Oh, I don't like this one bit.
Fringe has gotten off to a quick start, story-wise, but unfortunately, the viewership hasn't been as good. The season three premiere, "Olivia," only scored 5.73 million viewers, while the most recent episode, "The Plateau," dropped down to 5.19 million. That doesn't mean viewership is dwindling, of course; those numbers don't count the heavy DVRage of the show. But networks are, unfortunately, still using those outdated digits, and that means that Fringe isn't looking terribly hot here at the start.
We all know what effect hiatuses have on ratings, though, and we're looking at one right down the chute. After next week's episode, "Do Shapeshifters Dream of Electric Sheep?," we'll be looking at almost an entire month of Fringelessness. The next episode, "Amber 31422," will not air until November 11, a full four weeks after we leave Peter, Altlivia, and Walter.
If FOX is going to insist upon these speed bumps to a show's stride, then they should at least start attributing DVR viewership into their ratings as well. Breaking after just four episodes is no good, though we can expect similar things to happen again.
The show's second season featured breaks after episodes five, eight, ten, and fourteen, and the viewership quite obviously suffered. Episode 2.05, "Dream Logic," mustered up 7.57 million viewers before taking a two week break; episode 2.06 returned with almost 3 million viewers less, at 4.95 million. The same happened after episode 2.14, "Jacksonville," which managed 7.41 million viewers -- the show returned two months later with "Peter," one of the show's best episodes which only managed 5.84 million. After that, the ratings never rose above 7 million viewers again.
DVRs are especially useful for forgetful viewers, because season passes record regardless of whether their owners remember the show is returning or not. Live numbers still suffer because of these stuttering seasons, though. Let's hope FOX continues to realize this like they did last year, and give Fringe a little slack.
A pox on whomever invented the mid-season hiatus!
Sam, it's because Fox is broadcasting the National Leaguey Championship Series and the World Series. Most of their shows will be on hiatus until the WS is over in November. Probably only Glee will be on. It's really nothing to worry about, at least not yet or in this instance.
True, and I'll be watching the NCLS. What I'm saying, though, is that they should schedule shows so that they avoid that break. I'd much rather have a late start than a false one.
You've failed to mention that Fox is devoting its Saturday 11 pm rerun slot exclusively to "Fringe" during the hiatus.
plese do not let this mean its the start of the slow demise of the best show on tv
As I read this I thought it was because of baseball. That could have been mentioned to prevent any premature freak outs. Fringe is a good show and I hope it keeps plugging away. Glad to hear that it will be on in reruns. I came to the show late but am really enjoying it.
Sorry to say, but the numbers *do* indicate the audience is dwindling. 5 million + DVR is not going to match last year's 7 million + DVR. It's no shock FOX wants to keep Fringe off most of November sweeps. I'm betting they'll bump it from February as well. Having said that, October is Baseball. Most likely the "hiatus" is due to the games.
Ratings for advertisers include Live plus 3 day, so DVR usage is accounted for.
And they need to move Fringe from Thursday to some other day. Monday and Thursday are busy as it is, and many shows suffer from the same problem.
At least they are giving Fringe a chance and not "Fireflying" it….
Fair point, and as I am a Cablevision subscriber here in NJ, I'm not even getting the "Major League Baseball Chanpionship Series."