The End

In case you have not heard yet, tonights airing of "Studio 60" is likely to be the last. The mid-season replacement has been pushed up to next week. While many have speculated as to whether this is or isn't the end, I think the post immediately below this one speaks to network reasoning more than anything else can.

That said, I intend for this blog to continue on in some incarnation or another. I daresay that this is not the last we shall hear about "60", but I can almost say without reservation that it is not the last we will hear from Aaron Sorkin.

"Friday Night Slaughter" Slaughtered

In ratings posts I've typically made statements like: "... tied for worst rating yet", or something to that effect. It's silly, but I've found that raw numbers from Nielsen feel obscure and arbitrary for those of us outside of the confines of Los Angeles or Burbank. They are necessary, however, because they are essentially the only numbers that matter in LA and Burbank.

That said, the "60" entry on Wikipedia has a very comprehensive ratings section in which the context of last nights rating of a 4.3/7 could not be any more clear. It was the worst rating thus far of "Studio 60", and, with 6.5 million viewers, had less than half of the audience of the series' premiere.

The Case Against Cancellation

Since the recent news of "60"'s open-ended hiatus, there's been little intreptation of the announcement as anything other than an ominous strike in a series of ominous stikes against the show. Therefore, this piece (entitled "Seven Reasons Why It's Not Cancelled") is notable if only for the contrarian approach:

1. network support. A few weeks ago, Sorkin said that, when Studio 60 was picked up for the additional nine episodes in late 2006, now NBC Universal President and CEO Jeff Zucker assured him of the show's future. Zucker told Sorkin that he wasn't focusing on the back nine episodes but more in terms of seasons two and three of the series.

2. Even more network support. At the recent Television Critics Association (TCA) press tour, NBC Entertainment President Kevin Reilly vowed to stick with several quality freshman shows that have struggled to find a large audience -- including Friday Night Lights, 30 Rock and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Quite honestly, the network doesn't have a lot of other options.

The remaining reasons are predictable (the ideal demo, the ambiguity of the ratings #'s, even [gasp!] that NBC wouldn't dare cancel on Aaron Sorkin b/c he is, after all, Aaron Sorkin).
Network support is, in the end, the only route through which "60" can survive but it shouldn't be underestimated. I, like any other fan of the late, great "Arrested Development" can tell you, that critical network support, as well as a lack of other scheduling options to pursue, can buy a under-performing show two extra seasons (and an offer from boutique cable outlets like Showtime).

Obviously, "60" and "Arrested Development" differ greatly, most important of which being that "60" actually has a an average rating of at least 2-3 million more viewers (though declining) than "AD" did when it was cancelled.

"Harriet Dinner (1)" Ratings

Last night's ep. scored a 4.8 out of either 7 or 9. On a similar note, last week's rating were corrected to a 5.3/8 (originally reported at 4.8) proving that the Nielsen system is neither helpful, nor accurate. Yay for basing success in an entire industry on obscure measurement systems! Anyways, here is the ratings history as compiled at Wikipedia.

"Monday" Ties for "60"'s Lowest Rating

Zap2It reports the show scored a 4.7/8. (The Heroes lead-in was 8.5/12).
Wikipedia has a ratings history.

EDIT (6:12pm)
Next week's guest (on the show within a show) is Heroes' Masi Oka (you know, the Japanese guy everyone supposedly loves). One can only hope that maybe "60" can retain just a little of the that lead-in?

Some Stale, Old News for a (Nearly) New Year

You've undoubtedly heard by now that "Studio 60" is the most "time-shifted" program of the year.

This raises the all-important question for NBC, who, despite all the romanticism the show puts upon the Television as an artistic medium, is primarily concerned with cold, hard numbers that lead to cold, hard cash. The short-term question is: "Do we give it a new timeslot?", but the long-term question is: "How do we continue to make money off of this new model?" It feels like for "60" to just exist for no more than one season would be the total cop-out: it would represent network television's ignorance of their impending irrelevance. If they cannot adapt to make a show like "60" profitable for them, then they cannot adapt to remain relevant.

SEE ALSO:
Zap2It: 'Studio 60' Gets Bump from DVRs
Jon Robin Baitz: The Numbers and Why They Lie

Ratings for "Xmas Show" Repeat

"The Christmas Show" maintained its 2nd place slot (against "CSI: Miami") scoring a 3.1/5 and beating a new ep. of ABC's "What About Brian". The original airing scored a 4.9/8.

A Dose of Reality(?)

So, the last episode was effing amazing wasn't it? (And it's being rerun 0n the 18th!) After a brief creative hiatus (i.e.: every episode between "Pilot" and "The Christmas Show") Sorkin has returned and everything's coming up roses, right? Someone named Ashgiel at fangasm lays out the reality in all its naked starkness:

Rumor has it that "Studio 60" won't be around very long. You know the end is near when more than half the viewers from its lead-in "Heroes" drop off. Over at the big eyeball CBS, they are getting 10 million more viewers in that time-slot than the peacock.

Sure, there was an order put out for nine more episodes, but no amount of spin control can fix the fact that it has been on a steady ratings decline since the pilot aired back at the start of the fall season. It's sad for NBC which seemed to be defending this show from the outset, but that's the word from people involved with the show. It won't be long before it's cut completely from the air.

There's a big reason this show didn't work. The pilot which had a boatload of viewers was a different show than the rest of the season has been. The initial episode was more people and character oriented. The show has since degenerated into being plot driven rather than character driven. In my opinion, this is what has brought on its steady decline in viewership.

And so the big question now is: "Is it too late?" Has "60"'s audience already tuned-out? I think it will be particularly interesting, and frustrating, to look at how well the rerun of "The Christmas Show" does.

Ratings Uptick Continues

Last night's "The Christmas Show" was the second week of ratings growth for the show (from its all-time low two-weeks ago). The show scored a 4.9/8. And while one might've hoped for a stronger showing for such a critically praised episode (more on that later), it's good news nonetheless.

Source: Zap2it
Ratings history for "60": Wikipedia

Ratings Recover from the Lowest of the Low

The good news: Monday's episode "B-12" gained nearly 100,000 viewers from last week, scoring a 4.8/8 (as compared to "The Option Period"'s 4.7 share).

The bad news: It was Studio 60's second-lowest rating thus far.
But, has the bleeding finally stopped?:

#	Episode	Air Date	Rating	Share	18–49	Viewers	Rank
1	"Pilot"	September 18, 2006	8.6	14	5.0	13.14	# 22
2	"The Cold Open"	September 25, 2006	7.5	12	4.4	10.82	# 33
3	"The Focus Group"	October 2, 2006	6.0	10	3.5	8.85	# 47
4	"The West Coast Delay"	October 9, 2006	5.8	9	3.8	8.66	# 51
5	"The Long Lead Story"	October 16, 2006	5.3	8	3.1	7.74	# 55
6	"The Wrap Party"	October 23, 2006	5.1	8	3.2	7.72	# 60
7	"Nevada Day (1)"	November 6, 2006	4.9	8	3.3	7.67	# 56
8	"Nevada Day (2)"	November 13, 2006	5.0	8	3.2	7.58	# 58
9	"The Option Period"	November 20, 2006	4.7	8	3.1	7.31	# 60
10	"B-12"	November 27, 2006	4.8	8	3.3	7.4	n/a