It's been a few months since my last look at ABC's reality slate, and several new shows have debuted in the time since. Keep reading for my initial looks at the new revival of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and new seasons of The Bachelor and Celebrity Jeopardy.
Certain Cancellation:
N/A
Likely Cancellation:
N/A
Leans Cancellation:
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (0.26, 0.21-0.35)
Leans Renewal:
The Golden Bachelorette (0.31, 0.26-0.38)
What Would You Do? (0.18, 0.12-0.26)
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition: We're over a month into the latest reboot of ABC's 2000s reality hit Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and it truly is a story of diminishing returns. Its premiere at the very start of the new year was a decent showing, with a 0.35 demo rating that put it fairly in-line with 9-1-1, which usually airs in its time-slot. That didn't last. It was down to a 0.29 the week after, which still looks fairly renewable considering the current state of TV, but the bleeding did not stop there. It was down to 0.22 just four weeks into its run, and that's where it's stayed since. This current ABC Thursday lineup, which is thankfully only a very limited run, is a ratings disaster. Extreme Makeover is the highest-rated of the trio, but it's hard to be impressed by beating Scamanda and reruns of a Hulu docuseries from last year. ABC was last among the big four networks the last two Thursdays, even with NBC in repeats last week. The decline has not been exclusive to linear viewing on ABC. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition started out solidly on Hulu as well, but its performance there has dwindled. It started out charting within Hulu's top 15 TV chart several days after airing, then started charting for only a single day, and now no longer charts at all. It last charted January 25th, failing to chart after its last two episodes aired. ABC has plenty of unscripted shows with modest (at best) ratings, but I just don't think the audience is there to keep this show going. Cheaper game shows can perform just as well, or likely better. I don't view summer as the proper place to air this going forward, either, seeing how ABC has cut down on their summer offerings in recent seasons. A show doing 0.2s in January and February is not going to be a strong option to keep ABC afloat in the summer. People tried this show out, and they didn't like it, and I think ABC's going to admit that it was a failed experiment. It LEANS CANCELLATION.
Celebrity Jeopardy!: What was a very solid option for ABC last season, and helped keep them afloat during a season sidelined by Hollywood strikes, has become yet another middling entry for a network that's struggled to put together a coherent lineup. Wednesday nights on ABC are an incompatible mismatch of shows, featuring a strong comedy hour, a game show, and a hidden camera variety show. It's not the worst lineup they've ever put together, but it doesn't flow. Despite Abbott Elementary rating solidly at 8:30, Celebrity Jeopardy is having a tough season, down 30% from last season and hitting an uncharacteristically low 0.19. It's averaging 0.29 overall, so it's still stronger than the Thursday night disasters and basically on par with Shark Tank, but it's definitely a disappointing performance. That being said, I don't doubt it'll be back. I think all it will really take to get it back on more solid footing would be to move it to 8 PM, where it used to air, and where it would have the local lead-in. In many affiliates, including three of the top five media markets (New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia), Jeopardy! itself airs in the 7 PM hour, followed by Wheel of Fortune, providing Celebrity Jeopardy! a very compatible lead-in. I'm sure ABC can see that, and won't give up on the show after one season of mediocre, but not uniformly bad, ratings. Even if they don't move it back to 8, this is the sort of show that ABC knows they could plug in wherever and get decent enough ratings, even if it's past its heyday. It's a LIKELY RENEWAL.
Interactive Schedule:
| The TV Ratings Guide | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 | 10:00 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | The Bachelor | The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives | ||||
| Tues | Will Trent | High Potential | The Rookie | |||
| Wed | Shifting Gears | Abbott Elementary | Celebrity Jeopardy! | What Would You Do? | ||
| Thurs | Extreme Makeover: Home Edition | Scamanda | Perfect Wife | |||
| Fri | Shark Tank | 20/20 | ||||
What do you think of my predictions? Let me know in the comments and vote in the poll of the week!
