Thursday

Stumbling

At season's end,
ABC is a sinker

Overcome by disappointments after hopeful start

By Kevin Downey

   With the broadcast season ending last night, all eyes were on Ruben Studdard, a 350-pound Alabaman who was voted the primo singing talent on the two-hour finale of “American Idol,” ensuring Fox its second 18-49 sweeps win this year ahead of NBC.
   Less noticed in the hoopla over Fox's victory was the collapse of ABC, which dipped below CBS for fourth place in the demographic for the season, even with a last-minute "Bachelor" special yesterday.
   Final ratings will not be out until later today, but based on preliminary figures, ABC ranked No. 4 with a 3.782 adult 18-49 rating. NBC had a 4.5, Fox had a 4.3 and CBS had a 3.848.
   That is only the latest problem for the Disney-owned ABC.
   Preliminary data show for the first time ever that ABC fell out of the top three in total viewers, although by only 6,000 viewers.
   Further, this is the second May sweeps in a row in which ABC has finished last in 18-49s.
   This is a long way from where ABC appeared to stand at the beginning of the season, when it was in full recovery mode after finishing in fourth place last season in 18-49s.
The network had a new sense of itself and what promised to be a slate of winning new shows, like “8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter,” while also bringing back its hugely successful reality series “The Bachelor.” It also had Super Bowl.
   Helping its case, NBC was coming off an Olympics year, and Fox's lineup was in general disarray.
   But ABC's high expectations didn't last long. It was done in by two forces, the collapse of much of its own lineup and the rising strength of its competitors, notably NBC and Fox.
   ABC’s fall lineup quickly disintegrated, with “Alias” failing to find an audience and “The Practice” slumping when it moved to Monday.
   Several new shows, “MDs,” “Dinotopia,” “Push, Nevada” and “That Was Then,” went into quick fade, and they were shows that were pegged by many media buyers as failures well before their first airing.
   “The Drew Carey Show” and Carey’s “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” also died this season.
   Two reality shows also did poorly, “The Family” and “I’m a Celebrity - Get Me Out of Here!”
   That left ABC with languishing movies on weekend nights, modestly rated newsmagazines, “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” the successful “NYPD Blue” and decently rated sitcoms on Tuesday and Wednesday.
   That contributed to ABC ranking No. 4 in the 18-49 demo for 12 of 20 weeks since January.
   ABC did, however, improve its 18-49 rating by 6 percent and its audience by 3 percent over last season.
   At the same time, the other three major networks were up.
   CBS dominated in total viewers with shows like “CSI,” the season’s most-watched regularly scheduled program, “Survivor,” “Everybody Loves Raymond” and the first season of “CSI: Miami,” all of which were top-15 programs.
   NBC won in the 18-49 demographic with top-rated shows on Thursday and its “Law & Order” franchise.
   And then there was Fox, which, as it has in years past, slumped early in the season when many of its shows were delayed for baseball. But hits like “Joe Millionaire,” “Idol,” “The Simpsons” and “24” ultimately offset tepid ratings for most of its other shows.
   ABC is once again looking to next season, but the network’s recovery won’t be easy.
NBC is moving “Law & Order: SVU” to Tuesday, where it will compete head-to-head with ABC’s most-watched scripted show, “NYPD Blue.” CBS’s hits are remaining largely intact, while Fox will bring back new versions of “Joe” and “Idol.”

-Kevin Downey is a staff writer for Media Life.

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