Networks Pin Hopes of Better Friday Night Ratings on Gambling, Murder
By MIKE HUGHES
HOLLYWOOD – As soon as you step onto the “Las Vegas” set, you’re convinced.
This feels like a place where you could lose your inhibitions, your money, maybe your soul. It feels like Vegas.
It’s small compared with real casinos but huge compared with other TV sets. Gary Scott Thompson, the show’s creator and producer, seems delighted.
Struggling on a declining TV night (Fridays), “Las Vegas” has a big, flashy look and big stories that try it all – romance, mysteries and more. “Some people don’t realize that we’re (also) a comedy,” Thompson says.
He’s soon listing the fates of this fictional casino’s owners. One was killed by a giant squid. That doesn’t happen on your always- serious shows.
The casino’s new owner is likely to last longer, simply because Tom Selleck plays him. “Las Vegas” needs Selleck as its one big name, after the departure of James Caan.
“Jim stayed four years, which is longer than I thought he would,” Thompson says. “We really appreciated him.”
Still, “Las Vegas” and others face a bigger question: Can anything get people back to watching network shows on Fridays?
In the old days, Fridays brought “Dallas” and “X-Files” and “Miami Vice” and interchangeable ABC comedies.
And now? “Friday nights, without question, are a challenge,” says Stephen McPherson, ABC’s programming chief.
Nielsen ratings reflect that. We looked at the first three weeks of October, adjusting for anomalies, and found: – From 7-8 p.m. Fridays, the five top networks averaged a combined 33.6 million viewers. Only Saturdays (23.1 million, four networks) did worse. On the other nights, the networks averaged 44.5 million.
– From 8-9 p.m., the gap grew – 32.5 million on Fridays, 25 million on Saturdays, 54.2 million on the other nights.
That’s the challenge McPherson was talking about. “We certainly haven’t given up on Friday,” he says.
As proof, he inserted one of his best new shows, “Women’s Murder Club,” at 8 p.m. Fridays. It did fairly well; its debut finished No. 25 in the weekly Nielsen ratings and its second episode was No. 37.
That’s the best any Friday show has done this year, but they used to get much higher. Consider these Friday shows:
– “Dallas” finished No. 1 in the annual Nielsen ratings three times; “Dukes of Hazzard,” was No. 2 twice.
– “Miami Vice” got as high as No. 9.
– Then there were all of the ABC comedies. “Full House” reached No. 14, “Webster” was No. 25, others did well.
Those Friday comedies managed to grab a two-level audience. Kids and adults watched.
Then cable and satellite channels ended that. They split the market on Fridays, taking away the younger viewers.
That peaked on Oct. 12, when the Disney Channel premiered the movie “Twitches Too” and the comedy series “Wizards of Waverly Place.” Those shows, the channel says, were watched by more than one-third of all kids, ages 6-14 – and by more than half of all girls that age.
Others gnawed at the other end: During parts of the year, the USA Network grabs grown-ups on Fridays with “Monk” and “Psych”; the Sci Fi channel has used Fridays to alternate its most popular shows – “Stargate,”"Doctor Who,”"Flash Gordon” and (especially) “Battlestar Galactica.”
That leaves dramas like “Las Vegas” stretching for an audience. Thompson has stuffed his cast with pretty people – Josh Duhamel, Molly Sims, Vanessa Marcil, James Lesure – some of them former soap stars.
When Caan left, Duhamel’s character was promoted to president of operations; Selleck’s character arrived as owner. When Nikki Cox left, Camille Guaty – fresh from “The Nine” – took over.
When the fictional casino was blown up, Thompson built a bigger one.
He has a big set, a big cast, big stories – and a night when audiences tend to be small.
On the tube:
– What: “Las Vegas.”
– When: 9 p.m. Fridays.
– Where: NBC, channel 2 and cable channel 9.
– Did you know?: Thursdays remain the strongest night for network TV viewing, especially from 9-10 p.m. In the first three weeks of October, the audience that hour was 59 million on Thursdays, 58 million on Sundays, 54.2 million on Mondays, 53.9 million on Tuesdays, 46.1 million on Wednesdays, 32.5 million on Fridays, and 25 million on Saturdays.
– Source for historical information: “The Complete Directory of Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows,” Ballantine, 2007, $29.95.
Originally published by MIKE HUGHES Gannett News Service.
(c) 2007 Tulsa World. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.