I understand those comments made by ABC and Selma Hayek about getting viewers familiar with Ugly Betty. However, obtaining and maintaining ratings simply because the protagonist is hispanic. Those viewers of Ugly Betty are hopefully watching because they enjoyed the telenovela and the ABC version, not because the main character is hispanic.

I don't know, I tuned in because Betty is Hispanic. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it other than that aspect.

Considering how few portrayals of Hispanics there are on network television, much less positive ones, I think that has to be a major draw for some viewers. There really isn't any "should" when it comes to reasons why people watch a show. It's actually fairly common for shows with a primarily minority cast to get significantly higher ratings amongst members of that minority than they do amongst the general population. A successful show with multiple positive characters of an underrepresented group can possibly lead to more characters of that group on different shows and many people will support it for that reason. Developing a strong Hispanic following of people who appreciate seeing themselves represented on television for a change can only help the show and I think it makes sense that they are actively pursuing it.

I can only speak my opinion as a minority viewer. I do not watch bad television, in general, just because it is starring a minority. I may initially tune in because a program is starring a minority but I do not remain a viewer for that reason. I watch television shows I think are good. The reason minorities tune into shows with other minorities is also because they are familiar with the cast. If people are watching Ugly Betty or All of Us simply because they feature a minority cast, then more power to them. I still have my opinion. That being said, I do hope people are watching Ugly Betty because they enjoy the show and not because the character of Betty is hispanic.

People can and do watch the show for both reasons. Personally, I got into the show immediately because I heard that the main protagonist of UB was a minority female around my age but I continue watching the show now because I now find it to be (mostly) wildly entertaining. And apparently, there's a huge contingent of other minorities (mostly latinos) that started watching and continue watching UB for the same reasons. And unless the show starts sucking massively in the future, I don't see why people who enjoy watching the show now will abandon it for being what it was the start. UB has been a proto-soap with a mix of the outlandish and the realistic, and the people who love and watch the show now should already be acclimated to the fact.

I just find the speculation/wishing for ratings failure in a future season to be...I don't know, a strange expenditure of mental energy. I mean, I can see people rooting for something controversial (and vastly disappointing) like Studio 60 to go down in flames, but Ugly Betty just seems so harmless and entertaining. I'm not even getting where schadenfreude would come into play. YMMV, of course.



There are a lot of reasons it won't get cancelled, especially not this year, but that isn't one of them. If anything, ABC's ratings dominance in the last few years has made it more willing to can shows that even remotely underperform their expectations (see: "Eyes"). Looking at the numbers ABC was doing in this timeslot last year, I'm sure they're quite satisfied.

I'm sure ABC is thrilled with this show. From what I've seen, it's delivering everything advertisers love...the right age group, women, and "rich people". It's in the top 20 for households making over $100,000/year -- a statistic that kept/is keeping shows like The West Wing and Studio 60 on the air.

Their biggest headache is probably that a Christian Conservative media watchdog will start a letter-writing campaign to the sponsers. After all, illegal immigrants, unmarried mothers, multiple casual sex partners without consequence...not to mention that gays are actually treated like human beings...in the 8 pm hour probably drives certain folks (BB) crazy.

Please ignore.

Betty beats Survivor:


ABC’s Ugly Betty opened the evening for ABC with a first-place 9.5 rating/14 share in the overnights -- two-tenths of a rating point (or two percent) above CBS’ Survivor: Cook Islands (9.3/14).

We did win the households, but PIFeedback is reporting that we came in second in viewers and third in demos. That third place demo finish isn't good.

I'm probably going to show my ignorance on reading and translating ratings, but I really must know! Which numbers quantify(if that's possible) Betty's situation the best? I'm a bit confused by your reports.

Focus on the 18-49 numbers, that's the audience all the networks except CBS (who target overall viewers) care about.

If I'm reading things right Betty does decently in overall viewers but it's weak in the 18-49 demo and even lost to NBC's comedies in that demo.

ETA:



Yeah I agree with this, there really is nothing to dislike about this show. It's getting a decent amount of media attention without being overhyped, nobody on this show is turning into one of those tabloid darlings, the show is pretty easy to get into.

I think ABC hurt themselves when they out this show up against "The Office." I know I have trouble deciding what to watch, and what to tape, on Thursday nights (Yep, I'm still analog, but not for lack of trying:P) Both shows are funny and have characters I 'm interested in. Why do the only non-animated comedies I like have to be on opposite each other?

Thanks for the explanation, jayseyfield. It makes sense to me now. The numbers make me a bit concerned, but it's not enough to justify major panic yet I think.

I'm having that issue--for the first time in my television viewing career I had to figure out how the picture-in-picture function worked. (I tivo UB, watch the first half, watch The Office live, watch more UB during The Office commercials...it's all kind of sad.)

Mediaweek

Our total viewers are higher than Survivor and a lot higher than The Office. But apparently we have old people or really young people watching us. Also it seems that a lot of people watch UB together. I don't think it is a cause for worry. Our demos have been low to start with.

It will be interesting to see what happens once Survivor finishes it's run...wiill that audience migrate to UB or the Office or stick with CBS? There should be at least some sampling during December, assuming UB is rerun during December rather than being prempted for special programming.

I would totally expect UB's demos and even total ratings to drop a bit as Survivor heads towards the finale, especially since it's so easy to pick up UB off the net.

Evidently "Swag", which was supposed to be episode four, and then episode 8, is now tentatively numbered as episode 11. And Spoilerfix says:

That is so weird. I wonder what's going on?

Ugh, what's up with Survivor still being ahead of Betty? Not to mention that annoying game show Deal or No deal too. Can't believe people'd rather watch that on Thanksgiving! Ah well, their loss, because I thought the latest episode of Betty was so touching, funny and just all around awesome.

Deal or No Deal is the new "Who wants to be a millionaire?"

Eh, as ridiculous an excuse for a gameshow as it is, I enjoy DOND. But I suppose that may have more to do with enjoying Howie Mandel than anything else. I've always found him kinda cute. What? Don't judge me!

Survivor, though. That's just a sorry excuse for television programming in general, I say. No offense to those who enjoy it.

I apologize if my comments about Deal or No Deal and Survivor came off a bit catty and if this offended anybody. I guess I'm just frustrated that they continue to do better than Betty, which I find to have higher quality than the aforementioned shows.

Game shows tend to have a broader audience.

Fast nationals from Zap2it:

I've been a bit out of the loop and have looked through this thread but haven't seen anything. Was last nights episode the last for the season or something? It was the christmas episode and they didn't show any previews or anything. I'm assuming it's coming back, but when, does anyone know?

That was the last new episode this year. It should be back in January.

Thanks for that, whyistherumgone. I've looked at the episode line-up on IMDb and have been completely confused.

(I'm sorry, but half the time I hate Howie Mandel and wish his silly ass would catch something.)

Was anyone else hoping they'd put the pilot back up on the ABC site? I never get to see the shows when they're aired and was looking forward to seeing the first episode again :(

It aired last night.

Yeah, I meant that I usually watch the show aired Thursday night on ABC's website, so I was expecting the pilot to be available for viewing on the website again. I don't remember which show it was, but they put the latest episode of some non-Ugly Betty show on the website instead.

The pilot's up on the website now if you still want to watch it.

Given the show's strong total audience numbers, I'm wondering why their numbers in the key demo are relatively low. Is it teens or seniors watching this show? I've gotta assume it's teens, so the demo numbers should improve in a couple years when that group reaches the key demo group.

Here's the rerun schedule for the rest of the year:

This Thursday, "The Box and the Bunny" (episode 2) is airing at 8. Saturday at 10 is "Trust, Lust, and Must", the 6th episode. Thursday, December 21, is "Fey's Sleigh Ride" (episode 4) at 8. Thursday, December 28, is "Queens for a Day" (episode 3). Saturday the 30th there are 3 episodes in a row -- "After Hours", "Lose the Boss?" and "Fake Plastic Snow." (That's episode 7, 9, and 10.)

Is there some order to these episodes that I’m not seeing? 2, 6, 4, 3, 7, 9, 10. I assume they're skipping the Thanksgiving and Halloween episodes on purpose.

PIFeedback


A good average 14 million. =)

Yay =D. It's good to see one of my favourite shows doing well in ratings.

...now if only Veronica Mars could get a third of those ratings =[.

I just noticed that this week's show is a repeat of the Halloween show -- any reason they have gone back to repeats??? Maybe we were warned in the previews at the end of last week's show, but I missed that, if so.

Repeats are rather normal the week before sweeps. It's like a breather, I guess.

Thanks -- I don't keep track of "sweeps"!

February is a sweeps month so you can count on four new episodes. A lot of other shows were showing reruns in January, too. Last night's Desperate Housewives rerun was annoying because it brought back a character who had been killed a few eps back.

From ABC's press release :



Grey's Anatomy also did better than usual last night, specifically with the 18-34 age range. College viewers have finally been included in the ratings, and initial reports suggested GA and UB would be two shows to get significant bumps from this, and that appears to have been the case.

I'll bet that winning all those awards has gotten some new viewers to check it out, also.

The good news is that their 18-49 numbers are finally picking up.

And luckily the last 2 episodes have been fabulous so hopefully the new folks are hooked.

February 8 results:

http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=20070209abc01

From ABC's Press Release:

Ugly Betty (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

Opposite the season premiere of CBS Survivor: Fiji, ABCs freshman Ugly Betty delivered a solid second place in Total Viewers (14.3 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.7/12), and ranked No. 1 ahead of Survivor in Adults 18-34 (4.8/14) and Women 18-34 (7.2/19). For the second week in a row, Betty was surpassed by only ABCs Greys Anatomy to rank as the No. 2 TV program on Thursday with Women 18-34.

Ugly Betty posted the series second-strongest-ever performance in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 (tie), behind only its series debut in September. The program garnered series-high numbers with Adults 18-34, Women 18-34 and Men 18-34.

What's this I hear about no new shows for 2 months? Sources?

Wow, I hadn't realized that UB has already aired 16 episodes, leaving 6 left for the rest of the season if only 22 were ordered. This is going to be a very long wait indeed.

So no one has any info? I'll just ignore this then, and catergorize it under Heinous Rumor.

Well, thus far, we have at least three weeks of no new episodes. Here's the latest scheduling information from ABC Medianet:

2/22 --no episode airing, Grey's Anatomy repeat

3/1--repeat of "Trust, Lust, and Must"

3/8--repeat of "After Hours"