The NBC show remake of the “Bionic Woman,” starring Brit born actress Michelle Ryan may have been a disaster in the United States, scoring some pretty low ratings and ending up on the canceled list, but over in England it’s a hit.
The first episode of “Bionic Woman†scored the highest ever audience for the U.K. with young viewers on ITV2.
The one–hour debut, gobbled up a 9.2% share, or over 2.2 million viewers on Tuesday evening, more than six times the slot average of 292,000 (1.5%), according to overnight viewing figures released to Variety Europe.
“The success of ‘Bionic Woman’…further underlines the important role of U.S. fare to Blighty’s digital channels,” stated journalist Steven Clarke. Even if those same shows flop big time in their domestic market of origin.
This is a brain-dead comparison. The debut did well here in the states, too. There was a lot of build-up and anticipation, and then people saw the wretched thing. Tally those ratings numbers after the third or fourth episode.
By the way, what’s with people on this site wanting it both ways? Either the ratings system is flawed, and good shows with solid viewerships are mistreated by the ratings, such as Journeyman, or they’re accurate tests of interest, such as this piece on the U.K. response to the BW debut.
So, which is it? You can’t have the same measuring stick telling you two different things.
What we as fans want and what we as journalists report can be two different things. I believe most here (I know this applies to all the staff at Slice of SciFi) believe the current ratings system used here and abroad is terribly flawed. But, as long as networks continue using them, we have to report them.
I also agree that it is a brain-dead comparison, but it is one that ITV2 chose to employ. I too am eager to see if, like here in the colonies, the numbers begin falling off drastically after episode 2. Brits are smart and savvy viewers so I have no doubt the results will continue to match those of American viewers (or the lack thereof) of this show – although we can’t forget that Ryan is one of England’s own, so……
Sam, I only partly agree with you about ratings. You people have a point of view on this site. That POV is either consistent, or it’s not. Right now, it’s not. Blaming ITV2 for your choice of words and presentation of facts is a cop-out.
Well, since we have 12 different journalists, 4 SoSF show hosts and a variety of invited online and website contributors then yes, when it comes to a POV then we are consistently……inconsistent. But, if we are reporting straight news (as was the case with the ITV2 piece), and not doing an op-ed piece, then our POV doesn’t come into play. But, those POVs may well be made known in a comment on the show between or during actual news stories or here on the website either in the comments section, as we are doing here, or in the news piece written in such a way that it is obvious to most readers that we are breaking away from the hard news for a sentence or two and giving a brief POV.
WHAT IS OUR BASIC POV ABOUT RATINGS?
Our POV is that the ratings system is, we now know it, flawed and needs replaced by a vehicle that better expresses the reality of the new kinds of media available to the general public for viewing network and studio product. The news story, however, is that these venues still use the outdated system, and as such, requires us to report what is taking place in the real world.