Though rounding might reveal approximate steadiness compared to last week, a mistake should not be made–The CW’s “90210” and “Gossip Girl” delivered very troublesome ratings Monday night.
Despite their branding as two of The CW’s four “flagships” (along with “The Vampire Diaries” and “ANTM”), both have reached the bottom of the barrel ratings-wise on the already-struggling network.
“90210” delivered just a 0.7 rating Monday with 1.44 million viewers, ranking dead last in the 8PM hour. That performance does not even compare favorably to the numbers from last season when the show went head-to-head with “American Idol.”
Worse, the show’s rating in The CW’s targeted women 18-34 demographic was an abysmal 1.0, which removes even the slightest hint of a saving grace for the performance.
“Gossip Girl,” meanwhile, performed even worse in the major categories, posting a 0.7 rating with 1.38 million viewers. Whereas “90210” opened with a 0.6 from 8-8:30 and improved to a 0.7 for the second half hour, “Gossip Girl” did the opposite, losing young adult viewers from start-to-finish. Its demo rating was slightly stronger at a 1.4, but no one should be writing home about that number.
Neither show has delivered what could reasonably be called “strong” ratings all season, but of note is the fact that both performed far better against “Dancing with the Stars” than the current, far lesser competition. “90210” currently deals with the young-skewing “Pretty Little Liars,” but one would be hard-pressed to justify using a rival cable show as an excuse for a network show underperforming. And “Gossip Girl” does not even have that excuse.