Viewers of 'The Hills' head for them

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Cable recap
Viewers of 'The Hills' head for them
By Tom Conroy
Oct 21, 2009 - 7:11:46 AM

Judging by recent ratings of MTV’s reality show “The Hills,” Lauren Conrad is getting the last laugh.

Conrad, who had been the focus of the series since its debut in 2006, apparently took a good chunk of its audience with her when she left the show earlier this year.

Her replacement as star of “The Hills,” Kristin Cavallari, who constantly bested Conrad when both of them were high-school romantic rivals on MTV’s “Laguna Beach,” isn’t the ratings draw MTV hoped she would be.

Viewership for the season premiere on Sept. 29 were down 30 percent from the previous season premiere last April, to 2.36 million total viewers, according to Nielsen’s live-plus-same-day ratings.

MTV pointed out then that the show was still the highest-rated cable show in the channel’s target audience, viewers 12-34, as well as the highest-rated program on television in its timeslot in that demographic.

But since then ratings have fallen some more, tumbling to 1.72 million viewers for the season’s third episode last Tuesday.

That episode, which aired at 10 p.m., averaged 1.06 million adults 18-34, the demo "Hills" dominated during its first few seasons. That's less than half the 2.3 million who tuned in to the show at its peak two years ago.

It's also down a third from what the show averaged last June, during its most recent season with Conrad, though it remains MTV's second-most-watched show in the key demo and still ranks in the top 15 on cable.

Although Cavallari immediately stirred things up in the premiere by flirting with various series regular’s boyfriends, she is apparently less adept at engaging/enraging audiences than the show’s previous head villains, Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag.

That pair, whose wedding last spring was used as the pretext to reintroduce Cavallari into the mix, are now relegated to acting out typical newlyweds plot lines, like buying a house and arguing over when they should start a family.

Cavallari’s actions are becoming increasingly implausible, even by the loose standards of reality TV.

Her flirtation with Justin Bobby, the ex-boyfriend of Conrad’s former housemate Audrina Patridge, is a blatant attempt to set up a love triangle reminiscent of the good old days on “Laguna Beach.” Her decision to give her own ex-boyfriend Brody Jenner a dog collar and a whip on his birthday—to symbolize how “whipped” he is by his new girlfriend—was just plain silly.

Moreover, no one has adequately explained why Cavallari’s social life suddenly revolves around people she had either barely known or had not spoken to since she left “Laguna Beach” in 2005.

It didn’t help that just before she made her debut as star of “The Hills,” Cavallari talked to the press about how the show’s producers direct her actions.

“I pretty much do anything they have me do because I don’t care,” she told The Los Angeles Times. “I mean, we’re filming a TV show. Let’s make it interesting. Let’s have a good time with it.”

She told the Times that the other principals treat the show the same way: “Everyone is trying to get story lines and create drama in their lives. It’s just so…fake. There's no truth to it. At all.”

Though this is hardly news to all but the show’s most naïve fans, until now many have been willing to suspend disbelief. But when the star herself is rubbing it in their faces, and when the producers seem to be making less and less effort to keep up appearances, is it any wonder that viewers are heading for the hills?

***

In cable ratings for the week ended Oct. 18:

Top five networks in primetime (18-49s): ESPN, TBS, USA, FX, Syfy.

Top five networks in primetime (total viewers): ESPN, TBS, USA, Fox News Channel, Nick at Nite.

Top movie (18-49s): No movie last week made the top 50 programs among viewers 18-49.

Top sporting event (total viewers): ESPN’s “Monday Night Football: Jets/Dolphins” (Monday, 8:30 p.m.) 13.14 million.

Shows making the top 10 among 18-34s, 18-49s and 25-54s: ESPN’s “Monday Night Football: Jets/Dolphins” (Monday, 8:30 p.m.); FX’s “Sons of Anarchy” (Tuesday, 10 p.m.); ESPN’s “SportsCenter” (Monday, 11:49 p.m.); TBS’s “NLCS: Phillies/Dodgers Game 1” (Thursday, 7:59 p.m.).

Show on the rise: Investigation Discovery’s “On the Case with Paula Zahn,” Sunday 10 p.m. The newsmagazine brought in 465,000 total viewers, making it the No. 1 original series debut in the network's history.

Show on the decline: MTV’s “Real World/Road Rules Challenge,” Wednesday 10 p.m. The reality competition fell 24 percent week to week among 18-34s, from 1.44 million to 1.09 million.

TOP 25 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS Ranked on Household Rating Week Ending October 18
Rank	Primetime		Total Day
Rank	Net	(000)	Net	(000)
1	ESPN	2865	NICK	1633
2	USA	2183	NAN *	1166
3	TBSC	2153	USA	1111
4	FOXN	1602	ESPN	1061
5	NAN	1399	FOXN	1020
6	TNT	1244	TBSC	973
7	AEN	1117	TNT	906
8	SYFY	1019	TOON	870
9	FX	1015	ADSM*	853
10	TOON	968	AEN	690
11	HGTV	951	FX	584
12	DISC	892	TRU	581
13	TLC	892	FOOD	578
14	CMDY	807	HGTV	556
15	FOOD	799	DISC	548
16	SPK	799	HIST	540
17	HIST	776	SPK	538
18	TRU	757	LIF	498
19	AMC	734	SYFY	462
20	FAM	716	CMDY	453
21	ESP2	707	TVLD	453
22	LIF	699	TLC	448
23	VH1	647	AMC	437
24	BRAV	636	CNN	436
25	BET	619	HALL	414
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day. Source: Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research data

TOP 25 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE PROGRAMS Ranked on Households Week Ending October 18
Rank	Program	Net	(000)
1	Jets vs. Dolphins	ESPN	9656
2	NLCS Phillies vs. Dodgers 1	TBSC	4935
3	Phillies vs. Rockies 4	TBSC	3711
4	NCIS	USA	3563
5	NLCS Dodgers vs. Phillies 3	TBSC	3458
6	WWE Entertainment	USA	3415
7	NLCS Phillies vs. Dodgers 2	TBSC	3344
8	WWE Entertainment	USA	3275
9	College Football-Saturday Prime	ESPN	3266
10	iCarly	NICK	3111
11	NCIS	USA	2995
12	Sportscenter	ESPN	2957
12	NCIS	USA	2957
14	Spongebob	NICK	2880
15	Spongebob	NICK	2876
16	Monk	USA	2864
17	The O'Reilly Factor	FOXN	2836
18	The O'Reilly Factor	FOXN	2830
19	Spongebob	NICK	2782
20	NCIS	USA	2780
21	Psych	USA	2713
22	The O'Reilly Factor	FOXN	2704
23	NCIS	USA	2689
24	NCIS	USA	2632
25	The Penguins Of Madagascar	NICK	2624
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research data

TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS Adults 18-34 Week Ending October 18
Rank	PRIME TIME		TOTAL DAY
Rank	Net	(000)	Net	(000)
1	ESPN	827	ADSM*	440
2	TBSC	690	ESPN	361
3	USA	501	TBSC	353
4	VH1	392	NICK	348
5	FX	384	NAN *	292
6	CMDY	366	USA	255
7	MTV	326	FX	226
8	BET	311	CMDY	213
9	EN	308	TNT	210
10	DISC	306	MTV	207
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day. Source: Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research data

TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS Adults 18-34 Week Ending October 18
Rank	PROGRAM	NET	(000)
1	Jets vs. Dolphins	ESPN	3351
2	NLCS Phillies vs. Dodgers 1	TBSC	1427
3	The Ultimate Fighter	SPK	1305
4	South Park	CMDY	1284
5	Family Guy	ADSM	1238
6	Sportscenter	ESPN	1198
7	Family Guy	ADSM	1157
8	Sons Of Anarchy	FX	1154
9	Family Guy	ADSM	1150
10	Family Guy	ADSM	1136
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research data

TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS Adults 18-49 Week Ending October 18
Rank	PRIME TIME		TOTAL DAY
Rank	Net	(000)	Net	(000)
1	ESPN	1834	ESPN	721
2	TBSC	1415	TBSC	665
3	USA	1132	ADSM*	607
4	FX	779	NICK	562
5	SYFY	728	USA	558
6	TNT	664	NAN *	526
7	DISC	628	TNT	509
8	CMDY	627	FX	426
9	AEN	618	AEN	376
10	VH1	571	DISC	373
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day. Source: Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research data

TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS Adults 18-49 Week Ending October 18
Rank	PROGRAM	NET	(000)
1	Jets vs. Dolphins	ESPN	7094
2	NLCS Phillies vs. Dodgers 1	TBSC	2995
3	Sons Of Anarchy	FX	2352
4	Sportscenter	ESPN	2329
5	WWE Entertainment	USA	2199
6	College Football-Saturday Prime	ESPN	2145
7	The Ultimate Fighter	SPK	2140
8	WWE Entertainment	USA	2120
9	Phillies vs. Rockies 4	TBSC	2101
10	NLCS Dodgers vs. Phillies 3	TBSC	2082
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research data

TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS Adults 25-54 Week Ending October 18
	PRIME TIME		TOTAL DAY
Rank	Net	(000)	Net	(000)
1	ESPN	1881	ESPN	680
2	TBSC	1379	TBSC	620
3	USA	1240	USA	593
4	SYFY	772	TNT	536
5	FX	715	NICK	443
6	TNT	700	NAN *	437
7	AEN	669	ADSM*	413
8	DISC	626	AEN	399
9	FOXN	558	TRU	378
10	SPK	541	FX	373
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day. Source: Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research data

TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS Adults 25-54 Week Ending October 18
Rank	PROGRAM	NET	(000)
1	Jets vs. Dolphins	ESPN	7148
2	NLCS Phillies vs. Dodgers 1	TBSC	2983
3	WWE Entertainment	USA	2280
4	Sportscenter	ESPN	2272
5	College Football-Saturday Prime	ESPN	2267
6	NLCS Dodgers vs. Phillies 3	TBSC	2210
7	Sons Of Anarchy	FX	2203
8	Phillies vs. Rockies 4	TBSC	2203
9	WWE Entertainment	USA	2189
10	NCIS	USA	1973
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research data