Modern Family not a roaring ratings success?

TV’s hottest new comedy, Modern Family, debuted last night on TV3 with only 4.4% of Kiwis tuning in (11.4% share).  In the coveted 18-49 demographic, Modern Family grabbed just 6.3% and a 17.9% share.  Sunday and the movie Enchanted took in the bulk of viewers.

In recent weeks, TV3 has run movies in the timeslot which have had almost double the audience Modern Family pulled in.  This time last year, TV3 screened The Simpsons which had about 50% more viewers than Modern Family.

So why the low numbers?  The show itself is fantastic and it doesn’t use up all the gags in the first episode.  It’s been nominated for lots of awards and named by Time as the second best show of 2009. It’s been heavily promoted, with TV and bus shelter campaigns.

The show aired in the US back in September.  Could viewer downloads be linked to the low ratings, or was this type of rating always to be expected on a Sunday night slot on TV3?

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Co-founder of Throng. Favourite TV shows recently: Homeland, Revenge, House.
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  • MattD

    Yip your assumptions are pretty correct. Nearly every person I know at University who would watch a show like this has already seen it… BECAUSE It takes WAY too long for tv shows to reach New Zealand. Just imagine how much more succesful tv shows would be if they weren’t aired more than 2 months after they aired in the US.

    The main reason why people download (and share) tv is because by the time they reach New Zealand, any potential spoilers will have been shown numerous times on channels like E! (not to mention the internet). For example, the season finale of Dexter (if you’ve seen it you’ll know exactly which spoiler I’m talking about) etc etc etc.

    I realise that NZ tv wants to see which shows are succesful in the US before they acquire the rights to air them… but come on, a show like Modern Family, which was immensely succesful on its first air date, should have come to NZ tv sooner.


     

     

     



     



  • bobscoffee

    It was on last night? Personally I’d rather watch a movie on a Sunday night

  • jhjh2000

    So why the low numbers because nz networks do not interested about comedy shows eg they schedule comedys as fill

    look at the United States network television schedule they scheduled 4 comedy back to back

  • Scott Preston

    Simple, January 24 is still too early (despite the death of summer) to be starting new shows and expecting them to kill in the ratings. The percentage of people that would have watched this show already online is minor, this show isn’t American Idol, 24 or Dexter.

  • Rachel

    Scott, I wondered about that, but why have the ratings been much higher in the last few weeks – or are movies all that people want to watch over summer? Modern Family rated bigger in the US for its pilot than did the latest season of 24 and is well above the small ratings Dexter gets in the US.

  • MattD

    Scott, you’d be very surprised to find out how many people have watched this show already. All it takes it one NZer who has watched it online and the word spreads like a wildfire. But yeah… Sunday night over summer in NZ is also probably not the greatest idea to schedule it.


  • http://www.twitter.com/TinoPai Ryan

    I only needed to watch one episode of Modern Family to see that it is far better than 24 & Dexter. I get so confused when watching 24. Where am i looking?! SO MANY SPLIT SCREENS! D:

  • aaronimpact

    I thought it was quite good.

    I loved the twist near the end, how all the characters are part of the one family.

    It’s about time networks played more tv shows on the weekend instead of playing movies.

  • http://www.twitter.com/TinoPai Ryan

    Yeah I thought that was really well done how they introduced them to us as 3 different families & then at the end of the episode they’re all together at the one house.

    What a shame the episodes are only 30 minutes long.

  • reece_555

    If some of the members here have  seen the overall TV ratings from a couple of weeks ago you will know that audience numbers arent that low this time of year, so that isnt really an issue. The problem is NZ’s comedy taste on television, we would rather watch repeats of charlie sheen with his sexual innuendo twice a week, then decent comedy like Modern family I see a move to C4 coming along but I sure hope not.

  • ad1

    Its a great show

    I’ve been downloading it, it’s got something for everyone eh

    I think the hype has started to build about the show and the ratings will increase

     

  • Dave

    It was great, but I had to make an effort to catch it as don’t watch a lot of telly on Sat/Sun nights. Hopefully the hundreds-of-thousands of kiwi ‘Two and a Half Men’ fans will discover it in time and find something new to laugh at.

  • Rachel

    It’s so much funnier than Two and a Half Men (and I like both). Hope it doesn’t move over to C4.

  • DanielM

    If you look at it, it’s a cross between Arrested Development and The Office (more US version). Neither show did well here (Arrested Development got thrown into the late hours and The Office is on C4).

    That, and Sunday? What happened to the good-old comedy Wednesdays?

    I guess we just need to wait and see. It would be a terrible thing if this show gets moved :(

  • AaronB

    loved it. was one of the funniest shows i’ve seen in ages.

     

  • Jay

    Loved the part where the daughters ‘guy’ friend came over to visit, and the wife asked to give him the stare down. Then that boy has to carry him to the couch due to a back injury seconds later.

    Made me laugh so hard.

  • Canabalistic Waffle

    I didn’t find the second episode as funny as the first. But it is still great and I willl keep watching.

    I agree that there would be higher ratings if it were shown earlier. Watching TV shows online is far too easy these days, sometimes easier than waiting 6 months for it to come on TV.

    I don’t understand why successful shows like Grey’s aren’t shown earlier. Do the networks have them but wait until after Christmas to show them? If this is the case, I don’t see why they can’t show them earlier.

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