Cosmos is not a Ratings Disaster [View all]

[Gothmog]

Citing Drudge, the conservatives are convinced that Cosmos is a ratings disaster and will be canceled. Citing drudge is clearly a mistake. First, the conservatives are ignoring the fact that Cosmos is being showed on several different channels at different times. When you aggregate the total ratings, Cosmos is doing great for a pure science show http://www.science20.com/science_20/blog/cosmos_ratings_are_not_disaster_fox-131870

The Drudge Report is saying that "Cosmos" ratings are a disaster and, I as I discussed in Is "Cosmos" Suffering From Unrealistic Expectations? the overnights showed numbers down from the premiere, but that is hardly a disaster.

1) It's a science show. That a science show was on a prime time broadcast network - and took third place in its premiere - I would say is bordering on miraculous.

2) The overnights for "Cosmos" showed more viewers watched it than watched either "Family Guy" or "The Simpsons". "Family Guy" is, of course, "Cosmos" producer Seth MacFarlane's keystone program. Ordinarily it would be the lead-in and anything following would show some drop. Instead, "Cosmos" had more viewers than those longtime fan favorites.....

Plus, those numbers might go up. Once DVR views were factored in, the adult 18-49 rating for "Cosmos" last week jumped 33%, from a 2.1 to a 2.8. If a similar DVR bump happens this week, then suddenly "Cosmos" is number two in its time slot for the demographic advertisers prize most.

And "Cosmos" is more of an international product than other shows it is competing with - it could get 3-6X its total viewers when international numbers come in, and that all brings revenue too.

Second, Cosmos is getting wonderful reviews http://www.metacritic.com/tv/cosmos-a-space-time-odyssey For example, here is a review of the first episode

San Francisco Chronicle
David Wiegand
Mar 6, 2014
100
At least the first episode of the new Cosmos is terrific. And if the other 12 episodes are as good, the series will serve as a valuable continuation of Sagan's legacy.

The religious nutcases and conservative idiots are hoping that the show will fail. I have enjoyed all three episodes and will be buying the DVDs when they come out. Cosmos is not going to go away just because Drudge is hoping that it will fail.