Ratings: ‘Knock Knock Live’ a disaster; ‘Zoo’ reasonably steady
Is Ryan Seacrest over as a big deal? We’re not entirely sure we can say that, but what we have figured out over the past couple of years is that the “American Idol” host cannot carry a show by himself. Nobody is going to watch something like “The Million Second Quiz” or “Knock Knock Live” just to see him. “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” is an institution, and of course “American Idol” is on its way out.
We don’t throw words like “disaster” around willy-nilly, but how else do you describe a show featuring a big-name host and celebrity guests getting a 0.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic for the premiere? That’s an atrociously low number that was barely above repeats on The CW. Seacrest is a good host, so we’re not blaming him for the failure here. Instead, it’s more of the content. While everyone loves to read inspirational stories from time to time, this is more evidence that people would rather watch trainwrecks than see people who deserve awards and opportunities get them on live TV. “Extreme Weight Loss” is another inspirational program on this summer, and its ratings are only marginally better. Feel-good stories just don’t sell on a weekly basis unless they are extremely high-profile.
As hard as we’re being here on the “Knock Knock Live” concept, we hope that Fox and other networks continue to take risks in unscripted programming. We don’t want Fox to be gun-shy following this and the “Utopia” catastrophe, since there has to be a new reality idea out there that will work. The problem is just that it’s been a while since we’ve seen one take off.
In other news, “Zoo” on CBS is staying reasonably steady with a 1.0. The ratings aren’t great here, but it has a lucrative deal with Netflix that will likely help it to get a season 2 renewal. If “Extant” got renewed last year, the odds have to be good here.
We’ll have some more ratings coverage later on in the week. For now, sign up here to get some other news on all we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: Fox.)