TV ratings: CBS, 'Criminal Minds' lead a quiet Wednesday

Looks like Wednesday Night will soon be the place networks send shows to die.

Sadly, zap2it seems to think that insulting people is perfectly all right and actively wants this board to become filled with flame messages.

I actually enjoy Eastwick, but I wouldn't say it's exactly setting the country on fire.
I do think this excess of praise has had very bad consequences in real life with more and more timeslots being abandoned for lack of resources stemming from too many poorly performing shows being kept on as long as they garner good press.
CBS and ABC are the only two real networks left standing at this point (and with Saturdays not being programmed I may be a little lenient) and I'd very much like ABC to remain a real network.
Praising a bad development season, while it may get journalists an invite to the Xmas party and keep those executives on the payroll another year doesn't do the long-term health of the company any favors.
Why do company boards rely more on press clippings than actual numbers, one may ask..?
I agree it doesn't make any sense, but clearly that's what's been going on at NBC, FOX, CW and to a lesser degree at ABC and CBS and the result has been few interesting shows for all and more unemployment in the film business.

The equation about ratings is a lot more complex than 'good ratings = good shows" as you have to take into account the amount of promotion, the lead-in, the lead-out, the trajectory of the ratings etc...
For instance, I really do not think that low ratings mean a show is automatically bad. A lot of shows get no meaningful promotional push and can languish in the ratings because of that as not every show is as brilliant as CSI used to be to get the amazing word of mouth that propelled it to the top in spite of not being launched with much fanfare.
When a show is launched with a lot of muscle, however, it IS a sign that something is very wrong with it creatively when it doesn't work in the ratings.
That doesn't mean that you (or I) won't enjoy it in spite of those weaknesses (I enjoyed "Life" quite a bit in spite of the creative problems that made it an also-ran as I related to its strengths in character depiction and tried not to mind the weaknesses so much). I'm sure you have examples like that.
However, I do object to being told that a show with no ratings even though it's been launched again and again is somehow brilliant in the face of audience rejection. This, to me, smacks of snobbery etc...
If you keep reading what I post here (if this board does not descend into total miasma which is sadly not unlikely :( ) you'll notice that there is a lot more to it than the raw ratings numbers (to give another example, the original Leno numbers were a tribute to its marketing campaign and you needed to wait a couple of weeks to see the real creative strength of the show manifest itself in the ratings).
I can't help but be shocked by how much worse the board has been since it has moved from Topix. I'm glad to see, BTW, that I'm not the only one who thought their response was insulting. Their e-mail to me was even more so (at least in my opinion :) )

Rena, do you have a life at all? I mean it seems everyday you have several comments on everything. It does not matter what day it is or shows are on you got something to say and create alot of the insulting yourself or at least start it by the way you disagree with others. This is my first and last post so if you see my name on anything else it's not me.

@Kayla, feel free not to read what I have to say if you don't find it interesting.

I want what I post to be about the meat of the topic, not about me.

My only claim to fame is to have followed ratings for a long time. Everything I know you can know too by following the numbers and analyzing them.

I hope you'll want to do that and enjoy it. :)

I think a lot of people were tuned into the baseball game on TBS. I like "Eastwick" but it will, most likely, be canceled. It is the only show that seems to consistently lose to Leno in the ratings.

Isn't it amazing (and sad) that as soon as a differing opinion about the CW is expressed, the street teamers and trufans emerge and try to smother it..? :(

Why is it that it is so painful to you to read the not-too-stunning fact that Vampire Diaries is not a hit at all?

Sadly for you, this approach does not work with me, so here to you CW street teamers and other trufans:

Vampire Diaries is a bomb.

The reason it should be called a bomb is because it is reality. Calling it a hit like Korbi did is just giving an echo chamber to PR hype (which I realize is what Korbi does).

That said, it doesn't change the fact that in the real world, Vampire Diaries is a failure. It's just a smaller failure than Melrose Place.

And no amount of attempted bullying can change that.

Rena everyday you make yourself seem more and more of a bitter old woman. And the board gets worse because of you but your to ignorant to see that!

Street Teamer!

What a great night for TV first up SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE reveals the top 20, great stuff. Next up CRIMINAL MINDS, pehaps the greatest show on TV ever created, it is like watching a movie and very thrilling and well acted. Next was a DVR of Law and Order SVU which was quite good as well. Top that off with the O'Reilly Factor on FNC where the spin stops and the truth is told and what a great night it was. Dancers danced, killers get killed, crime victims get justice and the truth is told on FNC.