On Sunday night, ABC aired a new reality competition series. So, how did Shark Tank do? Did it succeed in the ratings or was it eaten alive by the competition?
From The Apprentice’s Mark Burnett, Shark Tank gives budding entrepreneurs the chance to make their dreams come true. To do that, they must convince five tough, multi-millionaires to part with their own hard-earned cash and give them the funding they need to jumpstart their ideas. The five are Robert Herjavec, Kevin O’Leary, Barbara Corcoran, Kevin Harrington, and Daymond John.
But the show’s not as one-sided as it may seem. The business people are looking for solid investments and, once the “sharks” find a project they like, they negotiate to take as big a percentage of the profits as possible. How far is either side willing to go?
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After weeks of promotion, Shark Tank debuted on Sunday, August 9th at 9pm. The premiere attracted an average of just 4.23 million viewers with a low 1.3/4 rating/share in the 18-49 demographic. The first half-hour was in fourth place for total viewers and the second half-hour rose just a bit to place in third. The entire hour was in fourth place in the all-important demographic and lost a huge chunk of its lead-in audience.
If the show continues to tank like this, it certainly won’t have much of a future on the network. ABC reportedly still has 12 episodes left to air. Six of them are scheduled to run on Sunday nights and then Shark Tank’s set to switch to Tuesday evenings. Unless the numbers get better, it seems unlikely that ABC will keep those plans.
What do you think? Is the show worth watching or should the network throw in the towel and cancel it already?
Image courtesy ABC.
I am really getting “hooked” in the tank. I think it is great and very emotional as well as exciting. I especially have become a big fan of Barbara Corcoran-she should have her own show!!!!
Interesting, entertaining, great psychological dynamics, keep it going, it only gets better…a great mix of investor/shark personalities…You have a lot of fans…it’s wonderful cocktail party conversation…..and it’s educating for many entrepreneurs out there who may never surfaced but for the show’s inspiration. It would be very disappointing if you cancel….I’m trying to think of a clever idea so I can be on the show.
Dave Johnson (Comment number #16) You may possibly be the biggest moron I have ever come across. Myself as well as anyone else that has read your idiotic comments is now dumber… Congratulations. You have no idea what you are talking about in any parts of your drawn out response and rather than expain to a complete dult like yourself, I will save the space because I know nothing short of teaching you 1st grade arithmetic will compute through that tiny brain that sits between your ears. Sorry to everyone else, but… Stupid people annoy me and should not be… Read more »
Love this show, get’s better every week
I only continued to watch the second episode… hopping, wishing, PRAYING for it to get better. Absolutely a waste of my time for the little time I have to watch TV. Dry, very poorly directed and whoever is in charge of the “shark tank” set … should be fired! Its fate will be in the “tank” very soon… I really wanted it to succeed; the teaser was the only good parts of the show!
This show would be fine without the ego maniac loudmouth in the middle seat. The man has three thousand million dollars (3 billion for you boobs) and he pretends to care about $250K and the dreams the entrants have. Sorry, listening to him you realize he’s just a pathetic rich guy who wants to be on tv. He’s rude, insulting, has no honor, no integrity, no class, and will kill the show. I know dozens of angel investors, venture capitalists and the like and have never seen one of them speak to a potential investee harshly, rudely or meanly. This… Read more »
KILL this sucker, the sooner the better. You lose IQ points just watching the commercials for it. But then, I’d kill **all** the reality shows on TV except for Top Chef and Project Runway (where the models *don’t* talk, thankfully) and whatever is on Food Network or PBS (those shows are fundamentally different from other ‘reality’ shows anyway). The vast majority of so-called ‘reality’ shows aren’t, in fact, real and are seriously mindless. Let’s be rid of them. Including the ones on MTV and VH-1, Jerry Springer, the Apprentice, and all the daytime fake court shows, too. We need an… Read more »
I just love watching Shark Tank and so do all my friends and relatives. I hope it stays on its the best realty show going right now.
I LOVE the British version of the show, it’s running on its 7th season. But the American version is just plain crap, I’d barely even bother to watch it if it wasn’t for the hope it will get better. It’s simply way too game-showish, and the venture capitalists are really annoying.
You HAVE to keep this show on…it is the best show ever! Word will out and ratings will skyrocket!!! Don’t tank the sharks…let them swim their way upstream, they WILL not only survive, they will THRIVE!
To those who say “never” give up over 50%, I wholeheartedly disagree. Having a good idea for a business doesn’t make you a good business person. So I say, if a Shark is willing to put up the money for a company that can’t make it without them, they should take it. If that money is the reason that company finds success, shouldn’t the financier get the biggest reward? Then, once that person is successful with that business, they can go on and do others without any sharks, or at the very least, a much bigger stake in the company.… Read more »
Great show!
Hey, ok I was too long. Take your ideas to your bankers or full service marketing companies and pay them to do research if your ideas are any good. This show could be so much better if the sharks would not just be rude to these people and would try to also counsel them and more or less woo them to sell their ideas. But I stick with my statement that to give up 51% of your idea is a big mistake. Your asking for the money you will get up front because you might not see another dime if… Read more »
Do the sharks get pre show information about these ideas? If so they would have time to do the proper research on these ides to see if they were worth investing into. Otherwise the show is asking these people to put up millions on an idea. What if the idea is about a needle that auto injects and then retracts itself to protect the nurse? Who would expect the sharks to know if that was a good idea at all. Or if that idea had been in two patent fights for years? Does the show expect it’s public to beleive… Read more »
Well, I think some of the comments are right on the button. Never never sell 51% of a business or idea. Recently a man and son were offered 500k for 51% and the Dad turned it down. My wife was really made for the turn down. Until I explained that at 51% the inventor would never see much as the Shark would. That 1% could mean the shark hires his own company to build and market the idea and charges what ever he wants for production and oversight. Then brings the idea to market for 20 bucks. But costs were… Read more »