In the near future, ABC is expected to make a decision about the future of 666 Park Avenue and Last Resort, their new hour dramas.
Both TV series had some decent buzz behind them before they debuted but that seems to have evaporated pretty quickly when it came time for people to actually watch the shows. ABC has ordered two additional scripts for each but haven’t asked that any more episodes be put into production. That’s understandable when you look at their ratings.
If you were in charge over at ABC, what would you do? Order some more episodes of one or the other, cancel both or give each some more time? Comment below.
Here are the season averages as of Thursday, November 1, 2012:
| ABC Scripted TV shows |
18-49 demo rating (actual) |
Viewers in millions |
Ratings pages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Modern Family | 4.8 (4.83) | 12.38 | season 4 ratings |
| Grey’s Anatomy | 3.7 (3.65) | 10.25 | season 9 ratings |
| Once Upon a Time | 3.4 (3.40) | 10.08 | season 2 ratings |
| Revenge | 2.8 (2.78) | 8.65 | season 2 ratings |
| Suburgatory | 2.6 (2.63) | 7.08 | season 2 ratings |
| The Middle | 2.6 (2.58) | 8.52 | season 4 ratings |
| The Neighbors | 2.2 (2.15) | 6.87 | season 1 ratings |
| Nashville | 2.2 (2.15) | 6.99 | season 1 ratings |
| Castle | 2.1 (2.08) | 10.64 | season 4 ratings |
| Scandal | 2.0 (2.00) | 6.14 | season 2 ratings |
| Last Resort | 1.7 (1.74) | 7.56 | season 1 ratings |
| 666 Park Avenue | 1.7 (1.72) | 5.23 | season 1 ratings |
| Private Practice (last season) | 1.6 (1.63) | 5.76 | season 6 ratings |
| Happy Endings | 1.6 (1.60) | 4.94 | season 3 ratings |
| Don’t Trust the B in Apt. 23 | 1.5 (1.45) | 3.73 | season 2 ratings |
| ABC non-scripted TV shows |
18-49 demo rating (actual) |
Viewers in millions |
Ratings pages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dancing with the Stars | 2.3 (2.27) | 13.48 | cycle 15 ratings |
| Dancing with the Stars (results) | 2.1 (2.08) | 12.41 | cycle 15 ratings |
| Shark Tank | 1.8 (1.76) | 6.42 | season 4 ratings |
| Primetime | 1.5 (1.50) | 4.72 | season 24 ratings |
| 20/20 | 1.4 (1.42) | 5.30 | season 35 ratings |
| America’s Funniest Home Videos | 1.4 (1.38) | 5.89 | season 23 ratings |
These charts incorporate the daily final ABC show ratings (reported by Nielsen) and are sorted by the 18-49 demographic. Network advertisers typically prize those viewers most and so will pay more to reach them. There’s lots of information that the networks take into consideration when cancelling or renewing a TV series but the ratings are the biggest factor. The higher the ratings, the better chance that the show will be renewed. And yes, they take it into account when a show airs on a Friday or Saturday night.
For the status of your favorite ABC shows, check out this page.
Want more posts like this? Here are the other networks: CBS | The CW | FOX | NBC
OMG please don’t cancel 666 Park Ave. I watch this show religiously. It’s a one of a kind show. I used to be a big fan of Dark Shadows but since then nothing’s come close until now with 666 Park Ave. Please, please reconsider.
keep last resort on give it a chance
LOVE BOTH SHOWS PLEASE LEAVE THEM NO GOOD PLOT AND ACTORS ESPECIALLY 666 LOVE VANESSA WILLIAMS AND THE WHITE BALD GUY CANT THINK OF HIS NAME SORRY LOVE THEM BOTH…
I say keep Park Ave. 666. It is well written and has awesome actors in it. It is in a terrible time slot. Even Brothers and Sisters could not make it in that time slot. Move it and start again from the beginning including a recap show like they used to do for Lost. I think it is way better than revenge!
I like both shows. I think the Nielsen ratings were good for making decisions 10 years ago. Unfortunately, TV execs are going to have to change the way they sale advertising slots or change the way they fund shows because now adays a large amount of people either watch shows online, or record shows in their DVR and watch them later, fast forwarding through the commercials. Neither demographic is covered under the Nielsen ratings since they only want to include people who sit through the commercials. They’re going to start frequently cancelling shows that have large followings and only keeping… Read more »
I hope they keep both shows! Last Resort and 666 Park are given a tall task to compete in two of the most difficult timeslots on TV. Sundays and Thursdays are very brutal, and it’s tough for new shows to get a good foothold. I work nights so I keep up with the shows since they are recorded through the Primetime Anytime feature on my Hopper from DISH. Once enabled, my DVR automatically records three hours of the big four networks during primetime. A coworker at DISH told me about this feature, and I don’t need to set timers for… Read more »
i enjoy both shows! its a shame that no one is watching them :/
Keep Last Resort, cancel 666 Park Ave (a sad waste of Terry O’Quinn).
Last Resort is great drama, and nothing like has ever been on television. Andre is amazing! Robert Patrick is stunning! Keep Last Resort you will never regret it ABC! This is a huge winner. Find the right time slot and you have a pot of gold!
I agree that Last Resort should be given a good chance..It’s worth it.. And I’m sorry to say that I’ll always be suspicious of the Nielsons ratings anyway…and just how representative they actually are. Who and where are these mysterious Nielson family? At the same time…the amount of people now watching online is never truly measured but it’s sure growing stronger by the day. I do think network is often too quick to pull the plug and doesn’t allow things to develop and it’s killing them..I now usually want to wait to invest myself for fear of anything I like… Read more »
I particularly like both but if it was between the two then Last Resort is my choice. I will watch it no matter the time slot.
666 Park Ave should be cancelled, but Last Resort is really good. It’s a shame no one is watching it
Finally a show with some imagination. I do not watch much TV except for NCIS and now this show. It seems to get better as we see more episodes.
Of the two, Last Resort is the better of the two shows. Last Resort has a more imaginative premise and surprisingly the sub action makes it interesting to watch. It unfortunately got jammed into a bad time slot.
I don’t watch 666 so don’t have an opinion either way other than I think that having Terry O’Quinn on TV in any form or fashion is a good thing. Have watched Last Resort faithfully since the premiere. I’ll echo the sentiments of many other reviewers, great when centered on the sub or the island, not so great when in Washington. It is showing improvement, I thought “Skeleton Crew” was the best episode so far. Dialogue was “The Shield” quality in spots and the twist was fun. I’d like to see it get a full season pickup just to see… Read more »