? as if their special someone could be found among 2 dozen people, when i had to live in two countries and 3 different states to meet my soulmate?!! lol and i never watched 'temptation island', but what an awful premise it seemed to be.
whatever happened to 'perry mason' and 'the night gallery' and 'the carol burnett show'?!! now, those were entertaining, without being demeaning.

and kudos to the newest gal who was a judge on the show where they find the latest superstar. (can't remember the name, sorry!) but she said she could not tell someone their dream was not going to happen, when she had the same dreams for her own career. she quit after 6 days. oh, american idol. is that it? anyway, good for her!!

Mssilhouette

Tuesday, November 05, 2002 - 11:46 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Don't forget that it goes up against West Wing :)

Tabbyking

Wednesday, November 06, 2002 - 08:48 am EditMoveDeleteIP
i thought they said 'push, nv' went up against west wing!? i believe i read that was one of the reasons push was being pulled! (pun intended) shows what i know. i have never watched west wing in my life, so thought it was on thursdays...but that's what VCR's are for--getting both shows you are interested in!

Calamity

Wednesday, November 06, 2002 - 09:45 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Hi Tabbyking, I watched the canine dog show, too! And I forgot all about 'Temptation Island' & 'Bachelorettes in Alaska'. Shudder. Never saw either show but I agree with you - just the concepts behind the programs are degrading to both men & women. They make the guys look like jerks and the women seem desperate.

I've never watched 'The West Wing' but I just read an article that said its ratings are off steeply this year, much to NBC's dismay.

Bbfanatic

Wednesday, November 06, 2002 - 11:21 am EditMoveDeleteIP
i dont mind the vs lingerie show at all. i own & manage a sexy lingerie shop. we sell alot of victorias secret & fredericks of hollywood lingerie. its great for business. i dont sell porn videos or playthings. just lingerie.

Tabbyking

Wednesday, November 06, 2002 - 12:44 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
bb, i don't think it's 'porn', but it's a catalogue, for heaven's sake, getting prime time airing on a network station. put it on an infomercial station! it also doesn't seem like something kids should watch--selling things through sexy advertising--when we are trying to tell kids to not have sex and we get up in arms over calvin klein's underage (looking) gals half unzipped, etc! if they want to air people half-dressed, they should do it after 10:00 p.m. or on an infomercial station, just after the oxy-clean and before the little devil bbq :>)

Lumbele

Wednesday, November 06, 2002 - 01:31 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Standards in TV programing have dropped considerably over the years, so I choose to "vote" with my remote. It doesn't seem to matter right now since I don't exactly fall into the advertisers' favourite age group, but I figure when the baby boomers and those just behind them become the largest demographic, my tastes might actually get considered. Just hope both eyesight and hearing will still be intact then.LOL

Tabbyking

Wednesday, November 06, 2002 - 01:36 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
i'll probably be 'blind in one eye and can't hear out the other' when i am in their favorite age group!

Whoami

Monday, November 11, 2002 - 10:12 am EditMoveDeleteIP
"...favorite age group..." grrrrr! That one always ruffles my feathers!

I remember when they abruptly cancelled a favorite show of mine, and the network was quoted it was because they wanted to put a show there that would reach a more "preferred demographic." I thought, "screw you. If I'm part of an unfavorable demographic to you, then I refuse to watch any show you put in that time slot. I wouldn't want to make the mistake of buying products from advertisers in that time slot. I mean, I may just insult those poor advertisers, if they knew a memeber of a less-preferred demographic accidently bought your stuff!"

Tabbyking

Monday, November 11, 2002 - 01:28 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
i will never forgive abc for dropping 'maximum bob'...the best and funniest tv series ever, but not given a chance. 7 episodes...

Willnu

Monday, November 11, 2002 - 02:59 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Who was Maximum Bob? Now my curiosity is peaked..

Tabbyking

Monday, November 11, 2002 - 07:49 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
it was beau bridges as "big" a judge in florida. his real name was judge Gibb, and they reversed his name for his nickname. his wife was an underwater swimmer in a tank, who ate a banana while under. in the first episode, she had a near-death experience while almost drowning, and when she came back, she had brought a 12-year-old black slave girl with her as one of her personalities. and you never knew when the kid would come out of her!
anyway, the town's public defender dies and a lady comes to replace him (the actress who played deputy dawn in push, nv). when she gets to her new office, the body of the guy is still there, because he is too big to move out the door.
the guy who played larry (of larry, darryl and darryl on the newhart show) was on the show and he and his wife both had bad eyesight and the same eyeglass prescription on account of their being 'first cousins, and brother and sister, once removed'. it was hysterical.
the judge tries to come on to the new public defender and she tells him 'no!', and he puts her in jail.
later, one of the cases involves a woman who says the judge bit her on the butt. they take a cast of his teeth and it fits the bite area. the judge tells the public defender he has never come on to women. and she reminded him she had had to fight him off. and he said, 'but i didn't do anything about that, right?' and she says, "your honor, you put me in jail!"
jason robard's son plays a sheriff who is a secret ballroom dancer. the larry guy is in charge of repairing old 'sparky' the electric chair. his obese twin grown sons make a manatee trap and dig themselves into a huge hole with rotten chicken parts to lure in the manatees, and they can't get out.
the judge gives a young guy with an open container conviction life in prison as a sentence. in prison, the guy becomes the 'friend' of a huge guy who feels his biological clock is ticking and he wants a baby. so the first guy (the one sentenced for an open container) escapes from jail so he can steal one of the triplets the boyfriend's sister has...
it was a goofy, very witty show based on an elmore leonard novel.
abc made the mistake of airing it starting in late july. just when people were done with summer and starting to watch it, it was pulled. no notice, no nothing. just done. i was so upset that i hadn't taped it.
i would pay 200 bucks for the 7 episodes on tape!!

Marysafan

Tuesday, November 12, 2002 - 12:25 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Tabby..I liked that show too. It was quirky and offbeat...and funny as heck!

Pirate

Tuesday, November 12, 2002 - 11:03 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Victoria's Secret is no secret. Sex sells and that's all it is.

Thank goodness for satellite and PVR. I like the Amazing Race, but I'll opt out on the half naked women prancing around.

Tabbyking

Wednesday, November 13, 2002 - 02:51 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
oh, and the reason it was called "Maximum Bob" was the judge (Robert Gibb) always gave the maximum sentence--whether it was justified or not!--hence the life sentence give out for an open beer in a car!

Cricket

Wednesday, November 13, 2002 - 04:14 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
LOL, tabbyking, I think I saw one epidsode of that show. They should give any show that goes on the air at least 6 months to a year to get it's foot in the door.

Mak1

Wednesday, November 13, 2002 - 05:01 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
LOL, tabbyking, I never saw it, but loved reading your description of it. That is MY kind of show. I still miss Northern Exposure (not the last season) and the quirky St. Elsewhere.

Curlyq

Wednesday, November 13, 2002 - 09:20 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
So now they moved the fashion show back an hour? I guess they decided to put it up against The Bachelor and divide the demographic.

I don't know why they're putting this on the air again. It's hard enough watching their regular commercials. "What is sexy?" and then a shot of models in heavy eye makeup stomping around outdoors in their underwear. All I can think is "Girl, put your clothes on before the neighbors see you!" My personal opinion is that if you have to put on a special garment to be sexy, you just aren't and should save your money. When someone's really got "it", they'll be sexy even in sweats.

Do they really need an entire TV special to let people know Victoria's Secret sells lingerie? As a woman I don't need a runway fashion show to give me ideas on what underwear I want. Some of the men watching may buy an item as a gift, but most of them will probably just enjoy the peepshow and hang on to their money. This is as much about selling lingerie as the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition is about showing off the swimwear.

Sorry for the long rant, and I hope it didn't offend. My positive statement is that I'm really happy that TAR will be on at 8 next week, because that's the time slot I always tune in to watch it before I remember that it's not on until 9. I swear I do that every week.

Wilsonatmd

Thursday, November 14, 2002 - 03:55 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
The ratings for this week weren't great....AR3 barely beat Fastlane for 3rd place. Bachelor 2 beat the West Wing, believe it or not. I do want to see what happens next week, however...See how AR does at 8PM, which I think is a better timeslot in the first place for a show like this.

All the networks execpt ABC are breathing a sigh of relief that Bachelor2 is done next week....but they have no idea where or when, Bachelorette (remember, next go round will be Trista from B1 picking from 25 guys) is going to be placed....some say it will air Mondays after MNF is done in January, but they might stick it back on Wednesdays, the success that it was...this is ABC's one bright spot this season so far. We shall see...

And on the Victoria's Secret show next week...you have to admit, the commercial is very funny....
(for those who haven't seen it, it starts with Heidi Klum taking to the women, intellegently about the fashions and the other points of the special.....then there's a person saying "men's version" and Heidi very slowly saying "lots of beautiful women, very little clothing...", saying it so the guys can understand it...at least I thought it was funny)

Tabbyking

Thursday, November 14, 2002 - 04:30 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
who do they ask to get these ratings? i don't even know of one person who was ever a nielsen household! (well except for 5 nielsen kids who were in parochial school with the 9 of us lauer kids!)
i also agree that 8:00 would be a better time slot for each episode.
i never even heard of fastlane. what is that, pray tell?!

Wilsonatmd

Thursday, November 14, 2002 - 04:58 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
tabby, Fastlane is an cop show...."Starsky and Hutch" for the new Millenium so to speak...fast cars and fast women....it's done by McG, who did the Charlie's Angles movie, and he's also done a lot of music videos....it was just picked up for the full season.

Tabbyking

Thursday, November 14, 2002 - 05:01 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
thanks, wilson...but can't people tape that and watch AR?!
remember how they pulled the mole 2 for more than half a year? well, i was watching it the first time around... and i know a lot of my friends were. no one asked us about pulling the show from the line up!

Grooch

Friday, December 20, 2002 - 06:41 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
'Race' Finale Sets the Pace for CBS
Fri December 20, 2002 12:55 AM ET
By Rick Kissell
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - "The Amazing Race 3" hit the finish line a winner for CBS on Wednesday, even though this edition fell below last spring's ratings levels.

The "Race" finale, which saw friends Flo and Zach capture the $1 million prize, averaged 11 million viewers from 9 to 11 p.m. and a slot-winning 4.7 rating/13 share in adults 18-49 and 3.8/12 in adults 18-34, according to Nielsen.

These are the best results of the season for "Race" -- whose penultimate episode had averaged a 4.0/10 in adults 18-49 one week earlier -- and helped CBS tie NBC for the night's lead (3.9/11) while pulling ahead in most male demos. NBC won in total viewers, even with two hours of repeats.

While one of the favorite reality shows among critics, "Race" has yet to emerge a ratings dynamo for CBS, delivering numbers closer to "Big Brother" than "Survivor." Its third edition was hurt in part by airing much of the season opposite ABC's hot "The Bachelor."

The 4.7 rating in adults 18-49 for "Amazing Race 3" represents a 10% dropoff from the 5.2 for "Amazing Race 2" in May. It also pales in comparison to the 11.9 for "The Bachelor" in November, the 10.7 for Fox's "American Idol" in September, the 10.4 for "Survivor: Marquesas" in May and the 5.6 for "Big Brother 3" in September.

ABC did pretty well from 9 to 10 with its Barbara Walters special on the "10 Most Fascinating People of 2002," which placed second to "Race" in 18-49 (4.2/11) while winning the hour in total viewers (12.36 million).

Reuters