Bombs away: ABC's
'Shark Tank' tanks
First show of the new season pulls a 1.3 in 18-49s
By Loiusa Ada Seltzer
Aug 11, 2009
There’s still more than a month until the new television season officially kicks off, but already there’s a contender for first bomb: ABC’s “Shark Tank.”
The new reality show, about a slew of entrepreneurs competing for backing from a group of investors, tanked on Sunday, becoming one of the lowest-rated premieres of the summer and putting its survival until September in doubt.
“Shark” averaged a 1.3 adults 18-49 rating Sunday, according to Nielsen overnights, just 0.2 ahead of the premiere of the disappointing “Defying Gravity” the previous week.
The premiere did air against some tougher-than-usual Sunday competition, including the first preseason NFL game of the season on NBC, which was up compared to the previous year, and the premiere of CBS’s “There Goes the Neighborhood,” which averaged a 1.5.
ABC had been hoping that “Shark” would receive a nice lead-in from “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” back after several years of primetime hibernation for a week of 10th anniversary shows. But that show, which airs five back-to-back episodes this week, also got off to a bad start with a 1.5 rating.
Of course, ABC points out that "Shark" was actually up 30 percent in the 9 p.m. Sunday hour compared to what aired there the previous week, the first hour of “Gravity's” premiere. And ABC had plenty of other shows that drew lower ratings than “Shark” last week.
But those other lower-rated shows aren’t slated to appear on ABC’s fall schedule; “Shark” is. And now the network is faced with a choice.
Does it continue airing the show, hoping that ratings will creep up in coming weeks based on strong buzz from critics, who liked the show?
Or does it yank “Shark” before the season begins and slot a different program in its place?
The answer may not come for several more weeks, after ABC sees how the show performs without a “Millionaire” lead-in.
In any case, things are going to get tougher for “Shark” in a few weeks once it switches to its regular Tuesday 8 p.m. slot.
In September, “Shark” will face off with NBC's No. 2 show last season, “The Biggest Loser,” and one of TV’s top-rated dramas among total viewers, CBS’s “NCIS.”
Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance,” also airing in the same slot, pulled more than double “Shark’s” rating for its season finale last week.
"Shark's" woes come as no surprise to media buyers and planners. They had pegged “Tank” as one of the new season shows most likely to bomb. Several have told Media Life they thought ABC would yank the show sooner rather than later.
Still, the network is then faced with the problem of what to sub in.
Most likely it would rerun highlights of the previous night’s performance episode of “Dancing with the Stars.” Or it could attempt a quick turnaround on a new reality show.
At worst, the network would be stuck with the same problem that has plagued it on Tuesdays in the past, which is finding a show that performs even decently. Last year the game show “Opportunity Knocks” also pulled low ratings and was bumped off the schedule by midseason.
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