Live to Dance: CBS Paula Abdul Show Cancelled; No Season Two

CBS was hoping for an American Idol-sized hit when they signed Paula Abdul to do her own reality series, Live to Dance. Unfortunately, the show wasn’t nearly as big a hit. In fact, it was a major flop.

The series kicked off on January 4th to a mediocre 2.4 rating in the all-important 18-49 demographic and 10.22 million viewers. If there was any hope that watercooler and online buzz would help that audience grow, they were quickly dashed. The next night, the second episode dropped 25% in the demo to a 1.8 with 7.65 million total viewers.

By the following week, another 17% of the audience didn’t return and a third of the demo audience dropped out by episode four. CBS kept it on the air for seven episodes and winners were crowned (D’Angelo & Amanda) but few cared to tune in to see it.

Live to Dance limped to its finale on February 9th. It registered a series low with a 0.9 in the demo and 4.7 million viewers, a low point for the 2010-11 season for CBS.

CBS has naturally cancelled Live to Dance but Paula Abdul will still be back in primetime next season. She’s joining her old friend/nemesis Simon Cowell on the judging panel of his new show on FOX, The X Factor. That competition debuts in the fall.

What do you think? Are you sorry there won’t be a second season? Why do you think it didn’t catch on?