Of course, a lot of fans do care, and they want at least one of these shows to be renewed last year (maybe even both). But in general? The ratings for the finales of both shows were rather lackluster at best.The season finale of Heroes had an average of 6.4 million viewers, while Chuck got 6.1 million. Both of those numbers are actually down from the season average (7.7 million viewers for Heroes and 6.5 million for Chuck). Now, I'd love to have 6 or 7 million people reading my stuff, but I guess that's not enough in television land.
Heroes is coming back. No official word yet, but sources say that it has been renewed and will have around 18 episodes for the season (I wouldn't hold my breath for a season beyond that though, so I hope Tim Kring and company end it well). Chuck's numbers are worse and it's on the brink of cancellation. Let's hope enough people ate subs the other day.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
4-29-2009 @ 6:29PM
No1Dad said...
Chuck's final three episode arc was the best the series had ever been. Makes you wonder why they couldn't all be that entertaining. Seems better when they have a continuous story line instead of each episode being stand-alone.
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4-29-2009 @ 11:15PM
WhoElseButME said...
True that. Its either that we are dumbing down as a society or Nielsen has no clue what goes on in the real world. I am going with the latter, even though there is some truth in the first line of thought. Nielsen can 'chuck' me!
4-29-2009 @ 6:42PM
Willmore2000 said...
http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/04/29/special-office-nearly-doubles-its-demo-audience-via-dvr/17696
Heroes is consistently one of the most DVRed shows on TV.
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4-29-2009 @ 6:46PM
Wii60 said...
Also, Chuck ran up against House, which has a lot of demographic overlap with Chuck. That episode of House also happened to be the best of the entire series.
I have no doubt that if NBC were to move Chuck to another time slot it would flourish.
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4-29-2009 @ 8:09PM
Johnzo said...
I doubt very much Chuck would flourish in a different day and time slot. It has a limited fan base, low buzz or celebrity factor, and time slot changes generally cause shows to lose viewers (e.g. Scrubs). Chuck was HEAVILY promoted during the superbowl and they gained ZERO viewers. If the superbowl doesn't help a show get viewers, not much else can.
4-29-2009 @ 8:26PM
Wii60 said...
The day after the superbowl, you had to have 3d glasses to watch that episode that I personally never saw anywhere. I had to order them off of ebay. It was another NBC gimmick that didn't amount to anything.
Right now it runs against House and Big Bang Theory. Moving it away from those two would almost certainly get a bump.
4-29-2009 @ 11:20PM
WhoElseButME said...
Monday nights is probably the toughest slot. I myself watch 5 shows - HIMYM, TBBT, Gossip Girl, Rules of Engagement & CHUCK! (Till sometime back this included the declivity prone Heroes) And Chuck does deliver consistent ratings even if modest. But I am sure they are the best NBC can do given the competition on Monday. And 5x week Leno can't take the heat from TBBT, HIMYM, Heroes etc. I am pretty sure of it. It won't even get TiVoed, and I am a Leno fan!
4-29-2009 @ 6:47PM
StillBash said...
I am so interested in Chuck ending. Absolutely glad it's not polluting the airwaves anymore...
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4-29-2009 @ 6:57PM
Howey said...
I hate to say it but the Heroes finale sucked while the Chuck finale excelled.
I hope they both come back.
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4-29-2009 @ 7:05PM
Joseph said...
I don't get how DVRs recording the show don't count as ratings...
I get that people with Nielsen boxes don't all have DVRs, but let's say you have both. The TV's tuner has to be set to the channel you're recording in order to record that show. To the box, it appears as though you're watching it.
Can Nielsen boxes not handle dual tuner setups? If so, they're outdated and need an overhaul.
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4-29-2009 @ 9:08PM
Tom said...
Ratings sole purpose is to determine ad rates. So people who skip ads don't count in ratings. It isn't a hard concept to understand.
4-29-2009 @ 9:11PM
Joseph said...
Thanks, Tom,
Especially for the personal insult there at the end. Aren't you nice. But you completely missed the point.
WHILE A DVR BOX IS RECORDING, the TUNER in it, you know, the part that actually tunes to the correct channel, IS TUNED to that channel for the entire hour. TO A NIELSEN box, it simply appears that the viewer was tuned to, let's say, ABC, for the hour of 8-9pm. Regardless of whether or not the viewer was sitting in front of it for the entire time, the TV itself was tuned to that channel while recording the broadcast.
Skipping through channels with fast forward is literally LESS noticeable to them than actually changing the channel during the broadcast if you're one of those people that skips over to something else during the act break.
4-29-2009 @ 7:34PM
Jimmy said...
The real story here is how badly Heroes has fallen. In season one Heroes averaged 14 million viewers, 13 million in season two. Between the shortened season two and season three Heroes managed to lose 7 million viewers. I don't know how any series can come back from that. The series is fortunate to be on NBC, which has nothing lose by bringing Heroes back for another season.
Chuck, on the other hand, has never been a huge hit, but only lost 1 million viewers between seasons one and two. I can't see how Chuck can be more expensive, or even close to as expensive, as Heroes so again I don't think NBC has much to lose by renewing. Sadly, I think Chuck has aired its last episode.
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4-29-2009 @ 8:12PM
ac said...
Chuck really cant cost more than Heroes, gets about the same numbers, and has a much more loyal fanbase. Heroes fans have been jumping ship like the Titanic and it went from a good buzz show to the buzz being mainly that the show sucks.
Why is Heroes getting a third season again?
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4-29-2009 @ 8:23PM
Wii60 said...
It sounds like a done deal for Heroes' renewal, but I don't know why, Chuck is on an upswing and Heroes is on a downswing.
If it were up to me in my little universe, I'd drop Heroes for Chuck in a heartbeat.
4-29-2009 @ 8:50PM
JPN said...
Glad Bryan Fuller left Pushing Daisies to "fix" Heroes.
jerk
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4-29-2009 @ 9:20PM
scottR said...
For some easily seen numbers for comparison, go to your favourite 'alternative-way-to-get-tv' site and see how many people are 'into' both shows finales. Heroes has 3-4 times as many 'fans' as Chuck. I will go now before I give myself an injury from making 'quotation marks'.
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4-29-2009 @ 10:15PM
Chris said...
NBC is fault for bad programming. House is a juggernaut, why put Chuck on against it? Move the show to Thursday at 8EST and your ratings will go up. Survivor is not the unbeatable show people think it is.
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4-29-2009 @ 10:30PM
Tom said...
Actually I didn't mean the last part to be an insult. But this is: You really are an idiot. Nielsen's whole business is generating acurate results for their customers. So there's actually a pretty extensive screening process combined with a specialized setup AND a contract that they sign promising not to try and subvert the process (which hooking it up to a DVR would do)
Learn to use Google for God's sakes
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4-30-2009 @ 1:32AM
Jeff N. said...
Chuck is a great show. We both really enjoy it. I hope somehow it survives.
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