The CW’s small-screen answer to the Twilight phenomena, The Vampire Diaries, has been on the air for three weeks. So, will the vampire series have a long life or will its life be cut short, staked to the heart like The Beautiful Life?
The Vampire Diaries story begins with teens Elena (Nina Dobrev) and Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) adjusting to life after the sudden death of their parents. Elena manages to find some comfort with friends like Bonnie (Katerina Graham), Caroline (Candice Accola), and former boyfriend Matt (Zach Roerig). Jeremy is on a more dangerous path, hanging out with stoners and using drugs.
As the new school year begins, Elena becomes drawn to a handsome and mysterious new student, Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley), who is secretly a vampire. Later, Elena almost dies from a savage bite to the neck. It comes courtesy of Stefan’s evil and estranged brother, Damon (Ian Somerhalder), who’s also in love with the mortal girl.
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The supernatural drama debuted on September 10th to 4.91 million viewers and a 2.1/7 rating/share among adults 18-49. What’s more, viewership grew between the first and second half hours, a good indication that people liked what they saw and would return the following week.
Though those numbers still put the show in third place for its timeslot, Vampire Diaries outperformed Smallville’s season opener a year earlier. For the struggling CW network, the premiere looked very good.
Unfortunately, a week later, the news wasn’t as rosy. With tougher competition from other networks, Vampire Diaries fell to fifth place in the ratings. Viewership dropped to 3.76 million and a 1.6/5 in the key demo. That’s a drop of 23% from the prior week’s audience. Still, considering the numbers from other CW shows, they’re considered respectable.
Last week, the numbers seemed to level off and even grow a little. An average of 3.81 million watched with a 1.7/5. The show was in fifth place in the timeslot and fourth place in the demo, tied with NBC’s struggling SNL Weekend Update Thursday and Parks and Recreation.
While the series isn’t a failure for the struggling CW network, it’s surely not as big a hit as they were hoping for, especially considering the popularity of the Twilight movie and books. The network’s already given the show a full season order and will certainly stick with it in hopes of growing its audience even further.
What do you think? Considering the subject matter, why aren’t more people tuning in? Is the show worth watching or would you cancel it?
More about:
The Vampire Diaries
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Awesome Show! It really grabs you emotionally and brings you into their world. It’s very intense. In my opinion it’s the best drama on TV right now, a welcome break from all the murder mystery’s. The character development is great. You will truley feel the romance, fear, and sadness in any given episode. It is not a typical teen show, this show can truley be enjoyed by adults of all ages and sexes. Beware, it’s easy to become addicted to it!
i love the show! i never miss it!
I love the show! At first I thought it was going to turn out to be just like Twilight(which I love) but it’s so much different and just as addicting! I can’t wait to see what happens!
This show is awesome!! Love it! This is a definite keep.
I love this show! soooooooo addicted…almost love it more than twilight! i think if more twilight lovers will give it a chance…it will get a bigger audience!
I didn’t find the show that entertaining at first but I gave it a shot and by episode 3 I was hooked. It was the development of Damon’s character that did it for me. His character brought with it, a balance that the show was lacking.
i ABSOLUTELY LOVE this show.in never ever miss it, its soooooo awesome!!!!!!! please please don’t cancel it!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love it!!! And i’m gonna be so upset if they cancel it! It’s hard for me to find a good television show that i like and i’m so addicted to this one! I love vampire stories and they finally brought one to tv that’s not cheesy or stupid! Vampire Diaries is definately a keep.
Love the show, don’t cancel a “GOOD THING”
I love this show why cancel something that is so good , Its not fair to us who really love it
Omg please do NOT cancel this show!
It is literally like my FAV SHOW!
Please please please do not cancel it!
I know sooooo many people who watch this show!
Best show effing EVER!
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