More than a year after “The Sopranos” went off the air, HBO is still struggling to find a new big-buzz show to build around. And it looks like it will take a while longer.
The network’s fourth post-“Sopranos” new drama, the vampire-centric “True Blood,” debuted Sunday night to merely so-so ratings and reviews, despite a big publicity push by the network and the return of one of its most valued names, “Six Feet Under” creator Alan Ball, as a producer.
“Blood” averaged 1.4 million total viewers and 1 million households in the 9 p.m. slot Sunday, according to Nielsen.
The show wasn't a disaster. That’s one and a half times the number who turned out a year ago for the premiere of the psychotherapy drama “Tell Me You Love Me.” And it’s roughly three times what the premiere of “In Treatment,” the network’s unorthodox five-nights-per-week drama, drew on a Monday night in January.
But it’s not even a quarter of the audience that big hits “Sex and the City” and “Sopranos” managed during their prime, and less than half the audience for “Six” in its final, lower-rated years.
More damning, the critics gave "Blood" mixed reviews. Though a handful, like the Baltimore Sun and Washington Post, lauded it as bloody good fun, others, including the Los Angeles Times, said it lacked the bite of Ball’s “Six.”
For a network that thrives on buzz to secure subscriptions and press, bad reviews may be worse than bad ratings. In the buzz department, HBO has lost out on to Showtime over the past year as that network churns out Emmy darlings like “Weeds” and “Dexter.”
HBO has been grasping for another pop culture touchstone since “Sopranos” ended its eight-year run in 2007. “John From Cincinnati,” a quirky drama about a mystical family of surfers, and “Love,” which contained graphic sex scenes, both ended their runs after one little-watched season.
“Treatment” will be back, but it came nowhere near achieving the cultural zeitgeist of “Sopranos” or “SATC,” despite a lead actor Emmy nomination for Gabriel Byrne.
“Blood” could certainly build its audience in coming weeks, though that will be difficult with the broadcast networks readying their season debuts later this month. And, as HBO points out, its shows usually double or even triple their initial airing with subsequent episodes across the pay cable network’s multiple channels and video-on-demand. A second airing Sunday pulled in more than half a million.
Still, “Blood” seems unlikely to gain the traction needed to become a modest hit, along the lines of “Entourage,” which averaged 3 million viewers last season but, more importantly, has won Emmys and lots of magazine covers.
***
Meanwhile, in other cable ratings for the week ended Sept. 7:
Top five networks in primetime (18-49s): ESPN, USA, MTV, TBS, TNT.
Top five networks in primetime (total viewers): Fox News Channel, ESPN, USA, TNT, CNN.
Top movie (18-49s): TBS’s “Failure to Launch” (Friday, 9 p.m.) 1.62 million.
Top sporting event (total viewers): ESPN’s “College Football - Saturday” (Saturday, 8 p.m.) 6.95 million.
Shows making the top 10 among 18-34s, 18-49s and 25-54s: MTV’s “2008 Video Music Awards” (Sunday, 9 p.m.); ESPN’s “College Football – Saturday” (Saturday, 8 p.m.); ESPN’s “College Football: Tennessee/UCLA” (Monday, 8:08 p.m.).
Show on the rise: MTV’s “2008 Video Music Awards,” Sunday 9 p.m. The annual awards show averaged 5.68 million households, up 27 percent from 4.48 million last year.
Show on the decline: MTV’s “Exiled,” Monday 10:30 p.m. The “My Super Sweet 16” spinoff fell 29 percent in its second week among viewers 18-34, from 1.64 million to 1.17 million.
|
TOP 25 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Ranked on Household Rating
Week Ending September 7 |
|
Rank |
Primetime |
Total Day |
|
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
|
1
|
FOXN
|
3042
|
NICK
|
1641
|
|
2
|
ESPN
|
2157
|
FOXN
|
1481
|
|
3
|
TNT
|
2068
|
NAN
*
|
1370
|
|
4
|
USA
|
2016
|
TNT
|
1141
|
|
5
|
CNN
|
1851
|
ESPN
|
1052
|
|
6
|
TBSC
|
1463
|
USA
|
1008
|
|
7
|
NAN
|
1459
|
CNN
|
953
|
|
8
|
MTV
|
1282
|
TOON
|
940
|
|
9
|
AMC
|
1185
|
ADSM*
|
820
|
|
10
|
LIF
|
1144
|
TBSC
|
767
|
|
11
|
TOON
|
1138
|
LIF
|
727
|
|
12
|
AEN
|
1051
|
AEN
|
613
|
|
13
|
HGTV
|
1035
|
TWC
|
600
|
|
14
|
FX
|
1025
|
FX
|
598
|
|
15
|
HALL
|
1006
|
HALL
|
589
|
|
16
|
SPK
|
988
|
HGTV
|
574
|
|
17
|
FAM
|
950
|
SPK
|
566
|
|
18
|
SCIF
|
948
|
MTV
|
553
|
|
19
|
CMDY
|
894
|
DISC
|
535
|
|
20
|
MSNB
|
856
|
AMC
|
522
|
|
21
|
DISC
|
825
|
FAM
|
512
|
|
22
|
TLC
|
759
|
CMDY
|
490
|
|
23
|
HIST
|
757
|
TRU
|
490
|
|
24
|
TRU
|
707
|
TVLD
|
487
|
|
25
|
FOOD
|
681
|
HIST
|
480
|
|
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research.
|
|
TOP 25 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE PROGRAMS
Ranked on Households
Week Ending September 7 |
|
Rank
|
Program |
Net
|
(000) |
|
1
|
You Dec 08-Rep Convention
|
FOXN
|
6159
|
|
2
|
You Dec 08-Rep Convention
|
FOXN
|
6031
|
|
3
|
The Closer
|
TNT
|
5872
|
|
4
|
Raising The Bar
|
TNT
|
5709
|
|
5
|
2008 Video Music Awards
|
MTV
|
5676
|
|
6
|
You Dec 08-Rep Convention
|
FOXN
|
5298
|
|
7
|
You Dec 08-Rep Convention
|
FOXN
|
4890
|
|
8
|
College Football-Saturday
|
ESPN
|
4886
|
|
9
|
The O'Reilly Factor
|
FOXN
|
4836
|
|
10
|
Tennessee/UCLA
|
ESPN
|
4653
|
|
11
|
SR/RNC 2008
|
CNN
|
4530
|
|
12
|
You Dec 08-Rep Convention
|
FOXN
|
4372
|
|
13
|
You Dec 08-Rep Convention
|
FOXN
|
4356
|
|
14
|
Hannity & Colmes
|
FOXN
|
4025
|
|
15
|
The O'Reilly Factor
|
FOXN
|
3975
|
|
16
|
You Dec 08-Rep Convention
|
FOXN
|
3863
|
|
17
|
Hannity & Colmes
|
FOXN
|
3726
|
|
18
|
Monk
|
USA
|
3605
|
|
19
|
SR/RNC 2008
|
CNN
|
3588
|
|
20
|
SR/RNC 2008
|
CNN
|
3527
|
|
21
|
Hannity & Colmes
|
FOXN
|
3427
|
|
22
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
3315
|
|
23
|
2008 VMA Opening Act
|
MTV
|
3278
|
|
24
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
3268
|
|
25
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
3141
|
|
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research.
|
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Adults 18-34
Week Ending September 7 |
|
Rank |
PRIME TIME |
TOTAL DAY |
|
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
|
1
|
MTV
|
924
|
NAN
*
|
429
|
|
2
|
ESPN
|
650
|
ESPN
|
403
|
|
3
|
TBSC
|
597
|
ADSM*
|
367
|
|
4
|
USA
|
482
|
NICK
|
356
|
|
5
|
TNT
|
421
|
MTV
|
333
|
|
6
|
CMDY
|
400
|
TBSC
|
326
|
|
7
|
NAN
|
395
|
CMDY
|
238
|
|
8
|
FX
|
358
|
TNT
|
237
|
|
9
|
AEN
|
347
|
FX
|
233
|
|
10
|
FAM
|
337
|
USA
|
233
|
|
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research.
|
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS
Adults 18-34
Week Ending September 7 |
|
Rank |
PROGRAM |
NET |
(000) |
|
1
|
2008 Video Music Awards
|
MTV
|
4218
|
|
2
|
2008 VMA Opening Act
|
MTV
|
2436
|
|
3
|
2008 VMA Postshow
|
MTV
|
2371
|
|
4
|
The Hills
|
MTV
|
2157
|
|
5
|
The Hills
|
MTV
|
1828
|
|
6
|
College Football-Saturday
|
ESPN
|
1671
|
|
7
|
Tennessee/UCLA
|
ESPN
|
1498
|
|
8
|
Family Guy
|
ADSM
|
1313
|
|
9
|
2008 Video Music Awards
|
MTV
|
1311
|
|
10
|
WWE Entertainment
|
USA
|
1295
|
|
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research.
|
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Adults 18-49
Week Ending September 7 |
|
Rank |
PRIME TIME |
TOTAL DAY |
|
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
|
1
|
ESPN
|
1419
|
ESPN
|
754
|
|
2
|
USA
|
1210
|
NAN
*
|
733
|
|
3
|
MTV
|
1198
|
TNT
|
622
|
|
4
|
TBSC
|
1097
|
NICK
|
571
|
|
5
|
TNT
|
1089
|
TBSC
|
570
|
|
6
|
FOXN
|
1028
|
USA
|
566
|
|
7
|
CNN
|
810
|
ADSM*
|
507
|
|
8
|
NAN
|
716
|
FOXN
|
439
|
|
9
|
FX
|
715
|
MTV
|
438
|
|
10
|
AEN
|
705
|
FX
|
429
|
|
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research.
|
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS
Adults 18-49
Week Ending September 7 |
|
Rank |
PROGRAM |
NET |
(000) |
|
1
|
2008 Video Music Awards
|
MTV
|
5507
|
|
2
|
College Football-Saturday
|
ESPN
|
3561
|
|
3
|
Tennessee/UCLA
|
ESPN
|
3197
|
|
4
|
2008 VMA Opening Act
|
MTV
|
3054
|
|
5
|
You Dec 08-Rep Convention
|
FOXN
|
3008
|
|
6
|
2008 VMA Postshow
|
MTV
|
3001
|
|
7
|
Raising The Bar
|
TNT
|
2837
|
|
8
|
You Dec 08-Rep Convention
|
FOXN
|
2758
|
|
9
|
The Closer
|
TNT
|
2649
|
|
10
|
You Dec 08-Rep Convention
|
FOXN
|
2588
|
|
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research.
|
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Adults 25-54
Week Ending September 7 |
|
|
PRIME TIME |
TOTAL DAY |
|
Rank
|
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
|
1
|
ESPN
|
1445
|
TNT
|
713
|
|
2
|
FOXN
|
1297
|
ESPN
|
690
|
|
3
|
USA
|
1295
|
USA
|
609
|
|
4
|
TNT
|
1271
|
NAN
*
|
604
|
|
5
|
TBSC
|
1044
|
FOXN
|
554
|
|
6
|
CNN
|
895
|
TBSC
|
500
|
|
7
|
MTV
|
764
|
NICK
|
471
|
|
8
|
SCIF
|
714
|
CNN
|
431
|
|
9
|
AEN
|
695
|
LIF
|
427
|
|
10
|
FX
|
681
|
AEN
|
385
|
|
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research.
|
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS
Adults 25-54
Week Ending September 7 |
|
Rank |
PROGRAM |
NET |
(000) |
|
1
|
2008 Video Music Awards
|
MTV
|
3729
|
|
2
|
College Football-Saturday
|
ESPN
|
3683
|
|
3
|
You Dec 08-Rep Convention
|
FOXN
|
3538
|
|
4
|
Raising The Bar
|
TNT
|
3471
|
|
5
|
The Closer
|
TNT
|
3438
|
|
6
|
You Dec 08-Rep Convention
|
FOXN
|
3290
|
|
7
|
You Dec 08-Rep Convention
|
FOXN
|
3243
|
|
8
|
Tennessee/UCLA
|
ESPN
|
3232
|
|
9
|
SR/RNC 2008
|
CNN
|
2696
|
|
10
|
WWE Entertainment
|
USA
|
2302
|
|
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research.
|
