TV News: Audiences Refuse to Check Into ‘666 Park Avenue’

CHICAGO – The new Sunday ABC line-up of “Once Upon a Time,” “Revenge,” and “666 Park Avenue” looked very promising on paper. I think I even called it one of the smartest moves of the season. I was wrong. While the first two sophomore programs had decent ratings on their first night of the ‘12-13 season, “666” is empty, producing the kind of numbers that start the cancellation clock ticking. ABC just can’t win at 9pm on Sunday nights.

When your numbers can be negatively compared to a show that’s no longer on the air, you know you’re in trouble. Last year, “Pan Am” opened with an 8.5 rating and a 14 share. Admittedly, it was the quick erosion that killed that show but “666 Park Avenue” notched a 5.3 rating last night, down 38% from year-to-year. With typical erosion, it could be near a 4.0 in the near future and that’s an unacceptable number for an ABC drama. It’s in serious trouble. The news was better for its lead-ins as “Once Upn a Time” notched a 7.2 rating and “Revenge” scored a 7.0.

There really wasn’t much else to report across the broadcast networks NBC dominated the evening with a high-profile football game (with a 15.4 rating), CBS solid results with “The Amazing Race” (6.7), “The Good Wife” (7.4), & “The Mentalist” (7.0), and FOX saw their animated hits at almost exactly the same levels they were at last year.

Source: TV Media Insights

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com