Despite going against virtually no original competition Monday, the fall finale of NBC’s “The Event” could only muster a slight gain.
If there were ever a time for NBC’s disappointing Monday lineup to show some life, it would be on a night with repeats on CBS and the disastrous “Skating with the Stars” on ABC (1.2 adults 18-49 rating, 6.04 million viewers in the new time period). Yet the gains were fairly miniscule; “Chuck” rose to a 2.0 with 6.17 million viewers, “The Event” managed a 1.9 and 5.83 million and “Chase” scored a 1.6 with 6.03 million viewers.
“The Event”‘s lack of notable growth shows what many television analysts already knew–it is unlikely for to a deeply-serialized drama to sizably grow its viewership midseason. In the numbers for “Chuck” and “Chase,” two far more accessible shows that should expect a bump with less competition, NBC learned that its other Monday series simply cannot be called successful. They simply have no potential to be hits.
ABC followed its “Skating” with a CMA special (1.4 rating, 7.34 million).