If the results of TiVo’s survey are to be trusted, Prime Suspect, Hart of Dixie and Revenge may be among the series destined for cancellation. The DVR service is set to release a report that analyzes the promotional conversion rates based on a survey they did.
The Hollywood Reporter posted the story, stating that TiVo surveyed 35,000 of its users to analyze the correlation between the number of new ads users watched and whether the ads convinced them to tune in to the show. Those who did tune in to the premiere episode after watching at least three promos qualified as “a successful conversion.”
Apparently, the Bottom 5 new series in this survey were ABC’s Charlie’s Angels (canceled), The CW’s H8R (canceled), ABC’s Revenge, The CW’s Hart of Dixie and NBC’s Prime Suspect. As the Reporter notes, none of the the series among last year’s survey’s Bottom 5 were renewed, which is not good news for the three yet-to-be renewed series in this year’s Bottom 5. Of course, the Reporter also notes that the third-highest conversion rated series was CBS’ How to be a Gentleman, which has already been canceled. Free Agents was #8 from the top and the NBC comedy has also been cancelled, so the survey isn't a perfect indication of which series will fail and which will succeed.
Maybe this is blind optimism here, especially as Revenge has become one of my favorite TV shows this season, but this data is based on the series premieres. In the case of Revenge, while the drama series pulled in just over 10 million viewers for its premiere, it seems to be retaining most of its viewers, bringing in over eight million viewers for last week’s episode. By comparison to Free Agents, which premiered to 6.12 million viewers and then dropped steadily, reaching 3.25 million viewers in its last episode, Revenge is looking ok. Or maybe I just don’t want to consider the possibility that it won’t be back for a second season.
Prime Suspect’s numbers have been declining steadily. The police drama, which stars Maria Bello, brought in 6.05 million viewers for its premiere and was down to 4.03 million by last Thursday’s episode. Hart of Dixie’s numbers have stayed more or less the same, with the series bringing in 1.88 million viewers for its premiere, and drifting down, then back up to 2.01 million viewers between then and last week’s episode.
As for which shows fared the best on TiVo’s survey, CBS’ 2 Broke Girls and Fox’s New Girl were at the top of the list. While 2 Broke Girls has already received a second-season pick-up, Fox’s New Girl’s ratings have seen a decline from week to week, premiering to 10.28 million viewers back in September, and dropping to 7.42 million viewers for this week’s episode. The slightly sharper drop between episodes 3 and 4, which marks a difference of over a million viewers, may be due to the month-long gap between episodes due to the World Series knocking New Girl off the line-up for a few weeks. Hopefully things will bounce back a bit for the series throughout November.
