Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Various Program Ratings (Showtime): 2000-2007

There are a number of Showtime programs from between 2000 and 2007 that have very limited ratings data available and not nearly enough to construct full posts about them individually. There is an especially limited amount of available data for Showtime programs from prior to 2004 as Showtime rarely, if ever, divulged the ratings data for their shows. In a Washington Post article from 2001, it's mentioned that Nielsen themselves were actually also forbidden from releasing Showtime viewership data per an agreement with the network. It's stated that this agreement was unique and no other network had an agreement like to this. As a result, ratings data for shows such as 'Queer as Folk' or 'Dead Like Me' from 2004 & before is very difficult to find and I've included all the publicly available viewership figures below. Starting between 2007 and 2009, Showtime data became a bit more widespread and since 2010 has been relatively easy to access. 

Beggars and Choosers (1999-2001):
'Beggars and Choosers' premiered June 19, 1999 and aired a total of 42 episodes over the course of two seasons, concluding February 6, 2001. There are no known ratings for specific episodes, but the program was reported to have averaged 422,000 viewers overall.

Resurrection Blvd. (2000-2002):
'Resurrection Blvd.' premiered June 26, 2000 and aired a total of 53 episodes over its three seasons, concluding September 18, 2002. The only known viewership figure for the show was for its third-season premiere on June 26, 2002 where it logged 631,000 viewers.

Soul Food (2000-2004):
'Soul Food' premiered June 28, 2000 to just over 1 million viewers and was a solid ratings-performer for Showtime over its first 4 seasons, peaking in its second season among both households (0.78 HH rating) and total viewers (1.16 million). It tumbled by nearly half in its fifth and final season, averaging just a 0.46 HH rating and 627,000 viewers though it's hard to know how much of this viewership decline is due to the actual shedding of viewers versus Nielsen's 2004 premium cable ratings methodology change.

Soul Food Season 1 Ratings (2000-01)
Episode DateViewers (millions)HH rating
Jun. 28, 20001.0240.6
Feb. 21, 20010.8460.5
Average0.8390.58

Soul Food Season 2 Ratings (2001-02)
Episode DateViewers (millions)HH rating
Jun. 27, 20011.1020.7
Feb. 13, 20021.2360.8
Average1.1560.78

Soul Food Season 3 Ratings (2002)
Episode DateViewers (millions)HH rating
Jun. 26, 20021.1980.7
Aug. 28, 20021.2320.9
Average1.0580.71

Soul Food Season 4 Ratings (2003)
Episode DateViewers (millions)HH rating
Apr. 9, 20031.0710.8
Jun. 11, 20031.1190.8
Average1.1190.76

Soul Food Season 5 Ratings (2004)
Episode DateViewers (millions)HH rating
Feb. 25, 20041.2110.7
May 26, 20040.7830.6
Average0.6270.46

Queer as Folk (2000-2005):
Showtime's 'Queer as Folk' premiered December 3, 2000 to 1.63 million viewers and averaged about 1.36 million viewers and a 0.86 household (HH) rating throughout its first season. The show averaged about 1.24 million viewers and a 0.79 HH rating throughout its second season and dipped slightly to 1.09 million & a 0.71 HH rating in its third season. Things began to tumble in the fourth season (2004) which averaged about 500,000 viewers & a 0.34 HH rating, and ticked down even further in its fifth season which averaged 440,000 & a 0.30. The show concluded August 7, 2005 to 547,000 viewers.

Queer as Folk Season 1 Ratings (2000-01)
Episode DateViewers (millions)HH rating
Dec. 3, 20001.6261.0
Jun. 24, 20011.4920.9
Average1.3620.86

Queer as Folk Season 2 Ratings (2002)
Episode DateViewers (millions)HH rating
Jan. 6, 20021.2310.9
Jun. 16, 20021.1460.7
Average1.2440.79

Queer as Folk Season 3 Ratings (2003)
Episode DateViewers (millions)HH rating
Mar. 2, 20031.1750.7
Jun. 22, 20031.1220.7
Average1.0860.71

Queer as Folk Season 4 Ratings (2004)
Episode DateViewers (millions)HH rating
Apr. 18, 20040.6600.4
Jul. 18, 20040.4660.3
Average0.5040.34

Queer as Folk Season 5 Ratings (2005)
Episode DateViewers (millions)HH rating
May 22, 20050.4760.3
Aug. 7, 20050.5470.4
Average0.4400.30

Out of Order (2003):
'Out of Order' was a 6-episode miniseries that aired on Showtime in June 2003. The only known viewership figure for the show was for its premiere on June 1, 2003 which had 1.3 million viewers.

Dead Like Me (2003-2004):
"Dead Like Me" premiered June 27, 2003 to 1.11 million viewers which remains a record number for a Showtime series premiere (though 'Shameless' came close in 2011 w/ 982,000 & 'The Borgias' came even closer with 1.06 million). The first season concluded down to 686,000 viewers and averaged a 0.52 HH rating with ~800,000 viewers. A second season premiered in 2004 on-par with that average (797,000) but averaged only a 0.35 HH rating and 572,000 viewers. It was cancelled after two seasons.

Dead Like Me Season 1 Ratings (2003)
Episode DateViewers (millions)HH rating
Jun. 27, 20031.1110.7
Sept. 26, 20030.6860.5
Average0.7990.52

Dead Like Me Season 2 Ratings (2004)
Episode DateViewers (millions)HH rating
Jul. 25, 20040.7970.5
Oct. 31, 20040.6220.3
Average0.5720.35

Huff (2004-2006):
'Huff' premiered November 7, 2004 to 456,000 viewers and a 0.3/1 adults 18-49 rating/share but promptly fell to 297,000 viewers in its second week. It remained at ~250,000 viewers for the majority of the season before rising to a series-high 462,000 for its first season finale. A second season aired in 2006 and didn't fare much better, averaging 220,000 viewers and concluding to 212,000 viewers. It was not renewed for a third season.

Huff Season 1 Ratings (2004-05)
Episode DateViewers (millions)18-49 rating
Nov. 7, 20040.4560.3
Jan. 30, 20050.4620.3
Average0.2870.15

Huff Season 2 Ratings (2006)
Episode DateViewers (millions)18-49 rating
Apr. 2, 20060.3720.2
Jun. 25, 20060.2120.1
Average0.2200.12

Sleeper Cell (2005-2006):
'Sleeper Cell' premiered December 4, 2005 to a tiny 296,000 viewers and took a rather unique approach to airing its episodes. Instead of airing new episodes weekly, Showtime decided to air all 10 episodes over the course of two weeks and the first season concluded December 18, 2005 to 309,000 viewers. It averaged 220,000 viewers in its first 10 episodes. A second 8-episode season aired in December 2006 with the same scheduling approach and logged just 155,000 viewers for the season premiere and 124,000 overall.

Sleeper Cell Season 1 Ratings (2005)
Episode DateViewers (millions)HH rating
Dec. 4, 20050.2960.2
Dec. 18, 20050.3090.2
Dec. 18, 20050.2300.2
Average0.2200.15

Sleeper Cell Season 2 Ratings (2006)
Episode DateViewers (millions)HH rating
Dec. 10, 20060.1550.1
Dec. 17, 20060.2720.2
Average0.1240.11

Fat Actress (2005):
There really isn't that much to say about 'Fat Actress.' It premiered March 7, 2005 to a strong 924,000 viewers - a number that was heavily touted by Showtime and one that was frequently used as a comparison tool for premieres of other new Showtime programs for the next couple years. It didn't mean much though as it plummeted in its second week to 285,000 viewers and was unceremoniously cancelled after just 7 episodes.

Fat Actress Ratings (2005)
Episode DateViewers (millions)HH rating
Mar. 7, 20050.9240.6
Mar. 14, 20050.2950.2
Mar. 21, 20050.2480.2
Mar. 28, 20050.1930.1
Apr. 4, 20050.2330.2
Apr. 11, 20050.1920.1
Apr. 18, 20050.1860.1
Average0.3240.2

Meadowlands (2007):
'Meadowlands' is another one of those shows with not much to say anything about. It premiered June 17, 2007 to 184,000 viewers, about a-fourth of what 'The Tudors' had been getting in that same time slot in the previous couple months (522,000 viewers on average). In the show's second week, it fell to 96,000 viewers and registered a 0.0 adults 18-49 rating and did not fair any better in the remaining 8 episodes. It averaged just 85,000 viewers. 

Meadowlands Ratings (2007)
Episode DateViewers (millions)18-49 rating
Jun. 17, 20070.1840.0
Jun. 24, 20070.0960.0
Jul. 1, 20070.0550.0
Jul. 8, 20070.0910.0
Jul. 15, 20070.0510.0
Jul. 22, 20070.0330.0
Jul. 29, 20070.0700.0
Aug. 5, 20070.1010.0
Average0.0850.0

Source: Nielsen Media Research via The Futon Critic, The New York Post, The Washington Post, Media Life Magazine, Travis Yanan, USA Today, The Hollywood Reporter, and Variety

No comments:

Post a Comment