Lowest-rated network broadcast (in the "Big 3" era)?

[Stanislav]

We've all seen lists of the highest-rated network broadcasts of all time. But I was thinking -- I wonder which network broadcasts hold the dubious record of the lowest audience/rating/share of all time?

I wouldn't have the time or resources to research this (and there is probably not anywhere near sufficient information on the Net to do so anyway), but maybe someone has read or heard of something of the sort.

For reference, I think we would have to discount the DuMont era (when the sheer lack of affiliates and clearances would have skewed their numbers way down) and everything after the launch of Fox (when additional fledgling broadcast networks and the increasing share of cable channel viewership depressed network numbers). So, the roughly 30 years from August 1956 (the demise of DuMont) through October 1986 (the launch of Fox) -- i.e., the era in which, save for some independent stations, the "Big Three" networks dominated commercial TV.

Probably a quixotic quest.....unless it's been done, and someone can find the results. (Rule #1 of research: Before you start digging doggedly through the musty past to come up with some obscure piece of information, first check to see if someone else has already done the dirty work for you.")

 

[onairb]

http://www.faniq.com/blog/NHL-Final...-in-the-History-of-Prime-Time-Blog-2868/last/

NBC had bad luck with low-rated prime-time sports. I beleive the previous record-holder was one of their XFL telecasts in 2000.
Of course, the live sports weren't technically in 'prime time' throughout the country, so the question of which 'general entertainment' prime-time show holds the record is still unanswered(edit: this site
http://sabresratings.blogspot.com/2007/06/lowest-rated-show-ever.html
says the hockey game tied an unspecified rerun of the 'West Wing', but didn't give a date(pre-2007).

 

[Stanislav]

http://www.faniq.com/blog/NHL-Final...-in-the-History-of-Prime-Time-Blog-2868/last/

NBC had bad luck with low-rated prime-time sports. I beleive the previous record-holder was one of their XFL telecasts in 2000.
Of course, the live sports weren't technically in 'prime time' throughout the country, so the question of which 'general entertainment' prime-time show holds the record is still unanswered(edit: this site
http://sabresratings.blogspot.com/2007/06/lowest-rated-show-ever.html
says the hockey game tied an unspecified rerun of the 'West Wing', but didn't give a date(pre-2007).

Referring to my original post, the example cited above is in the more modern era. I'm more curious as to the era I established, when the Big 3 dominated the airwaves, and when there were no commercial alternatives except in markets large enough (and fortunate enough) to have one or more independent alternatives. It's not hard to conceive of a network show in recent times garnering a tiny share given the gajillion other channels available. But for a network broadcast to have really miniscule ratings in the old days, I figure it must have had the misfortune of going up against one of the classic "blockbusters" (like the finale of The Fugitive or the final episode of M*A*S*H), or just really, really stunk.

 

[mleach]

Going back to the days when the big 3 dominated...I would take a guess and say the winner of who had the lowest rated broadcast was NBC during the late 70's-early 80's. Now what exactly was the show that got that honor......? ? ?

What were the ratings for say Supertrain? Turnabout? Pink Lady & Jeff?

That NBC special "Lucille Ball comes to NBC" that had aired in early 1980..I heard the ratings were so low for that broadcast that NBC didn't want anything to do with Lucy after that.

But after hearing stories for YEARS about how bad NBC was back then....I have never seen the actual numbers to back it up. Sort of like how so many 20-25 year olds who post online and saying how "Hello, Larry" sucks and all that...even though there is a 99% chance nobody in that age group had actually seen a whole show other than say for a few seconds on You Tube. How could they? They weren't born yet !!! They say it "sucks" because their friends say it.

 

[onairb]

Just out of curiousity, does anybody have any national ratings info for ABC's 1969 single-episode comedy 'Turn-On'? With all the stories I read about some affiliates literally dropping it in the middle of the broadcast, and others (in the Mountain and Pacific zones) supposedly not airing it at all due to 'warnings' about it from affiliates back East, I'm curious as to roughly how many markets actually got the whole show, and whether there was a large, curious audience?

 

[oldschooler1]

For the lowest-rated network show from the "big 3" era, you might have to look at some of ABC's offerings from the mid-50s, when they were still filling prime time with government-issued films, travelogue films and talking head shows.

 

[bpatrick]

It could be the "Voice Of Firestone," the lowest-rated
program (I'm sure) when ABC dropped it in 1959. ABC
revived it in 1962 for one season, but "only" about 2-3
million people watched, so it was probably the lowest-
rated show that year as well.

"60 Minutes" was the lowest-rated program in its years
on Tuesdays at 10 (1968-71); the competition on ABC
from 1969, "Marcus Welby, M.D.", was number one for
the 1970-71 season.

 

[mleach]

Just out of curiousity, does anybody have any national ratings info for ABC's 1969 single-episode comedy 'Turn-On'? With all the stories I read about some affiliates literally dropping it in the middle of the broadcast, and others (in the Mountain and Pacific zones) supposedly not airing it at all due to 'warnings' about it from affiliates back East, I'm curious as to roughly how many markets actually got the whole show, and whether there was a large, curious audience?

Same here, should be very interesting to see what the ratings for Turn-ON really was.

As far as affiliates dropping Turn-ON in mid broadcast, that only happened in one market ( as far as I know of) and that was Denver's KBTV channel 9 ( now KUSA ). Of course many stations in many other cities turned-off Turn-ON the day after the show had aired so with that being said, I think its a safe bet to say most of the ABC affiliates at the time carried that first and only show.

Funny how so many stories have been reported/said over the years about this show. Some true ( the show was shot on film..not on video tape ) others...quite laughable. I saw this on another site a few years back "......due to a lawsuit between Turn-ON sponsor Bristol-Myers, the ABC Television Network and Dorothy Fuldheim of WEWS-TV 5 in Cleveland, Ohio..it was agreed between all three parties that all of the tapes of Turn-ON are to be locked up and never to be seen again.."

Dorothy Fuldheim ? ? ? What did SHE had to do with Turn-On?

Anyway..it wasn't true.

 

[bpatrick]

There's been an urban legend for 40 years that
WEWS cut off "Turn-On" before the show was
over, and that general manager Don Perris wired
ABC: "If you're going to write dirty words on the
walls, please don't use our walls." I don't
think either point is true (how about it, Tim Lones?).
"Turn-On" was dropped because it was, for 1969,
rather daring, at least in the opinion of a good chunk
of ABC affiliates.

Try to remember that CBS canceled the Smothers
Brothers not long afterward. Ratings certainly
weren't a factor in their case.

 

[Ultimajock]

...I recall CBS claiming that the premiere episode of Khan!, starring Khigh Deigh, was the lowest-rated show in the network's prime time history to that date in justifying its cancellation after only four episodes were run in February 1975...

 

[Stanislav]

...I recall CBS claiming that the premiere episode of Khan!, starring Khigh Deigh, was the lowest-rated show in the network's prime time history to that date in justifying its cancellation after only four episodes were run in February 1975...

When both the show title and the star's name look like typographical errors, it doesn't bode well for ratings.

 

[Tim L]

There's been an urban legend for 40 years that
WEWS cut off "Turn-On" before the show was
over, and that general manager Don Perris wired
ABC: "If you're going to write dirty words on the
walls, please don't use our walls." I don't
think either point is true (how about it, Tim Lones?).
"Turn-On" was dropped because it was, for 1969,
rather daring, at least in the opinion of a good chunk
of ABC affiliates.

Try to remember that CBS canceled the Smothers
Brothers not long afterward. Ratings certainly
weren't a factor in their case.

As far as I know, that particular comment by Perris (or something similar) was true..I plan on going up to Cleveland in the next couple weeks to do some blog research. I'll try to dig up some Newspaper articles from July 1969-Either the Plain Dealer, Press or Akron Beacon Journal..I would think that comment would have made the papers at the time..

As I've said before, I watched Turn-On that night..It was just too "out there" for me..and I was a big Laugh-In fan..And as I recall they aired the whole show, but I could be mistaken (was only 11 at the time)

 

[bpatrick]

I was 14 when "Turn-On" aired and, like practically
everyone else who saw that show, remember only
the bit where Tim Conway and an actress made silly
faces at each other while the word "SEX" flashed
overhead, changing colors and emphasis: "SEX?"
"SEX!" And that was supposed to be the funniest
bit in the whole show.

A question to anyone: What was the name of the
CBS ripoff of "Animal House" that aired once after
"Gone With The Wind" and lost so much of its lead-in
audience that it never aired again? The year was 1979.

The inauguration of Barack Obama made me think of two
dramas with African-American leads that had short lives
in 1979: "The Lazarus Syndrome," a doctor show with Louis
Gossett Jr. (the title refers to the perception that doctors
can perform miracles like Jesus' raising Lazarus from the dead);
and "Paris," a detective show with James Earl Jones. The shows
aired on ABC and CBS, respectively, and both networks had to
apologize profusely for not giving them a chance.

 

[Braves2005]

The name of the show that aired on CBS that was a ripoff of Animal House in 1979 was called Delta House.

I just wondered what the ratings were for the Jackie Gleason show You're In The Picture in 1961 and that show aired after only one episode and then Gleason apologized for that show that next week and then had a talk show of sorts which lasted only a few months after that.

In the late 1970's and early 1980's, CBS could not keep a show on Saturday nights and except for CHiPs and Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters neither could NBC. The minute that both shows were off everyone switched over to ABC to watch The Love Boat and Fantasy Island. Many of CBS's and NBC's shows during that time on Saturday night were downright flops (Fitz and Bones starring The Smothers Brothers as detectives in 1981 being a perfect example). ABC couldn't even keep a show at 7:00 PM Central on Saturday nights during this time frame, shows like Open All Night, Maggie, Apple Pie (and that show lasted 2 episodes in 1978), etc. flopped big time.

 

[Stanislav]

A question to anyone: What was the name of the
CBS ripoff of "Animal House" that aired once after
"Gone With The Wind" and lost so much of its lead-in
audience that it never aired again? The year was 1979.

That would be Co-ed Fever and, actually, its one and only airing followed a broadcast of "Rocky," not "GWTW." It aired as a "special preview" but was canceled before the first regularly scheduled episode. Supposedly, 6 shows were in the can, but 5 have never been seen. The aborted series was one of three ill-fated attempts to glom on to the "Animal House" bandwagon, along with ABC's Delta House and NBC's Brothers and Sisters.

BTW, I saw the one and only airing of Co-ed Fever. And yeah...it was pretty lame...

 

[anotherguyTN]

Here is a clip of Tim Conway talking about Turn-On: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8bjZVhNZT8

 

[Andy Coleman]

There was a show that ran on CBS where the main character was a cop or PI and he was played by Josh Taylor that is now Chief Roman Brady on Days Of Our Lives . but I can't remember the name of the show can someone on here knbow it.

 

[bpatrick]

My mistake. I was thinking about the night of
February 11, 1979, when ABC ran "Elvis"; CBS,
"Gone With The Wind"; and NBC, "One Flew Over
The Cuckoo's Nest." ABC won that night, the most
competitive up to that time.

As for the lowest-rated network broadcast, I
know that ABC carried "Omnibus" in prime time on
Sunday nights in 1956-57. Still considered by critics
to be one of the greatest series in the history of the
medium, and a success on Sunday afternoons on CBS
from 1952-56 (a little less so, perhaps, on NBC, 1957-61),
I doubt many people were watching when the other networks
were showing the likes of "GE Theater," Alfred Hitchcock,
Loretta Young, and "The $64,000 Challenge." (In fact.
"Omnibus" may not have been rated, since it was underwritten
by the Ford Foundation and ran without commercials.)

The following season opera singer Patrice Munsel had a variety
show Friday nights on ABC. She even made a vain attempt to sing
pop songs and do comedy sketches, and I have a feeling she barely
made a dent in the ratings of "Zane Grey Theater" on CBS or "Life Of Riley"
on NBC. (Frank Sinatra followed her on the ABC schedule, and while
not the lowest-rated show, he didn't make it against "Mr. Adams And
Eve" on CBS or "M Squad" on NBC.)

One other that might qualify was "Music For A Summer Night" on
ABC in 1960. At the time, "Voice Of Firestone" was on hiatus, and
ABC got "Firestone"'s producers to put together another show centered
on classical music. Unfortunately, ABC put this, not in "Firestone"'s
Monday-night slot, but in the death trap against "Wagon Train" on
Wednesdays at 7:30.

And I'll bet that somewhere in there is "The Tammy Grimes Show,"
which lasted all of four weeks on ABC in the fall of 1966. Likewise,
"Me And The Chimp" (CBS, 1972).

 

[wbhist]

From what I've read in The Worst TV Shows Ever, The Baileys of Balboa was way down in the Nielsens during its very short-lived 1964-65 season (#91 out of 117 shows, I.I.N.M.).

 

[Corky Marlowe]

From what I've read in The Worst TV Shows Ever, The Baileys of Balboa was way down in the Nielsens during its very short-lived 1964-65 season (#91 out of 117 shows, I.I.N.M.).

Wasn't that one of the infamous Keefe Brasselle shows that nearly knocked CBS out of their number 1 ranking at that time?