News Dollhouse premiere ratings even worse than expected

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Dollhouse premiere ratings even worse than expected

Friday night death slot indeed.

The series premiere of Joss Whedon's Dollhouse was seen by just 4.7 million viewers on Friday night and earned a 2.0 preliminary adults 18-49 rating and 6 share, below even the network's modest expectations for the series, the Hollywood Reporter's Live Feed reported.

Dollhouse was beaten in the 9 p.m. hour by ABC's Supernanny (8.5 million viewers, 2.2/7) and is the lowest-rated drama series premiere on a major broadcast network this season, aside from NBC's now-defunct Crusoe, the site reported.

Dollhouse was paired with the midseason return of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which moved from its previous Monday-night timeslot, and that show also saw its ratings fall: 3.7 million viewers, for a 1.3 rating and 5 share. Terminator came in third place in the hour and hit a series low (by like 27 percent), Live Feed reported.

Terminator beat NBC's Howie Do It, but not by much. Both CBS' Ghost Whisperer (8.9 million, 2.4/8) and ABC's Wife Swap (4.3 million, 1.5/5) did better.

Fox had hopes at least of coming out ahead of ABC's reality block. But Terminator was sinking in the ratings earlier this season, and Dollhouse has suffered from negative buzz and creative trouble for months.

Update: Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider has an alternate take on the Dollhouse ratings: "The mythological drama starring Eliza Dushku attracted 4.7 million viewers"”a pretty decent jump over the eyeball levels for The Sarah Connor Chronicles at 8 p.m. (which lured a mere 3.7 million), according to fast national ratings. In fact, Dollhouse helped Fox double its viewership levels among women versus Chronicles and helped the net finish in second place among adults 18-34 and in first place across key male demos for the night. So what does this mean for Dollhouse's long-term prospects? Although 4.7 million isn't that great"”Fox typically averages 5.5 million on Fridays"”the Whedon drama has a better chance of making it over the long haul if it stays put on the night. In fact, network insiders have long cautioned that if the series were scheduled earlier in the week and ended up attracting these kind of (low) viewership levels, it would have been axed by its second or third airing. So relax, Whedonites"”Dushku and Co. appear safe for now."
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Source: SCI FI Wire: Dollhouse premiere ratings even worse than expected
 
So, should I get the picket sign ready?

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Aly Fan
that is amazing!!! lol!!
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StuckinTraffic
I want one!
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DrusillaRox
OMG! Can I have one? *protests*
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wehappyfew
HAHA ohhhahwoaha
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Summerlilly
That is AWESOME
It's the network's own fault, their dang "advertisement campaign" was cheap, and not to mention extremely late. I just pray that this is the bottom of the hill, and it can only go up...
 
Edmund Blackadder said:
And here it begins - the networks fault.

According to the article above, they may have SAVED the show.
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Seriously dude, who else's fault might it have been? These are the premiere ratings, who else is backing the showed previous to this? I read the article, I watch TV and the promotional campaign was seriously lacking compared to other networks and how they have backed new series. I remember even seeing AND hearing more promotion on Kyle XY!

I'm not even going to bother, I'm too sleepy..
 
EmptyColours said:
Seriously dude, who else's fault might it have been? These are the premiere ratings, who else is backing the showed previous to this? I read the article, I watch TV and the promotional campaign was seriously lacking compared to other networks and how they have backed new series. I remember even seeing AND hearing more promotion on Kyle XY!

I'm not even going to bother, I'm too sleepy..
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Maybe people just weren't interested.

Maybe people were interested more in other shows.

We've seen, on this board, that Fox tried to promote the show differently, actually tried something new (love or hate, it was actually an inventive promo).

The reviews haven't exactly been glowing either.


So yeah, lets blame Fox because surely it can't be anyone elses fault.
 
It was still tied for 1st in the demo for the first half hour, that's good no matter how anyone tries and sell it. And the drop off in the second half hour was almost non existent. Plus, it built from its lead in by a million viewers, also a good thing. Sure they could have been better but they aren't as god awful as some people try to make them.
 
For comparison, does anyone have the rating stats for the pilot for Buffy and Angel?
 
I'd just like to point out that it aired on Friday the 13th on a double holiday weekend (President's Day and Valentine's Day). I, myself, intended to watch it, but real life sort of happened, as it tends to do during double holiday weekends. I wouldn't get too upset yet. I mean, I'd like to see the ratio on how many people were sitting at home watching TV vs. how many people were out and about before I get myself worked up into a tizzy. I mean, if *I* was out having a life, I imagine all of the millions of way cooler people were out doing the same.

Also, does anyone know if there's going to be a repeat viewing anytime before next week's episode? I'd like to see the pilot.

I blame Fox... for airing the pilot episode during such an inconvenient time for me! lol.
 
I wonder if there's any way to check the number of people who have watched the show on the internet on sites like Hulu, Fancast, etc.
 
I think Fox has an opportunity to f*ck the show. I think truly good television starts out a little slow. The viewers have to get to know the characters, the plot, and that takes time, and I don't think that's a characteristic of Joss's creations exclusively, either.

If Fox has half a brain-- which I'm really not sure of-- they'll give it 13 episodes to sort of "mature".

I'll be honest, I didn't fall in love with it right off the bat. I saved it, though, on my TiVo and plan on watching it again.
 
I had no excuses. On Friday I had (and still have) a flu and bronchitis and I STILL watched it! That's a fan, folks! LOL
 
AndrewCrossett said:
I just can't stress enough the importance of the DVR and download numbers for this show.
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Thats what i was thinking.... but sad fact is they dont count to the networks figures.... and REALLY should


I remember when Pushing Daisies got cancelled and the cheno was grrr about how dvdring and downloads should be counted as not many people watch a show when its first shown on tv... plus im sure some people watch shows online on the networks website.
 
Honestly, with the exception of reality shows and a few big scripted dramas like "CSI", broadcast television is only a loss-leader for downloads and DVD sets now anyway.
 
dang i hope so!! I can see how they were expecting bigger figures.. come on americans watch the show when its on tv for all fans around the world.... ploise!!
 
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