Is An Outdated Ratings System Hurting Our Fan-Favorite Shows?

In the wake of the most expensive network show of all time, Terra Nova, being canceled for unspecified reasons, television fans are starting to realize that without the proper support their favorite shows aren’t safe. Fans of NBC’s critically acclaimed Community entered their darkest timeline when the spring TV schedule was posted online last November and the hit comedy was strangely absent. After ten brilliant episodes in the fall were met with dismal ratings, Community was put on hiatus until show-runner/creator Dan Harmon announced via twitter the return date of March 15^th.

While I’m thankful my favorite show will be coming back (as we all knew it would), its future hangs in the balance, as in May the ultimate decision regarding a 4^th season will be made by NBC higher-ups. It’s hard to imagine that a show with such a passionate fanbase could turn such low numbers.  Sadly, TV still runs functions on the archaic system of the Nielsen ratings.

What Community’s Alison Brie thinks of the Nielsen ratings system

In an ideal world, the only channels on television you’d be paying for would be the ones that you know you’re going to watch. Currently, most cable subscribers pay nearly 200 dollars on average to get a cable package, which includes not only the most basic low numbered channels, but specialty channels as well such as FX and AMC. Television connoisseurs who follow such shows as The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, and HBO’s programming would probably be more than happy to give up extraneous channels (like Spike TV) and save money for only those which they plan to be watching on a regular basis.

The problem begins with the giant corporations such as Comcast, which doesn’t want to lose money on its cable packages.  As consistently well-received shows such as Community fall in the ratings to abysmally low numbers, we’re seeing a trend where ratings themselves mean less and less as networks try new distribution tactics.  Now the only ratings counted come from households with a Nielsen ratings box or a program recording service, so the ratings don’t even reflect the general public’s viewership.

In terms of how low a show’s numbers can get before actual cancellation, it’s worth having a look at the algorithm presented on tvbythenumbers.com, a site maintained by Bill Gorman.  Applying simple graphics to shows currently on television and going by Nielsen ratings alone i.e. registered viewership in millions, the index predicts which shows will get renewed and which will get canceled each year.  In December, when its last episodes aired, Community was hanging within the balance at a .83 on the cancel index, which meant that it was three-tenths of a point away from the “death” region of the cancel-meter.  When I tweeted Gorman about his personal thoughts on the matter he said “Regardless of its ratings this season, I figure Community gets renewed, my guess is the producers will give it away for season 4.”

Other shows have not been as lucky as Community, such as the recently canceled (and short-lived) Free Agents on NBC.  Hank Azaria, the star of the show as well as his friends begged fans on twitter to watch the show “because it might be their last chance to do so.”  It hung in the limbo of ratings going from a 2.1 to a 1.0 in under a month before cancellation respectively going from 6 million viewers to 3.

Bill Lawrence, the show-runner of ABC’s Cougar Town frequently bemoans the ratings on his twitter page under the handle VDoozer. Despite a tour of the country reaching out to the fans of the show with viewing parties, Cougar Town’s ratings are still on the low end.  Lawrence is hopeful that Cougar Town will come back up when it doesn’t have Fox’s American Idol to compete with on Tuesday night’s but he still encourages fans to spread the word about the show via twitter. “To everyone offering “to help” Don’t neglect your families or lives. Spend 22 hrs a day, TOPS, spreading word.” He joke-tweeted.

There are still ways that we can show our support as fans though, by voting in online polls and promoting the shows we love much as possible telling our friends to tune in.  This is the best way of gauging interest in a show, and networks pay close attention to social media and promote shows heavily in that area.  When the FX Show Terriers was canceled last year, many signed a petition to bring it back (though this attempt has so far been unsuccessful). Until there’s a new system invented for working out ratings in a more fair and accurate sense that truly reflects the demand for a show, the most we can do is simply go crazy for our favorite programs and strive to be as feverish and rabid as all Chuck’s fans. It even worked for Arrested Development, the cultist show of all time, which is currently in pre-production of a fourth season and a movie.  Whether Community will get its #Sixseasonsandamovie remains to be seen.