'Glee' On Downward Ratings Spiral
PLUS: 'Modern Family' matches 'Two and a Half Men' in audience growth
Can someone please explain what happened to "Glee" this season?
The show, by far Fox's biggest audience gainer last season, has now become the network's biggest liability. Apparently, adding writers and less songs haven't done the trick for "Glee," has it has now lost more than 28 percent of its audience and continues to slide.
"Glee" is averaging a 4.8 rating/8 share in Fast National overnight ratings from The Nielsen Co. That has moved it from Fox's top scripted show to its No. 4 scripted program behind "Bones" (5.7/8), "Terra Nova" and "New Girl" (4.9/7).
Such a slide likely won't affect the show too much as long as iTunes downloads and buzz continues to carry it, but this can't be good news for what had once been the network's golden child.
It's tough to put a finger on what has contributed to the audience migration this season. It is head-to-head with "NCIS" on CBS -- still the top-rated scripted program on network television -- and the new ABC series "Last Man Standing." But this is exactly where "Glee" was last year, earning a 6.3/10 in the timeslot.
Critics have not been too kind to the show this year, where many feel that the lost focus from the previous season has only become worse this year. Fox may need to look at some changes -- including a focus on more music -- as it tries to figure out how to recapture that lightning in the bottle once again.
ABC has some good news. Not only is "Once Upon a Time" the network's best new program (and the reigning Sunday night champion), but "Modern Family" continues to surge, now matching CBS' "Two and a Half Men" in terms of audience growth from last season. Both shows have increased their audience by more than 18 percent (although "Men" still has a larger audience with a 10.2/15 average compared to "Family's" 7.9/12), but this is very positive news since part of "Men's" growth came from a season premiere spike that included the debut of Ashton Kutcher.
"Men" has trended down significantly since that premiere -- its current audience about half of that first episode -- but it doesn't look like it's threatened to be overtaken by Emmy's Outstanding comedy in the near future. Still, the growth of "Modern Family" has kept the show's place in the Top 10 overall, and is among the Top 5 audience gainers.
The overall audience gainer remains another ABC show, "Happy Endings," which was spared the cancellation ax last season only to bounce back and become a Top 45 show. It's not out of the woods yet, but it's going to be hard to ignore a 58 percent audience growth when it comes time to decide the show's fate.
While Fox is struggling to keep audiences for "Glee" and its Friday night fare "Fringe," the real disappointment has come in the season premiere of "Mobbed," the network's flash mob reality show that lost nearly 55 percent of its one-time outing last season. It had been eight months since "Mobbed" earned a 6.2/10, and so it's likely audiences completely forgot about the show.
Fox did try to keep its audience there. "Mobbed" had a 5.1/9 lead-in from "The X Factor," but lost more than 45 percent of that lead-in audience.
Topping the networks are "The Vampire Diaries" for The CW with a 1.8/3 and ranked No. 72 overall; "NCIS" for CBS with an 11.9/18 and ranked No. 1 overall; "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" on NBC with a 5.0/8 and ranked No. 37 overall; "Dancing With the Stars" on ABC with a 10.6/16 and ranked No. 2 overall; and "The X Factor" on Fox with a 6.3/10 and ranked No. 28 overall.
Top Networks, through Nov. 27
| 1. (1) | CBS | 7.6/12 |
| 2. (2) | ABC | 6.5/10 |
| 3. (3) | Fox | 4.5/7 |
| 4. (4) | NBC | 3.4/5 |
| 5. (5) | The CW | 1.2/2 |
Top Network Shows, through Nov. 27 -- [Audience Loyalty Index]
| 1. (1) | NCIS (CBS) | 11.9/18 | [94.3] |
| 2. (3) | Dancing With the Stars (ABC) | 10.6/16 | [80.8] |
| 3. (2) | Two and a Half Men (CBS) | 10.2/15 | [62.8] |
| 4. (4) | NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS) | 9.6/14 | [92.9] |
| 5. (5) | Big Bang Theory (CBS) | 8.7/14 | [94.0] |
| 6. (9) | The Mentalist (CBS) | 8.1/13 | [93.6] |
| 7. (7) | Criminal Minds (CBS) | 8.0/12 | [92.1] |
| 8. (6) | Mike & Molly (CBS) | 7.9/12 | [70.6] |
| 8. (8) | Modern Family (ABC) | 7.9/12 | [93.3] |
| 10. (11) | Castle (ABC) | 7.8/12 | [89.7] |
| 11. (10) | Unforgettable (CBS) | 7.6/12 | [85.1] |
| 12. (12) | Person of Interest (CBS) | 7.5/12 | [90.5] |
| 13. (17) | Blue Bloods (CBS) | 7.3/13 | [92.9] |
| 14. (13) | 2 Broke Girls (CBS) | 7.3/11 | [63.9] |
| 15. (15) | CSI (CBS) | 7.0/11 | [89.9] |
| 16. (14) | Once Upon a Time (ABC) | 6.9/10 | [93.2] |
| 17. (18) | Hawaii Five-0 (CBS) | 6.8/11 | [89.7] |
| 17. (19) | Rules of Engagement (CBS) | 6.8/11 | [96.6] |
| 19. (21) | Amazing Race (CBS) | 6.8/10 | [77.8] |
| 20. (22) | Body of Proof (ABC) | 6.6/11 | [95.1] |
Top New Shows, through Nov. 27 -- [ALI]
| 1. | Unforgettable (CBS) | 7.6/12 | [85.1] |
| 2. | Person of Interest (CBS) | 7.5/12 | [90.5] |
| 3. | 2 Broke Girls (CBS) | 7.3/11 | [63.9] |
| 4. | Once Upon a Time (ABC) | 6.9/10 | [93.2] |
| 5. | Last Man Standing (ABC) | 6.5/10 | [79.8] |
| 6. | You Deserve It (ABC) | 6.4/9 | [100.0] |
| 7. | The X Factor (Fox) | 6.3/10 | [86.4] |
| 8. | Revenge (ABC) | 5.5/9 | [82.1] |
| 8. | Suburgatory (ABC) | 5.5/9 | [88.1] |
| 8. | A Gifted Man (CBS) | 5.5/9 | [87.9] |
Biggest Gainers, through Nov. 27 -- [% Increase]
| 1. | Happy Endings (ABC) | 4.6/7 | [58.2] |
| 2. | Rules of Engagement (CBS) | 6.8/11 | [27.5] |
| 3. | How I Met Your Mother (CBS) | 6.3/10 | [19.4] |
| 4. | Two and a Half Men (CBS) | 10.2/15 | [18.4] |
| 4. | Modern Family (ABC) | 7.9/12 | [18.4] |
Biggest Losers, through Nov. 27 -- [% Decrease]
| 1. | Mobbed (Fox) | 2.8/5 | [54.8] |
| 2. | Sing-Off (NBC) | 2.7/4 | [47.4] |
| 3. | Chuck (NBC) | 2.1/4 | [31.5] |
| 4. | Glee (Fox) | 4.8/8 | [28.4] |
| 5. | Fringe (Fox) | 2.0/3 | [27.5] |
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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