UPDATE: Dancing with the Stars (Fall) and The Bachelor added. I was debating whether or not to hold off on the former until later, but I decided now.
While it's only March, the season has already concluded for many shows, particularly reality shows. Here's a little recap and analysis of the ratings of ABC reality shows that have finished for the season, followed by a letter grade. Feel free to discuss my analysis and grading in the comments below!
Big Fan
RatingsI forgive you if you already forgot about Big Fan; the show, inspired by a segment on Jimmy Kimmel Live, only aired for four weeks. The ratings don't look *that* bad for a reality filler show, at least until you realize that it aired after The Bachelor, doing triple the ratings of those 0.7s. It did rate higher or on par with nearly all episodes of Quantico in the time slot, and those 1.0s were improvements on every episode of Conviction, albeit with a larger lead-in. It could have been worse, though it should have been a lot better.
Grade: D
The Great American Baking Show
Ratings
The Great American Baking Show was a holiday filler reality show that also didn't really last all that long. It did OK for what it was. Not as good as The Great Christmas Light Fight (see below), but not a total disaster either. I would have liked to see it a tad higher, maybe in the low 1s in A18-49, so it could be competitive with other broadcast kitchen shows like Hell's Kitchen and MasterChef Junior. But it's a filler show, it didn't need to do league average numbers or above to be considered a success.
Grade: B-
Grade: B-
The Great Christmas Light Fight
Ratings
Grade: B+
Match Game
Ratings
Last summer, ABC successfully brought back two old game shows to add to their Sunday night line-up, and picked up a third that aired on Tuesday. Two of them--Match Game and To Tell The Truth--made it back onto the winter schedule after new management did a mass exodus of the old filler shows. Match Game this winter was the higher-rated of the two, but it also had a much better situation, getting to air Wednesdays after the established comedy block. Despite this, it had less of an audience than Designated Survivor did, despite being miles more compatible with its lead-in. On the bright side, it was an improvement over what Nashville did there last spring, and what American Crime did last winter, so that's a plus. But being down 15% in raw ratings (A18-49, that is) over its summer run despite a better time slot isn't deserving of an A.
Grade: B
To Tell The Truth
RatingsTo Tell The Truth had its ups and downs throughout its 8-episode run. It premiered to a 0.7 A18-49 Live + Same Day rating, which isn't impressive, but quickly rebounded when it aired after America's Funniest Home Videos. It's a tough situation on how to grade this one. On one hand, it didn't exactly do any better than America's Funniest Home Videos. On the other hand, its ratings were more or less on par with previous and future time slot occupant, the much more expensive Once Upon a Time. I'd say it deserves the same as Match Game.
Grade: B
Dancing with the Stars
Ratings
Dancing with the Stars in general had a very solid season. Since it was only down 10% in raw ratings in A18-49 Live + Same Day ratings in the fall, it improved over last fall in relative ratings. It also stayed fairly consistent throughout, and certainly is two hours on the schedule ABC hasn't had to worry about in quite some time. Nothing to complain about here.
Grade: A-
The Bachelor
Ratings
The Bachelor just gets stronger and stronger by the season. You would think I posted the ratings in opposite order, but no, it did indeed manage to rise six tenths for the finale, and despite premiering to a 2.1 in A18-49, never went below that rating. To top things off, it was only down in that demographic 3% from last season, and could end up as ABC's #1 show this season. People trash it, but more watch it.
Grade: A+