Ratings: Beat Shazam, Love Connection win for Fox, clobber Amazing Race
Last night, the latest episode of the reality juggernaut drew just a 0.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic, down an alarming 20% from the week before. While it’s easy to make the argument that it’s airing on a Thursday night in the summer without much of a lead-in, there also isn’t too much in the way of heavy competition out there for it. People are either off doing other things on a Thursday night or have simply forgotten that the show was on the air.
In the end, the latest Amazing Race rating is the lowest one in the demo in 29 seasons of the show. That’s depressing, even if the thought of it potentially ending with season 30 (a nice round number, provided that this is the final season) is enough to bring a small smile to our face.
Do you know who is smiling right now? – Fox. Given how cheap summer game shows are to put on the air, typically anything over a 1.0 in the demo is enough to make an executive do a happy dance around their office. Seeing both Beat Shazam (1.2) and Love Connection (1.1) muster that last night is music to the network’s ears, especially after a season where much of their scripted programming bottomed out.
What Fox did in getting ready for the summer was pretty simple — but also effective. First, they made a game show that was based around a popular music app in Shazam that is familiar with most young viewers out there. Then, they revived a classic game show with Andy Cohen, one of the most beloved late-night personalities out there, as the host. The Love Connection reboot to date doesn’t even come CLOSE to matching the talent of Andy, and it may be hard for it to given that the set feels like it’s been sitting in game-show dungeon untouched for the past fifteen years. Why is a show about love so cold in appearance?
Anyhow, this is a great start to Fox’s summer lineup, as many more shows will start to come on the air in the weeks ahead.
What did you watch on Thursday night? Be sure to share some more of your thoughts on that subject in the comments! (Photo: Fox.)