Did NBC’s ‘Community’ help its season 6 renewal odds with finale ratings?
By this point in the spring, we want to hope that the decision was already made on the future of “Community,” and NBC has not announced the formal decision just yet. One of the reasons that we hope this is because the finale numbers may not be that encouraging.
Overall, the show drew a 1.0 in the 18-49 demographic for its strong episode entitled “Basic Sandwich” (read our full review here), which is a drop of three-tenths in the demo from the season 4 finale (which aired in early May 2013). Given that 1.3 is not exactly a great rating, either, that is a pretty hefty drop of over 20%. Then again, this is also par for the course in that “American Idol” is down more than 30% in the demo from this same date from last year, and “Grey’s Anatomy” lost about 15% of its own audience.
The one caveat here to remember is competition. The “Community” finale in 2013 got that rating despite being a weak season, and also airing against “The Big Bang Theory” and a more powerful “American Idol.” This year, all “Community” had to worry about was “Hell’s Kitchen” and “The Vampire Diaries,” which interestingly enough is also down 30% from last May. Ultimately, the biggest conclusion to draw from this yet again is that fewer and fewer young people bother to watch network TV live.
Despite everything that we’ve expressed concern over, we still have a guy feeling that “Community” is not over. This is a popular show with young men that has a diehard following, and that’s important for a network with few other long-standing comedy hits. “Growing Up Fisher” and “About a Boy” will surely be renewed to join the already-returning “Parks and Recreation,” but those two shows are a gamble since they currently have big numbers thanks to “The Voice.” “Community” could probably get a few more tenths if it had that sort of “people not turning off the TV” factor going for it.
We’ll keep crossing our fingers and hoping for “six seasons and a movie,” and hope that you do the same! If you want to get some more great updates on all we cover via email, sign up today for our CarterMatt Newsletter.
Photo: NBC