This seasons premiere scored the lowest ratings and audience (excluding the Season 1 pilot) by quite a margin. To recap, Season 2 pulled in a 5.6 18/49 rating, and 12.45 million viewers. Season 3 dropped 1.6 rating points to a 4.0 18/49 rating, and shed about 25% of the total audience, down to 9.21 million viewers This seasons premiere dropped almost another full ratings point on last seasons premiere, to a 3.1 18/49 rating, and a further 2 million viewers, to 7.41 million
So what is this decline being caused by?? What are the statistics saying??
What I didn't tell you in the numbers above, is that the last 2 season premieres did not have a lead-in, but this seasons premiere did (The X Factor) which pulled in the same rating as Glee (3.1) but another 900,000 viewers (8.28 million). So the lead-in isn't a problem, because it did better statistics-wise, than Glee did So this all seems like doom and gloom, BUT, Glee scored the equal best (with its lead-in, The X Factor) ratings figure of the night. The third best show was America's Got Talent on NBC, with its lowest finale rating ever, just 2.4. Glee was the third strongest show audience-wise, being beaten by America's Got Talent (first) and The X Factor (second)
(Grey's Anatomy and Person of Interest fans, you get your turn now <(' ',)> )
However, things might not remain so positive, unfortunately. Glee premiered surprisingly early this year, and will have another relatively competition-free episode next week before ABC and CBS bring two of their best shows to the evening (27 September) with the premiere of Season 9 of Grey's Anatomy, and Person of Interest's second season premiere on ABC and CBS respectively.
Grey's Anatomy and Person of Interest also went head to head in the same timeslot, on the same day, last season. Glee takes the place of The Finder this season, after it aired alongside the aforementioned shows last season
Some more numbers. Up against each other over the 2011-2012 season, Person of Interest averaged a strong 2.87 18/49 rating, and 13.31 million viewers, whilst Grey's Anatomy averaged an even stronger 3.54 18/49 rating, but a weaker 9.82 million viewers. In last seasons timeslot, Glee averaged a 3.02 18/49 rating, and 7.31 million viewers
To sum up, Thursdays 9|8c is set to be one of the most interesting timeslots of this season, because three networks each have very well liked shows which all appeal strongly to the 18/49 demographic, but pull in audience totals far less than what the ratings numbers would suggest on face value. However, all three shows happen to be of completely different genres, so this timeslot should also be one of the easiest to look at statistically, whereby other timeslots have shows that are directly competing with each other based on genre as well as the timeslot, thus affecting each others' ratings more significantly. It goes without saying that I will be watching this timeslot very closely this season
I'll leave you with the season comparison graphs for Glee. With these graphs, you can see each season up against each other, and compare the points of strength and weakness in episodes across the seasons. For more statistics, check out Glee on my TV statistics website, www.seriesmonitor.com
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| Glee Season 4 is the red dot down the bottom left |
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| Glee Season 4 is the red dot down the bottom left |
Thanks for reading!! Feel free to share your thoughts below, and I'll try to answer any questions you may have. This is my second article for SpoilerTV, so I'm keen to hear your thoughts. For my introductory article, click here
Jimmy
(www.seriesmonitor.com)
