FOX’s much-hyped preview of Glee aired in a coveted position, following the second-to-last American Idol of the season. In that plum timeslot, how well did Glee perform do? Will the musical comedy stick around?
Glee follows the administrators and the members of a formerly top show choir at a fictional Ohio high school. A young teacher (Broadway’s Matthew Morrison) offers to take over leading the group to try to return them to their former glory. Other castmembers include Jayma Mays, Chris Colfer, Amber Riley, Kevin McHale, Jenna Ushkowitz, Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Dianna Agron, Mark Salling, Jessalyn Gilsig, and Jane Lynch.
The series debuted to an average of 9.6 million viewers with a 3.9 rating among adults 18-49. Those numbers sound okay on their own but, when you dig deeper, it’s a different tune. The show’s American Idol lead-in attracted 23.8 million viewers with an 8.6 rating in the demo. About half as many people tuned in to watch Glee and then, by the second half hour, another three million tuned out.
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FOX execs have to be disappointed considering the great Idol lead-in and all of the promotion that the network has poured into it. The show has already secured a spot on FOX’s Fall schedule as the network’s only new drama. It’ll definitely be back. But, if the debut is any indication of the show’s future, you have to wonder, for how long?
According to FOX spokesperson Joe Earley, the network is pleased with the show’s average performance. He tells the Hollywood Reporter, “The measurement for success last night was never about the demo rating… We’re definitely happy with the way Glee performed, we knew how tough the competition was going to be, last night was a marketing experiment and we got almost 10 million people to see it, which is fantastic. We could work all summer long marketing the show and not get those many people, and certainly not in the fall.”
So, what do you think? Worth keeping or should it be cancelled?
Image courtesy FOX.
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you know, it would be great to have a show where the cast actually knows how to sing….and it’s their real voices!!!!! then I’d be so stoked and inspired. this show is cheezy and mildly entertaining..and I definitely like it…but I’ll never love it unless they really sing…the lip sync sections make me cringe
It is their real voices! I did theater with matt ( the glee teacher) growing up and that is his real voice. This show has so much talent! I do wish they would put more into the script. The musical numbers r fun to watch and I love the mixture of show tunes with today top hits. But, for the veiwers who aren’t into musical theater, they need a better script to follow. I know the cast can handle it because the talent is amazing!
This is another example of how HULU is killing network ratings. If you ask me, would i stay tuned in for an entire hour for this show with commercials. Heck no! Hell, I wouldn’t stay tuned for any show nowadays for an entire hour. That’s what HULU is for! You see, the plain fact is that GLEE is a great show. However, it is an hour long show. What network executives need to realize is that they are dumping their money into the wrong outlet. All that money spent on advertising, marketing, and research should have told them that normal TV is dying! No one these days watches TV. More and more people are turning to websites like HULU, to watch their shows. Why not advertise more on HULU and make HULU have their advertisers pay more to have their ads placed on a highly rated, popular shows such as GLEE, in order to get more publicity. That way everyone is happy. The advertisers pay HULU and HULU pays the FOX network. There is even TIVO where people are fast forwarding through commercials. Therefore, those people at FOX should stop complaining about poor ratings and recognize that GLEE is a great show but just not great enough for tuners to stay watching for an entire hour undisrupted. Web TV is the future get with the program.
i love glee and im kinda worried cause it hasn’t been on the last 2 weeks
I LOVE GLEE! I WAITED AND WAITED FOR THE FALL DEBUT! I HAD IT ON MY CALANDER SINCE AMERCIAN IDOL… I CANT SEEM TO MANAGE TO STAY UP ON WED NITE WHEN IT AIRS.. I WATCH BY COMPUTER ON SUNDAYS AFTER FOOTBALL.. IT IS DRIVING ME NUTS THAT GWEN’S SECRET HAS NOT BEEN REVEALED!!! SO DOES WATCHING ONLINE COUNT INTO THOSE RATINGS FOX PEOPLE??? PLEASE DONT CANCEL MY SHOW
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