The premiere ratings for MTV’s latest “Jersey Shore” spin-off “Snooki & JWoww” might technically be competitive enough to allow PR-types to spin them favorably, but as far as objective analysis goes, they were very disappointing.
Thursday’s series premiere garnered a 1.1 adults 18-49 rating 2.36 million viewers, an audience level distantly below that for any “Jersey Shore” airing since the show’s first season.
The fifth season finale of “Jersey Shore,” which culminated a season of rapidly-vanishing buzz and unmistakable viewer tune-out, still attracted more than double the total audience (4.99 million) and nearly triple the young adult rating (2.9 with 18-49).
No one was expecting the spin-off to rival performance of the original series, but insofar as Snooki, along with The Situation, was considered the main attraction, the show realistically should have fared better than it did.
Though its ratings tumbled as the season progressed, the far lower-profile “Pauly D Project” spin-off actually attracted a higher premiere number, delivering a 1.6 adults 18-49 rating and 2.90 million viewers. In fairness to the ladies of “Jersey Shore,” “Pauly D” benefited from airing at 10:30PM behind the stronger “Punk’d” lead-in (1.6 rating, 3.20 million for the premiere) and contended with a regular season NBA game instead of the deciding game of the finals.
One, potentially, can also argue that the tepid reaction to “Pauly D” further accelerated the “Jersey Shore” decline while simultaneously discouraging interest in the other cast members’ spin-off series.
Whereas “Shore” routinely won Thursday nights on cable, “Snooki & JWoww” ranked sixth for the evening behind “Swamp People,” “Burn Notice,” “Suits” and two TBS rebroadcasts of “Family Guy.”
