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Chuck‘s fast overnight ratings are in, and it looks like the show held steady from last week. Approximately 5.77 million viewers tuned in for an episode fans have been waiting three years to see, which is a slight increase from last week. The episode also drew a 2.1 in the 18-49 demo, the same as last week’s rebound numbers.
Updated: As several people pointed out in the comments, Chuck was up against the second half of the NCAA championship game on the West coast. DWTS and 24 both dropped from previous weeks.
While we’re on a break, don’t forget to join the Chuck: Declassified campaign and help recruit more viewers for when the show returns on April 26!
A 2.1 is not good nor bad news. But we did held steady, so that counts for something.
What’s very interesting, and somewhat shocking, is that we tied 24 in the second half hour in the demos. Looks like 24 got hit a lot harder with NCAA championship game on.
Given the fact that it was the NCAA championship game we were up against, I’d say holding steady from last week is a definitely a good thing. Now, we just have to hope that enough people watch the new episodes after the break before NBC makes a final decision about renewal.
Better steady than a drop! But it’s not a reason to stop spreading the love of Chuck, We♥Chuck!
I’d like to think that this is good news, since CHUCK was facing the biggest competition of the season with DWTS (being ABC’s highest rated show) and with the Butler’s Cinderella team playing Duke for the NCAA championship. Who knew that I would ever give a rip about Nielsen ratings? Not until CHUCK did I become so interested. Go figure….
By the way, last night’s episode encompassed everything I love about the show!
Superb. I even ate at Subway last night before the show–seemed fitting 🙂
I also read these recent articles that seem to give us CHUCK fans a glimmer of hope for renewal:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3ib6c66237fa7a658d31e869ae2a709f13
http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman2/publish/Television_44/Buyers_NBC_s_tops_in_bubble_shows.asp
no glory without consequence! what episode last night!!
i have a feeling that a 4th season is coming! 🙂
what a pleasure is do anything to help my favorite show ever!!
🙂
Maybe I’m deluding myself, but I think that’s a pretty strong number. It was opening day for Baseball. And it competed against the national championship basketball game on the west coast.
To hold steady in the demo and even gain some raw viewers is good. DWTS dropped 11%. Chuck tied a first run special 24. I don’t see any reason to be discouraged.
It’s good that it did not drop, but unless it trends up…way up, say to a 2.3 and then 2.4 in the next two to three episodes, it’s done. NBC has around 20 shows in development, and as “tough” as Monday is, Chuck’s numbers are marginal to bad, so canceling it and trying something new is a perfectly rational decision for the network. I may love the show, but business is business. What this means is that people need to get the word out to Nielsen families (no rants on Nielsen…it is what it is, and rants won’t change that fact). Also, the other glimmer of hope may be that the past couple of episodes have been good enough that people want to watch it live. It’s DVR numbers have been good, and perhaps those people will now tune in to see it live rather than tape delay it. I’m not a Nielsen family, but through the blue period of the season, I’d tape it and watch it on Friday night with some Scotch. I’ve watched the last two episodes live, however. Hopefully, others will do the same.
One last thought, it seems to me that last night turned the show into a 4 character “Burn Notice” type program. I actually like Burn Notice a lot, and this could substantially reduce production costs. The rest of the cast would be around much less, but at least the show would survive. They could also go international more (like last night and the next few episodes) by hanging some foreign flags in front of old buildings in LA. It would be more action and have comedy with Casey and Morgan (could be great). Hope springs eternal!
Maybe. But that was their exact thought process last year. Chuck’s 2.4 wasn’t good enough. Let’s try something new. So they tried Trauma and Mercy. And got a steady diet of 1.5’s. There is not an NBC show today that would do well in that timeslot. The Office would struggle there. Biggest Loser would struggle there. The rest of the night drops off considerably.
Naturally. If NBC could put something in that slot that would pull 2.8’s, they’d do it in a second. But what is that show? It sure wasn’t Trauma. It sure wasn’t Mercy. It sure wasn’t Heroes.
I think that they may well decide to let Chuck stay in the timeslot and realize that’s the best they are going to do there. If a new show breaks out, they can always move it there after it’s estabished. That’s what Fox did with House.
I was thinking the same thing–I can’t think of an NBC show that could compete in that timeslot on Mondays–maybe The Office, but it too might even struggle. CHUCK’s numbers have fared better than the other NBC shows that follow it. It’s ashame that it has always been a struggle–beginning in Season 1 & the writer’s strike cutting the season short by 8 or 9 episodes, just when it was getting it’s footing. Who knows.
There is one particular website that continues to spread gloom & doom about the fate of CHUCK almost in a gleeful way, especially recently & the posters there are so negative. I lurked there today but didn’t post, & don’t think I’ll ever go back again. I’m grateful for this site & all the fans of the show here!
I was really hoping the key demo number would go up a bit. Oh well. We still have a chance to spread the word the next few weeks and try to get the number up….Episode 12 and 13 were great. Hopefully now that they have resolved CS we will see a united, positive fan base that is excited about the rest of the season.
If Chuck does get the boot (I hope that it never will) anyone think another station would pick it up? Just seeing the fans react to last season a differnt station would love the views plus the sponsers. idk USA or TBS?? just a thought
I really, really doubt that Chuck would get picked up by a USA or TBS type channel. Here is the reason why: it is just too expensive. The CW might unlikely pick Chuck up when it is canceled just because Chuck is a WB show. Other than that it is very unrealistic/unlikely that Chuck will move to a different channel
hey guys,
i just want to say that i am really amazed by chuck. The Producers of this show and the great and perfect fidding actors are great. Its the only show i know that does such a good job of bringing all these genres together pefectly: action, comedy,drama.
I have experience in jugding movies and tv shows.. and this show defenetly has potencial to become one of the best shows ever!
I don’t know why it should be cancelled, its the only NBC show that does half decent monday night, and if they kill it then they have nothing else to fall back on.
Unless if they have a new “Office” up their sleeves, expect to be renewed.. barely.
A 2.1 is really bad. Heck, a 2.4 on any other network is really bad. Why wouldn’t NBC try something different? It may fail, but how much worse could it be? And before peolple jump on the current NBC failures, that’s just more reason to try more shows. Something may stick. Chuck’s been around for 3 years, and with tons of fan support, barely survives. Not a good sign. Now, with all of that said, the show is clearly heading in a different direction. It looks to me to be more of a Mr. and Mrs. Smith type spy couple show. NBC will probably test run the next few episodes, and if it sees some hope, order 13 episodes to fill a hole like it did this year. What does this mean? We better get the word out to try the show. Justifying bad numbers is a total waste of time. Getting Nielsen viewers to watch the show is not. That is, simply put, the only way the show will come back.
Although I’m not completely sure I think things are as bad as you seem to, I completely agree that debating how good or bad the ratings are is of no consequence. The very best thing–no, the only thing–we can do at this point is to spread the word about the show to everyone we can, Nielsen and non-Nielsen viewers alike. A three week break is plenty of time for people new to the show to get caught up on Season 3, or even to go back and get caught up on the whole show through a combination of DVD/Blu-Ray and legal streaming & download sites like Fancast, Hulu, thewb.com, and Amazon On Demand.
Apart from that, about the only option we have is to wait and–if you believe it will help–pray.
Personally, I’d say that NBC is sitting squarely on the fence about renewal. We don’t know how their pilot demos are going right now. If you remember, part of the deal to renew last season was Warner Bros. Studios had to agree to not penalize NBC for dumping a pilot from David E. Kelley that they originally agreed to take.
I’m sure there will be some negotiating going on before the May 17 NBC upfront announcements. And, last year, they didn’t announce Chuck’s renewal until after the upfronts.
The show seems to have stopped the ratings bleed off. Now that the Chuck/Sarah/Shaw angle has been resolved, and the team is back together (with new member Morgan), the show can return to what it was last season.
We, as fans, just have to continue promoting the show to others, keep the word going and build on the foundation of the last two weeks.
If I had to predict what will happen, I would say that we will get a repeat of this year. Chuck will come back in January for a 20 or so episode season. What I hope is they will find another night to air it. CBS is looking at putting Josh Schwartz’s new comedy, Hitched (with Kristin Kreuk), at 8:30 on Mondays. Combine that with Gossip Girl, and every show he has will be airing at the same time.
NBC should consider moving it to Tuesday or Wednesday and get it away from CBS’s comedies and The Bachelor/DWTS on ABC. (Be glad that Monday Night Football wasn’t in the mix as well.)
A slight increase in total audience and a steady demo rating is good news. The 2.1 demo number being that steady demo rating to begin with is not good news, especially for a “game changer” episode. The 2.1 actually still brings the season-to-date averages down a little bit.
Granted, the NCAA had a basketball game going on, but how much consideration will the execs give that fact? A lot? None? Who knows? As for 24 being down, I don’t think it matters. 24 is canceled/ending its run so the incentive to watch it live is diminished. It’s also available on the net for people who want to catch up. I would not be surprised to see 24 drop further before going up in the final two episodes.
It’s sad that one of the better episodes of the season ended up simply holding its place from the previous week’s low numbers. Bad timing on scheduling vs the NCAA? Probably. Could the schedules have fiddled with the schedule, maybe another 2-show night or something? Yes, but given how Chuck has already had troubles with the competition, would it have made a difference? Maybe (perhaps a 2.3 instead of a 2.1 with maybe 250k more viewers for this “event” episode). But that is speculation, not reality.
Two weeks of reruns coming up won’t help the season-to-date ratings average, either, since ratings tend to head down on rerun nights. Heaven help the ratings if the schedulers throw Chuck vs. the Mask on April 19th to remind people of that unintended “event” episode. Disclaimer: I personally liked Hannah as a character. I hated the forced nature of the quadrangle.
Back on topic, with the up-fronts on May 17, there are few chances left to bring these ratings up and bring out the support. Unless NBC is willing to let the entire Chuck episode string play out go before deciding its fate, the morning of May 17th will be the decision day. Right now, if I were to guess based on ratings, I would say Chuck’s chances of renewal, at this moment, are 35% for a short season, 5% for a full season, and 60% for cancellation. So, stating the obvious, the next 5 weeks are critical.
Okay, Chuck vs the Mask fear apparently unfounded. TVGuide online has Chuck vs the Beard as the April 19th episode. Not exactly a direct ratings topic post, except that the ratings for this rerun will probably be better than Chuck vs the Mask. 🙂
I’ll agree, 2.1 is not great. However, when you factor in all the other shows and events from last night, steady numbers mean that the close NCAA championship game, DWTS, 24 etc. did not take away from CHUCK. We are heading up in the ratings as opposed to down.
CHUCK is in one of the toughest slots on what is arguably one of the toughest nights of the week. For the show to start with consistent numbers, drop, and return to consistent numbers, even with events that have adversely effected viewership such as The Olympics, Daylight Savings Time, new seasons of long running shows with larger amounts of viewers, that the CHUCK fans are still here.
NBC may still be parked on the fence, but i would hope that when they see a show with a very vocal fan base, who votes in the competitions like the ones that have been on E!online this year, starts a campaign to renew the show for another season, and actively goes out and recruits more viewers, that they give CHUCK a 4th season.
The people in the UK, like me, dont even have season 3 yet which sucks =/
Theres alot of fans over here who wouldnt want the show to end but we dont really count as viewers at the moment.
Well, I should be receiving my Nielsen logbook any day now. I was shocked and glad that my household was chosen and that I will have a say, however small, in the fate of my shows. I’ve had almost every show I actually liked get cancelled in year one or two. I will be looking for any Chuck episodes, even re-runs, and watching the heck out of them. Too bad the ratings won’t count my collection of DVR’d ones and the On Demand ones I rewatch. I don’t know if we’re a trial Neilsen family because we aren’t getting a “box”, but rest assured, Chuck will be represented in my household.
For Pete’s sake, NBC! Promote Chuck during the break!
I love Chuck. My brother turned me onto it last season and it’s the only show on NBC that I watch. With that said I think the perfect slot for Chuck would be Wednesday night 8pm on ABC. Currently, ABC’s schedule is 8pm Modern Family (rerun of the previous weeks episode), 8:30pm The Middle (crap show), 9:00pm Modern Family (new episode). Get rid of the Modern Family rerun at 8pm and The Middle at 8:30pm and that would be a nice Wednesday night lineup: 8pm Chuck, 9pm Modern Family, & 9:30pm Cougar Town.
Could you guys post the music for this week and last week please!
Is it possible that viewers of 24 could view Chuck as a possible replacement for their action needs?
IMHO, I doubt more than a few will, at best. Chuck and 24 both have some action elements, but stylistically they are about as different as Japanese anime cartoons and British soap operas. If any 24-watchers end up switching, it will probably be because they were already watching both and, with 24 gone, they decide to watch (instead of record) Chuck. Just an observation, and opinion (which is worth a cup of coffee if you also have 50 cents 😉 not a flame.
I work for Nielsen and would be more than happy to explain the process and how it works. Then give you the dirt on the backroom stuff that goes on. Each and every program that you see on TV has an inaudible audio signature embedded in that only a Nielsen box can pick-up. If you’re a diary family…that unfortunately doesn’t really count against the national numbers. Diaries are used more for the local stations to help determine local ad rates. Now here’s the kicker…the Nielsen sample is not a true statistical representation of American viewing habits despite that being Nielsen’s position. What do I mean? Nielsen will target a specific demographic area and canvas that with a target family and multiple alternates in the event their target family decides not to participate. Nielsen will offer a financial incentive for families to participate (often in the form of a 20.00 cash payment). Most families decline, and you’re left with a very limited number of families who are more interested in the 20.00 payment than the statistical integrity of the sample (you will have people who are curious about the process, but that is a small minotrity of the sample). What that means if you don’t get the true few habits of: the affluent, the educated, college-age, elderly, etc… Not trying to be offensive, but the majority of our homes are lower middle class to upper lower class in terms of socio-economic indicators. Studies show those homes tend to watch A LOT of reality programming…that’s why reality TV has such high numbers. Internally, we could care less about TV ratings. Yes, that’s how Nielsen started, that’s what get’s us in the door…however it’s more profitable for us to sell demograhic data to a host of other companies (consumer packaged goods, etc…). SO when a call is made to interview you if you want to be a Nielsen family, they’re actually gathering your data to sell to companies (you’ll get questions like, income range, ages, sex, do you drink, coffee, soft drinks, how many nights a week do you go out, do you have any pets, etc…). They could care less if you sign-up for the TV ratings portion…by the time you say yes or no, they’ve already gotten all the information they want from you. So why are they still used for TV ratings…because nothing else is really out there, they’re the “standard” for ratings and our dirty little secret really isn’t out there.
Wow.
That’s frustrating when you consider a show like CHUCK. I always wondered why such a smart show would be on the brink while tacky reality shows are easily renewed. Here’s a question: Does a Nielsen employee have to make initial contact with a potential customer about using a box, or can a person contact them? Another is, how long do families keep these boxes–is it for a week, like with the diaries, or is it longer, like a month or more?
Thanks for the info.
The way the recruitment process works it:
No, you can’t solicit Nielsen to be part of the sample.
Nielsen sends out surveys from a georgraphic sampling. Within those surveys are a group of numbers that dicate whether the person is the intended target, an alternate, or just filler apps.
When completed applications are sent back to Nielsen, a Field Agent will make contact with the target and schedule an in-home visit.
Most families actually cancel participation because it does become a pain. SOmetimes they’ll be kicked out of the sample becuase they aren’t following the procedures correctly or they notify firends and family that they’re a Nielsen family (it’s suppossed to be confidential). 1 year is the longest we’ll let someone be a Nielsen family, then they’re dropped from the sample.
‘D’, thank you so much for the information and insights. Interesting that this system is the primary source of data for deciding ratings, renewals, & cancellations. Also somewhat disheartening, in that it sounds like the numbers do not give a very accurate representation of ‘CHUCK’ viewers. Is the ‘live streaming’ or replay/online viewing taken into account in the ratings numbers at all?
By the way, are you a fan of ‘CHUCK’?
I am a fan of CHUCK. Don’t get to watch too many shows, but that is one I try and catch Live or via Tivo every week.
Live Streaming is measured, however it isn’t taken into consideration for the fast overnights. Nielsen wants to get there at some point, but the major issue is that while people are more willing to let you tap their TV’s (and we get enough resistance to that), they are understandably less willing to let you tap there computers. Does Hulu know how many times CHUCK has been viewed…yes. Do they share that info with Nielsen…No. Networks care less about total viewing numbers and more about demo breakdowns which Hulu wouldn’t get via it’s overall reporting methods.
As for the numbers being an accurate representation..as I mentioned earlier, they are not. Let me give you an example. A VERY senior ranking member of the Nielsen Management team took issue with some comments made about the company on the Lou Dobbs program. To retaliate, he ordered the people who regularly watched the Lou Dobbs show out of the sample, thereby lowering the shows ratings and costing the company roughly 6 million dollars in ad revenue. Did people all of a sudden stop watching Lou Dobbs…No. Didn’t matter though…all thaty mattered were the Nielsen numbers. I can 99.9% guarantee you that more than 6 million people are watching CHUCK, but it doesn’t matter unless those Nielsen numbers show it…and unfortunately our Sample population isn’t really a CHUCK crowd.
“To retaliate, he ordered the people who regularly watched the Lou Dobbs show out of the sample, thereby lowering the shows ratings and costing the company roughly 6 million dollars in ad revenue.”
Are you kidding me?!? That is so far beyond unethical, I’m speechless.
Thanks again for all the info, ‘D’. Your account of the Lou Dobbs story is mind-boggling. I knew in my gut that there had to be more people watching CHUCK than the numbers are reflecting. I don’t know what to do with this information in regards to trying to rally for the show this season though–maybe voting in the online polls as to which shows deserve another season is one thing we can do. At least the writers & producers of the show will have something solid to take to the execs when making a case for renewal.
I figured you were a CHUCK fan too. Thanks 🙂
Heh, I don’t feel so bad about the time they called me a few years ago, asking me to be a Nielsen viewer. My television wasn’t working at the time so I told them “Hey, you’re wasting my time”. They wanted to ask a few more questions but I told whomever it was that I had go to to work and politely hung up, wishing them a good day. No data, except they knew that there was a guy with a broken television at the phone number ;-p
In my opinion, NBC, as well as the other networks, should work with Hulu and other companies to get accurate numbers of the online viewers, I don’t think I would be entirely incorrect in the assumption that the majority of Chuck fans are relatively tech savy, and in most cases would rather watch the show on Hulu on their own time. Not that we, as Chuck fanatics don’t watch it live, but there is another unaccounted group, which could be in fact, the majority of viewers who prefer to watch it on NBC.com or Hulu.
In addition I believe that a possible alternative action to cancellation, could be longer commercial breaks on sites such as Hulu and NBC.com. This would alleviate some of the funding problems and make the studio executives more willing to keep the show alive. Although sites like Hulu are extremely convenient, they are extremely dangerous for shows. Hopefully someone could make that pitch to them and maybe help them to help us.