Re: The Bachelor 17 - General Discussion - Thread #1

[umngirl]

^That's what I always believed. Sean just reversed the negative ratings trend that the show had been in for a few seasons.

Also, looking at that list I never realized how much more watched the show was during the early seasons.

[Guest]

^^ They have no youtube and DVR back then :)

Didnt realize Emily's season's ratings were very dismal.

And whoa Jake Pavelka's season... Really???

[NCGalBecca]

Jake's numbers still blow my mind even though I knew he was a good pick from a demo perspective. I could barely watch that season.

[Kashathediva]

It's far too formulated now.
You can predict how things go and what the dates will be.
They need some new snarkologists on the production crew. Cassie and Peter falling in lurve made them softies. They ned to go back to recruiting from the maximum security prison systems.

[Litta123]

Veg, I have a question.

Do you know if the overall number of people watching TV today in 2013 has declined from people watching in 2002? Because if it has significantly dropped, then comparing raw number of viewers isn't exactly comparing apples to apples. If it's stayed basically the same, then we're good.

I'd love to see the percentage comparisons, but I haven't a clue where to look to find those stats.

[HowSoonIsNow]

Veg, I have a question.

Do you know if the overall number of people watching TV today in 2013 has declined from people watching in 2002? Because if it has significantly dropped, then comparing raw number of viewers isn't exactly comparing apples to apples. If it's stayed basically the same, then we're good.

I'd love to see the percentage comparisons, but I haven't a clue where to look to find those stats.

Litta, it's a well-known fact that tv ratings across the board are down over the past decade. Cannabilization by video games, social media, the internet, DVR, VOD, youtube, cable programming, and a movie industry that puts out more high-budget franchise movies (LOTR, Transformers, Twilight, HP, Avengers, etc) than in past decades. In fact, I think only the SuperBowls and some of the awards shows are the few programs that have scored record numbers of recent.

[HowSoonIsNow]

^^That being said, notice the numbers and you'll see even more of MF's spin at work. With the exception of Trista (and maybe Meredith?), the two Bach seasons before and after the Bette season always have higher ratings. So the ratings rise with Bach, then fall with Bette, then rise with Bach, on and on, like a zig zaw.

So the fact that Sean is higher than Emily doesn't mean he "saved the series"; it just means he performed to expectations.

The significant fact is that Sean's ratings are higher than Ben's. But the amount of increase is so slight, about 300k viewers. The fact that he's higher than Ben is something to hang his hat on, because generally viewership is down across all of TV, plus Bachelor/ette is an aging show, so there would be natural attrition anyways. OTOH, Ben had low Q numbers, and Courtney had even lower - I think together they drove viewers away from their season. So it could be spun another way - Sean's performance was normal (he is, after all, lower than Brad 2.0), but Ben's was abnormally low.

[Litta123]

Veg, I have a question.

Do you know if the overall number of people watching TV today in 2013 has declined from people watching in 2002? Because if it has significantly dropped, then comparing raw number of viewers isn't exactly comparing apples to apples. If it's stayed basically the same, then we're good.

I'd love to see the percentage comparisons, but I haven't a clue where to look to find those stats.

Litta, it's a well-known fact that tv ratings across the board are down over the past decade. Cannabilization by video games, social media, the internet, DVR, VOD, youtube, cable programming, and a movie industry that puts out more high-budget franchise movies (LOTR, Transformers, Twilight, HP, Avengers, etc) than in past decades. In fact, I think only the SuperBowls and some of the awards shows are the few programs that have scored record numbers of recent.

That's what I suspected from multiple conversations with high school students over recent years, but I didn't want to assume it to be true based on anecdotal evidence alone.

I also realize that I have no idea what the third column in Veg's table represents. If it's showing percentages, then forget what I said earlier.

[IrishGal]

Veg, I have a question.

Do you know if the overall number of people watching TV today in 2013 has declined from people watching in 2002? Because if it has significantly dropped, then comparing raw number of viewers isn't exactly comparing apples to apples. If it's stayed basically the same, then we're good.

I'd love to see the percentage comparisons, but I haven't a clue where to look to find those stats.

Litta, it's a well-known fact that tv ratings across the board are down over the past decade. Cannabilization by video games, social media, the internet, DVR, VOD, youtube, cable programming, and a movie industry that puts out more high-budget franchise movies (LOTR, Transformers, Twilight, HP, Avengers, etc) than in past decades. In fact, I think only the SuperBowls and some of the awards shows are the few programs that have scored record numbers of recent.

I'm not so sure? This article from 2009 indicates that TV viewing was on the rise. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I suspect people are still watching, they're just multitasking while doing so. But I don't know. I had a horrible argument with my 30 yr old step-son last week because he said that I was a fool for going to the library...because I could read books on Kindle! He went on to say books were obsolete. We are not speaking to each other right now and thank goodness he lives 2000 miles away.

[LoveDovez]

Veg, I have a question.

Do you know if the overall number of people watching TV today in 2013 has declined from people watching in 2002? Because if it has significantly dropped, then comparing raw number of viewers isn't exactly comparing apples to apples. If it's stayed basically the same, then we're good.

I'd love to see the percentage comparisons, but I haven't a clue where to look to find those stats.

Litta, it's a well-known fact that tv ratings across the board are down over the past decade. Cannabilization by video games, social media, the internet, DVR, VOD, youtube, cable programming, and a movie industry that puts out more high-budget franchise movies (LOTR, Transformers, Twilight, HP, Avengers, etc) than in past decades. In fact, I think only the SuperBowls and some of the awards shows are the few programs that have scored record numbers of recent.

I'm not so sure? This article from 2009 indicates that TV viewing was on the rise. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I suspect people are still watching, they're just multitasking while doing so. But I don't know. I had a horrible argument with my 30 yr old step-son last week because he said that I was a fool for going to the library...because I could read books on Kindle! He went on to say books were obsolete. We are not speaking to each other right now and thank goodness he lives 2000 miles away.

LOLOLOL I got a big kick out of this. : )

[HowSoonIsNow]

Veg, I have a question.

Do you know if the overall number of people watching TV today in 2013 has declined from people watching in 2002? Because if it has significantly dropped, then comparing raw number of viewers isn't exactly comparing apples to apples. If it's stayed basically the same, then we're good.

I'd love to see the percentage comparisons, but I haven't a clue where to look to find those stats.

Litta, it's a well-known fact that tv ratings across the board are down over the past decade. Cannabilization by video games, social media, the internet, DVR, VOD, youtube, cable programming, and a movie industry that puts out more high-budget franchise movies (LOTR, Transformers, Twilight, HP, Avengers, etc) than in past decades. In fact, I think only the SuperBowls and some of the awards shows are the few programs that have scored record numbers of recent.

I'm not so sure? This article from 2009 indicates that TV viewing was on the rise. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I suspect people are still watching, they're just multitasking while doing so. But I don't know. I had a horrible argument with my 30 yr old step-son last week because he said that I was a fool for going to the library...because I could read books on Kindle! He went on to say books were obsolete. We are not speaking to each other right now and thank goodness he lives 2000 miles away.

Haha - he'll never know the joy & comfort of a favorite well-worn hardcover book!
:study:

Your article pretty much sums up what I was saying - content consumption might be up but appointment-television viewership is down (where you watch a network program on your tv set while its airing). The dilemma is that most other forms of viewership allow us to avoid advertising content. (For example, Bachelorette + Hulu.com + Adblocker Plus + Google Chrome = I never see an ad!) And the Nielsen ratings above are compiled for the purposes of pricing advertising "real estate". So while we as viewers might be happy that others are watching Sean, the programming execs fret the loss of live tv eyeballs, though I'm sure they hope as technology advances, they'll be able to force the rest of us to watch their ads, too (No!!).

Notice how Sean's episodes have been promoting the concept of Bachelor viewing parties for young women around the nation? Part of that is about appealing to a younger audience. But the other part is about enticing that younger demo to watch their episodes on TV sets live as they air, NOT on Hulu or Tivo, with the enticement of being part of the larger "Bachelor Nation community experience", including live tweeting and the whole "meta" experience. Ultimately, that's all about getting those new eyeballs on those live commercials. They know they are losing live TV viewership, thus the Bachelor Viewing Party campaign.

[Catdwoman50]

Perhaps that is it then. Not that Sean brought up the ratings too much, but he appealed to younger and newer demographics. Perhaps the evidence is not in the tv viewership ratings but in the social media interaction. JMO, fascinating to read re viewing stats.

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