Sunday’s premiere of Kings was less than impressive in terms of ratings, especially considering the amount of promotion and money that NBC poured into it. Not even the prospect of seeing Deadwood’s Ian McShane in another series could draw in a big audience.
While things don’t look good for Kings’ future, NBC Entertainment’s co-chair Ben Silverman says he’s encouraged by the interest in the series and has faith that the show can pull through.
He tells the Hollywood Reporter’s James Hibberd, “I’m hoping because intent [to view] went up and awareness went up after it aired, clearly people responded to it, and it grew over its two hours. That gives me some hope. It’s just hard to launch things that are not obvious. We may get nailed for it, but I’m proud of the show, and we need to keep taking chances like that.”
Though his faith in the show is reassuring for the show’s fans, Silverman’s comment about the show’s audience growth over the two hour premiere is a bit misleading.
While the 18-49 demographic had slight increase in the show’s final half hour, the overall size of the audience dropped. Approximately 6.47 million started watching at 8pm and only 5.9 million stuck with it until the end. That’s not growth. Even if it was, the show was still in fourth place overall.
So, will Silverman and the network stick by Kings or abandon it? One thing is certain. The show certainly has an uphill battle for survival.
Image courtesy NBC.
Kings is one of the best shows ever. So NBC cancels it. Now they are threatening to cancel “The Philanthropist” which is another great show. Both shows have a deep moral theme, great acting, and wonderful scripts. NBC should learn from its own history. In 1996. NBC canceled JAG after just one season. They said it had low ratings. The next year CBS decided to give JAG another chance and it proved very profitable, The show ran for 10 seasons and won numerous awards. Today it is seen in syndication in over 100 countries. If NBC abandons Kings and The… Read more »
I don’t have time to watch TV normally, but stumbled upon it over the summer and watched the entire 1st season in a few days! The story is beautifully written with elements that will satisfy any viewer and depth that is very unusual for a TV show. Truly could have been epic, I wish another network would pick it up or NBC would reconsider their cancellation status!!
I love Kings…it’s just like looking into the future of where our country seems to be heading! At least this will give the veiwers something to go on! Kings is great…a little warning of when it will come back on or where its going would be nice. Also…you need to advertise it more…lame shows such as sitcoms get all kinds of notice…why not Kings…one of the best shows on the air.
this is why i hate tv . they got me hooked on kings and now ….. let me down guess iii go rent a movie
With all the ridiculous shows on TV, I am saddened that this quality drama has been canceled. If it got all the promotion as some of the other shows, people would have known it was on and tuned in. Sadly I’m addicted to the story and am sad there won’t be a season 2. Good luck to the great actors and writers that made this show a winner in my book.
Well I have only just found the show , I have only seen the show twice . I do not recall ever seeing any adverts on the show and now I am hooked , I put my money where my mouth is . I am buying all of the episodes on itunes .
Please do not cancel Kings! This is a unique show and exceptionally talented actors.
Keep it going NBC!! Someone pick this series and run with it ! It has great potential for all kinds of directions. Please keep this program.
Please, please please!!!! Don’t take it off the air.
Kings is the only show ALL week that my husband and I look forward to watching. We love the characters, the actors, the photography and special effects.
I really hope this show isn’t cancelled! It is so different from all the other shows about cops, lawyers, doctors, etc – true fiction! And it is brilliant!
I love this show and really hope it continue to be aired on some network. With all the garbage available on TV, it was nice to have a quality drama that was well made and produced with interesting plot and character development. i hope NBC begins to wise up about what Americans need to be watching.
Please don’t Cancel Kings, it is really an awesome show!!! The view on HD is just breathtaking and the plots are just wonderful!! It really keeps you guessing! That little bit of mysticism is a kicker for this show. Do not take it off! Please!!!
I JUST LOVED KINGS. PLEASE BRING IT BACK. I THINK IT IS THE BEST SHOW ON NBC. YOU GUYS REALLY NEED A GOOD PROGRAM.
Well, after posting my thoughts, I read some of the older posts on this page. I hope that some of you are right and it will be picked up by a cable network. I heard a few ideas such as F/X and SyFy that sound promising. I really hope that someone picks it up. It really is a good show. The actors all do a good job. And, did the rest of you notice how visually beautiful this show is. I mean the sets and the way that it is shot is just brilliant. I also really like the idea… Read more »
Sorry about the typos in my last post, I meant to say Plot and over there , not over their, I do know the difference between the two. Sorry, I was just irritated and typing fast. =)
For those of you that do actually like to watch televison programs that have a plat and are enjoyable instead of completely tedious to watch: I would like to recommend “Being Human” on BBC America. I watched the first episode on Saturday 7/27/2009 the other day. I am excited. This promises to be a very good watch. It is actually not brand new, it’s been running on BBC 3 over their for about a year now, but I think that it has only recently come to BBC America. The only shows worth watching on network t.v. andmore are: Desperate Housewives… Read more »