'Glee' Remains Television's Biggest Riser
But 'Kitchen Nightmares' leads the largest audience dropoff
Finding new people to add to an existing audience is hard ... very hard.
In fact, of the 64 shows networks returned in the 2010-11 television season, only 17 posted audience gains from the year before. The other 47 suffered audience erosion, creating an average drop-off rate of all returning television shows at 8.2 percent as networks try to attract whoever is still watching the major non-cable channels.
The list of gainers through the end of March, but it's still being led by the Fox's top-rated scripted drama, "Glee," which has boosted its audience more than 24 percent over the previous year. Some of that boost came from a post-Super Bowl broadcast that wasn't necessarily well-received by critics, but "Glee" has been outperforming its freshman season all year.
It's joined by two other shows that have received both critical and Emmy accolades on ABC - "The Middle" and "Modern Family." "The Middle, which is barely in television's top 40 shows so far this year, has shown a 23 percent audience improvement since last year, while "Modern Family" has increased its viewership by almost the same.
But where there were winners, there were also losers. "Kitchen Nightmares" is that loser right now, suffering big-time since being pushed to Fridays by Fox. That show has lost nearly 43 percent of its audience since last year, and they don't look to be coming back.
Two science-fiction shows join it. ABC's "V," which had a solid series premiere last year before falling hard in the ratings, has lost more than 38 percent of its audience from last year. At the same time "Fringe," which moved to Fridays with "Kitchen Nightmares," has dropped more than 35 percent of its audience as well.
But that doesn't necessarily mean shows with this type of audience erosion are dead. Sometimes it's far from it. "Fringe," for instance, received a full-season renewal from Fox, although many speculate it will be the final one. At the same time, there are still some whispers that ABC will give "V" another shot, mostly because of a cheaper license fee, and a budget that is not as big as many people think.
Probably the largest gainer in terms of overall viewers is "Dancing With the Stars," that got a boost in the fall because of Sarah Palin's daughter, but is getting a second boost in the spring thanks to Kirstie Alley.
"Dancing" has increased its audience base by nearly 16 percent since last year, but it's still not quite enough to overtake "American Idol" on Fox. "American Idol" remains No. 1 with a 12.8 rating/20 share average, according to Fast National ratings from The Nielsen Co., despite a minimal 4 percent gain in audience.
"Dancing" is nipping at its heels, however. It's recent growth has solidified its No. 2 ranking ahead of a flat "NCIS" with a 12.2/19.
Top 10 Largest Audience Gains, Through March 31 -- [Audience Loyalty Index]
| 1. | Glee (Fox) | 7.2/12 | +24.5% | [46.0] |
| 2. | The Middle (ABC) | 5.3/9 | +23.0% | [85.3] |
| 3. | Modern Family (ABC) | 6.9/11 | +22.8% | [80.0] |
| 4. | Sing-Off (NBC) | 5.2/8 | +22.6% | [93.6] |
| 5. | Dancing With the Stars (ABC) | 12.2/19 | +15.9% | [78.5] |
| 6. | The Simpsons (Fox) | 4.2/7 | +10.5% | [60.0] |
| 7. | Extreme Makeover (ABC) | 4.9/8 | +8.7% | [85.2] |
| 8. | Shark Tank (ABC) | 3.4/6 | +4.7% | [90.5] |
| 9. | Rules of Engagement (CBS) | 5.3/8 | +4.1% | [88.5] |
| 10. | American Dad (Fox) | 3.1/5 | +3.9% | [74.2] |
Top 10 Largest Audience Drops, Through March 31 -- [ALI]
| 1. | Kitchen Nightmares (Fox) | 2.4/4 | -42.5% | [94.2] |
| 2. | V (ABC) | 3.3/5 | -38.1% | [82.0] |
| 3. | Fringe (Fox) | 2.8/5 | -35.4% | [79.4] |
| 4. | Human Target (Fox) | 3.8/6 | -31.2% | [72.8] |
| 5. | Life Unexpected (CW) | 1.0/2 | -28.0% | [84.0] |
| 6. | Lie To Me (Fox) | 3.6/5 | -21.9% | [78.1] |
| 7. | America's Next Top Model (CW) | 1.7/3 | -21.8% | [78.2] |
| 8. | CSI: New York (CBS) | 6.3/11 | -20.8% | [93.2] |
| 9. | Who Do You Think You Are? (NBC) | 3.3/6 | -20.4% | [74.3] |
| 10. | Community (NBC) | 2.8/5 | -20.0% | [84.8] |
Fast Nationals usually provide a snapshot of what Americans are watching by pulling numbers from the top urban markets that include both live viewing and same-day timeshifted viewing. A rating point generally represents more than 1.1 million households while the share indicates the percentage of televisions turned on that was tuned to the specific program. These numbers typically shift when final ratings are issued.
Data collected from The Nielsen Co., as distributed by Zap2it. GenreNexus tracks non-news, non-event programming, and figures for this story reflect airing of new episodes only. For more information on the Audience Loyalty Index, click here.
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