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The ratings for '90210' and 'Melrose Place' aren't going to cut it
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The CW is calling the season premieres for "90210" and "Melrose Place" "solid," and if you slice the audience up a certain way the ratings for the two shows don't look all that bad. But they don't bode well for the two shows going into the teeth of the fall launch.The network is touting how the two series did with its target audience of young women, and the fact that nearly all the audience for "90210" stuck around for "Melrose Place." About 2.6 million people watched "90210," and 2.3 million saw "Melrose Place." In the women 18-34 demographic that The CW targets, "90210" scored a 2.6 rating, and "Melrose" drew a 2.5.
Neither of those women 18-34 ratings, however, were good enough to win its time period (the honors went to "Hell's Kitchen" at 8 p.m. and "Big Brother" at 9). Yes, The CW tends to get a decent bump from from seven-day DVR viewing, but if The C-dub can't pull out a win in its target demo before the fall season really gets rolling, things are not likely to improve once the competition gets stiffer.
And it will get stiffer. NBC trots out a new season of "The Biggest Loser," which draws a lot of women, next week. The following week will bring another female-skewing unscripted show, ABC's "Dancing with the Stars." Sept. 22 also brings the premieres of "NCIS" and "NCIS: LA," which probably don't have much crossover with The CW's demo but will still command big pieces of the total audience.
FOX will air "Hell's Kitchen" through most of October, at which point two-hour performance episodes of "So You Think You Can Dance" -- yet another heavily female show -- move into the Tuesday-night spot.
Tuesday nights are shaping up to be a free-for-all as four of the five networks battle heavily for female viewers. It looks an awful lot like The CW is going to end up with scraps.
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Related:
TV ratings: Soft starts for '90210,' 'Melrose Place' Tuesday
'Melrose Place' review
'90210': To new beginnings
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The CW should (and likely will) fail if they continue like this. That's okay. I think four broadcast networks are enough. We certainly don't need one that is only interested in programming for a narrow demographic (that's what cable channels like Oxygen and Lifetime are for).
I think we are calling the hearse in a little too soon aren't we? Gossip Girl gets most of its viewings from iTunes and DVR viewings. Why can't 90210 and MP?
This entire discussion has led me to the inescapable conclusion that there are too many shows on television for women, period.
Melrose was STUPID! None of the cast is appealing. Sydney gets killed off in the first 10 mins. She's nothing but a flashback in the rest of the episode. BORING!!! I'm not watching this show.
90210 sucked! First time I've ever watched this version. The white girl who having an affair with the married man reminds me of Denise Richards, no substance/depth at all!
You guys say this about so many shows and are almost always wrong--especially when it comes to smaller networks and lesser watched shows. It seems like 2.6 million for the CW is pretty standard. So for whom will these ratings not cut it? For you? I don't really care about what's not good for you.
This shows that women are not particularly interested in soaps (or soap remakes) anymore. But then again, these are average CW numbers. Poor network. Add some more shows like SPN and maybe you'll have a shot.
How does the CW "Network" find the WORST actors and actresses on the planet? 90210, ion my opinion had the worst until the new version of Melrose Place came along...
HORRIBLE wooden acting all around.. no one on the show, it seems, has had any acting training.. 1 hour of my life that i definitely want back.. I WON'T BE TUNING IN NEXT WEEK!!
CW = CAN'T WATCH
Ok, Melrose would be great. But having a wonderful character (and actress) like Laura Leighton's Sydney die in the first five minutes, and then we keep getting she will be back..as a flashback? Producers, unless you want to give us reasons NOT to watch, bring Sydney back...ALIVE!!!