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I’m going to be really interested to see what the final ratings for Friday night are, after the DVR numbers come in, because this was not a great week. Medium’s ratings fell from last week’s high of 8.43 million viewers with a 2.2 in the 18-49 group, to 7.69 million total viewers with 1.8 in the 18-49 group.
Medium still won the hour in the key demo– but just barely. Dateline scored 1.7 in the 18-49 group, but actually had slightly more total viewers than Medium, with 7.95 million. This is why I’ll be interested to see the DVR numbers: Because Medium seems like something you would record, as opposed to an episode of Dateline.
The real bad news for Medium though, is it fared the worst in the CBS lineup. Ghost Whisperer scored a respectable 8.28 million viewers with 2.0 in the 18-49 group. So not only did Medium fail to build upon Ghost Whisperer’s numbers, but Numb3rs slightly improved upon Medium’s ratings. They had 7.74 million total viewers, but the same number in the 18-49 demo: 1.8. Everyone has an off week; it’s just a shame that it happened this week when Medium had such a strong episode.
Patricia Arquette/Image: CBS
Winning 5 out of 6 weeks is still very impressive. I believe everyone was out at the halloween parties. it was a holiday and chance to scare people and to pull pranks!!! Thats what i use to do when I was younger!!!
It doesn’t make sense though that Ghost Whisperer and Numbers had more viewers especially since Medium is sandwiched between them. Did they leave for a party after Ghost Whisperer and come back for Numbers? Too bad because this was a really great medium for Halloween.
Maybe after the DVR stuff comes in the ratings will be up. The party theory doesn’t make sense if Numb3rs ratings were higher. Numb3rs is on after Medium and typically scores lower. Perhaps Dateline was really good last night so they tuned in to that since it did well in the ratings and then they came back for Numb3rs.We will have to see what happens next week.
I was expecting a large large large rating for this episode!
This is really weird. It makes no sense for viewers to turn it off for Medium and then come back for Numbers. I just keep thinking those numbers can’t be right. It’s kind of depressing because this was going to be the biggest episode of the season so far. They’ve been talking about it all summer, and then this?!! WTH happened?
I’m sure that the numbers will do up when the finals and the dvr ratings come out, but it won’t be enough to make up for the drop from last week. Let’s just hope that the ratings will be back up next week. Otherwise, it might not be too soon to start wondering if there will be a season 7.
That’s such a shame. I know it’s pretty big holiday, bigger than it is over here anyway. It’s becoming more of a big deal, whereas it used to be all about bonfire night growing up for me (where we let off fireworks to remember the foiling of the gunpowder plot). Still, I thought more people would have watched!
I took a look at the ratings too. Ghost Whisperer won for it’s time as usual. Dateline NBC won for the 9pm and then Numbers won for the 10. Sad that Medium lost on this episode since it was such a good one for Halloween.
Dateline NBC was promoted as a good episode for last night. I guess people tuned into that instead of Medium. Let’s hope this trend with Dateline does not continue.
The ratings were ok. Medium held onto 93% of GWs total audience and 90% of its demo. still respectable
I think this happened because a lot of the people who watch Medium really like it because it seems so realistic. This episode, on the other-hand seemed kind of fake with her waking up with the bite mark and stuff. Even the promo was all about zombies and stuff, whereas people really watch for the crime/family. I really enjoyed it, but I would have liked it much more if those weird unexplained things didn’t happen to her. Also in the past I have noticed “Black and White” episodes usually don’t go over as well as first thought. The explanation the doctor gave Joe made me think of the show more like GW than Medium. It was nice for Halloween, but i hope they go back to the regular Medium that we all know.
I loved BITE ME.
On the CBS site people are writing that they want MediuM to return to the flavor it had with episodes like the ones with Dr Walker and Sony Troyer. I guess fans want more crime and less episodes like Who’s that girl. I love the show but have to agree with that. I want more crime with Allison at the center.
I don’t get why anyone even watch Numbers and Ghost whisperer, they isn’t anything compared to Medium. Medium is SO much better, and Hope the ratings will go up soon again! But I personally LOVED the “Bite Me” episode! I don’t really like “Nights of living dead” movie, but I think they made It as good as it could be. And I loved the spider scene with Sofia, hilarious! And the scene when Allisons screams “I don’t wanna die!” in her sleep in the bed. I think it’s great with the hidden humor in Medium. And eventhough I don’t get everything when they sometimes relate to american stuff that I never heard of I still it’s really fun. And I hope that the ratings is better next week, cus I don’t want a cancellation (don’t know how to spell…?) of this show already! It’s to good to get cancelled! And I love these episodes when it’s not realistic, and they twist it up a little, cus It’s not fuin to what alot of shows and all is realictic in every episode, fun to mix it up once in a while! But I can’t wait for the epiosde that airs in two weeks when Allisons suspects Ariels boyfriend of murder!
I agree that there was another reason why Medium’s ratings fell. It doesn’t make sense that there ratings will fall while Ghost Whispers and Numbers ratings would improve. My feeling is that it was the B&W viewing that lost Medium its ratings. They should have listened to Alison. B&W was not good for her skin and it obviously was not good for the viewers’ eyes.
I fall into the 18-49 demo and I’ve never seen Night of the Living Dead (I don’t like horror shows/movies). I was therefore not as excited as others who had seen the movie to see how they would merge Medium into it. I watched the episode because I love Medium but maybe the viewers that tuned out were younger people who cared less about old B&W movies (especially if they never watched one) and were too new to Medium to stick with it.
I found the B&W scenes limped along and I didn’t buy into the tension and the fear they were suppose to generate. The acting of the original characters, the audio, sound effects, music score and set design was so lame and over exaggerated back then compared to today that even when they injected Alison and the family into the mix, they became just as over exaggerated and fake in their acting as the original characters.
It think they made a miscalculation in how this episode would come across to their targeted demo. How many people today (in the 18-49 demo) would actually want to sit and watch an old B&W movie/show if there were more current movies/shows on at the same time that they could watch? And from what I’ve read here, the episode was featured in TV guide and the promos showed the B&W scenes. That in itself was enough to chase the new and young viewers away.
I actually preferred watching the colour scenes more (they were more realistic and current to today) and the show would have been much better (IMO) without the B&W scenes.
I guess it helps to read over your post for grammatical errors and typos before submitting. I meant “their ratings” in the first sentence. The start of the second last sentence should read, “I think”.
I enjoyed this episode but I am a Medium fan since the beginning like most of us who read this site.
I could see that the black and white episode might not appeal to new viewers or not as dedicated fans. It was a type of episode for the regular fans and those new to the show may not have been able to get the humor of it.( Like the Joke about Joe’s horror mall movie)
Datelines ratings were up so it looks like people tuned in to that and then some came back for Numbers.
If it was the black and white factor then ratings should be back up for next week.
I think it would be a real shame if Medium (or any show that dares to be creative) was to abandon experimenting with different formats, ideas just because people might not like it. That’s one of the things I personally love about Medium.
That said, pretty much my favourite place is the arthouse cinema. I see more films there than I do at the main cinema, even though I’m no longer studying languages, nor in the city as often.
I guess people really wanted to scare themselves for real with watching Dateline NBC..the numbers don’t seem right to me either because I did think that lots of people would watch this episode..
I have to say I really enjoyed it and loved how they wove the black and white Night of the Living Dead movie into it too.
I also really thought that the spider storyline was great too. That’s okay though..Medium will continue to do well. There are far too many fans for it not to.
I used to watch Dateline NBC. It is a pretty good show. I haven’t watched it since it is opposite Medium.
I am curious what it was about on Friday that it was able to steal the number one spot from Medium epecially for this Halloween episode that has been highly promoted.
I don’t normally like watching B/W shows but for Halloween I thought it was good.
I wasn’t at all scared by any of the scenes from the old horror movie. I am not sure if medium meant to make it scary when the Zombies were chasing Allison and when she was screaming’ I don’t want to Die”. I found it amusing.
Perhaps Zombies just are the thing that gets people to tune in?
This is the first week Numbers has gotten more viewers than Medium and Ghost Whisperer usually has slightly less viewer than Medium. Maybe everyone was busy manning their front doors or out with their own kids trick or treating or at various neighborhood parties. The church across the street from my house had a big party outside with a hay ride and other stuff going on.
They played The Night of the Living Dead over and over on AMC this weekend. It’s stars are people I’ve never heard of, so I imagine it wasn’t a very good movie originally. Maybe that was a turn off to people?
I forgot to set my recorder for it, thinking I would for sure be home in time to see it and wouldn’t you know it, got tied up at work and missed the first half! Darn it! What I saw for good.
Karen, I just crossed over to the dark side that is NBC’s site to see and it’s here.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33519482/ns/dateline_nbc-crime_reports/
I do know of the place, remember it for entirely different reasons – the meoment I swore never to spend over 24 hours on a train again.
Thank you for the site Linda I will check it out.
Linda,
Thanks so much for that link. I just watched it and it was an Amazing Dateline.
So sad for his wife and little boy. Unbelievable people could be that evil in real life.
[...] my theory that last week’s ratings lows were based on people being out at Halloween parties wasn’t entirely serious, but I did believe that the low ratings were an anomaly. [...]