Monday’s cable broadcast returns of FX’s “Damages” and ABC Family’s “Greek” failed to make any sort of impact.
For the FX series, the viewership came in at an average of 1.43 million viewers with an abysmal 0.3 among adults 18-49. Down 17% from last year’s premiere in viewers, things could get ugly as the season goes on–shows like “Damages” typically trend downward from season premiere through season finale.
At the same time, “Damages” was not a ratings powerhouse last season either but managed to ride successfully on its wave of awards buzz and critical acclaim. It should also be noted that viewership for this season’s premiere did significantly top the performance of last season’s finale.
“Greek,” meanwhile, opened its latest winter run with 1.03 million viewers and a 0.5 in the adults 18-49 demo. While that is up dramatically from the summer/fall finale (.7 million viewers, 0.3 in the demo), the show’s retention from 9PM lead-in “Make it or Break It” was a mere 45% in total viewers and 71% in the adults demo.
The show, clearly designed more for the older teen/young adult set than ABC Family’s usual fare, also performed abysmally in the key teen demographic–it garnered a 0.9 among those 12-17, as compared with a 3.2 for “Make It” and a 4.1 for 8PM powerhouse “The Secret Life of the American Teenager.” While a portion of that can be attributed to airing at 10PM, it is also clear that “Greek” simply cannot find compatibility within ABC Family’s “sweet spot.”
Among women 18-34, “Greek” pulled a 1.1, behind “Make It”‘s 1.4 and “Secret Life”‘s 2.4.
It had been widely reported that “Greek”‘s status beyond the current crop of episodes was going to be heavily contingent on ratings performance, but the cable network’s expectations had not been made clear. It remains to be seen whether ABC Family will appreciate the growth over last season (especially given its new timeslot) or whether it will express disappointment with the poor lead-in retention and poor teen demo performance.
(Partial Source: MediaWeek)