What was the lowest rated show ever?

[HoustonListener]

Just wondering what the lowest rated show ever was... I see lists of the highest rated shows all the time, but would be interesting if someone knows what the lowest rated show was.

I suppose there could be multiple answers...such as whether you go by share or total viewers (as the number of channels keeps increasing to divide the audience, but the population also goes up).

Also, I suppose this should be limited to the broadcast networks that are tracked by ratings, since the lowest rated shows probably would fall to one of the shopping or religious networks.

 

[flytrap]

I'm not sure what the lowest ratings were, but about a year ago ABC had an American Idiol rip-off called "The One" The show was dumped after two episodes, the ratings turned out to be the worst in the history of ABC. I don't remember the name of the show, but I have read that their was a show in the 60's that was actually canceled before the first episode was over. They just yanked it off the air in the middle of the show.

 

[FightingIrish]

Wasn't there an XFL game that got the lowest Big 3 ratings ever for NBC?

 

[KeithE4]

I don't remember the name of the show, but I have read that their was a show in the 60's that was actually canceled before the first episode was over. They just yanked it off the air in the middle of the show.

That would be the infamous Turn On, a one-show fiasco from 1969. Some affiliates yanked it in mid-show, but I believe ABC ran it for the full half-hour. It, along with Jackie Gleason's You're in the Picture (1961, CBS), are the poster-children for television disasters.

 

[arnoldevns]

The original question needs a better set of parameters.

Are we talking about shows that aired nationally on cable? Just the "Big 3" or "Big 4" networks? Do we count Pax (or Ion), Univision, Telemundo, CW, WB, UPN??

If you count national cable, many shows have come in with a 0.0 rating. No measurable audience.
If it's just the broadcast networks, you'll find a bunch of shows on Ion with a 0.1.. maybe a 0.0... but probably not.
If you go with just the big 3 or 4, the list is much smaller.

 

[bk77]

In reguards to Turn-On and You're In the Picture...

Turn-On was cancelled after just one show not really so much in terms of ratings but because the show's sponsor Bristol-Myers pulled the plug because so many ABC affiliates decided not to show Turn-On after that one episode. Stations in Baltimore, Little Rock, Cleveland, Denver ( that is where Turn-On was yanked half way through ), Norfolk, and Memphis decided that one Turn-On was enough. I also believe Buffalo's WKBW did the same as well as a friend of mine once told me that he remembers WKBW-TV taking to the airwaves of then sister WKBW radio saying that show won't return to Buffalo.

Over the years I heard stations in Cincinatti, Colorado Springs, Indianapolis, Dallas, Nashville, Richmond, Lynchburg-Roanoke, Albany, Charleston SC and Washington DC followed suit as well, though in these cases I am not 100 percent sure. Either way considering how small ABC was in 1969 ( compared to CBS and NBC ) a lot of stations refused to air Turn-On, it wasn't worth it.

I myself would like see this show to see what the fuss was about. Now I know it has been published over the years that due to some "legal" reason the show is locked up and never to be seen again. That is not totally true. Turn-On I heard is available for viewing in a few television museums. And from the comments I read on other sites from those who viewed Turn-On, they thought the show was very boring.

You're in the Picture I believe was pulled after the first broadcast at the request of Jackie Gleason. I believe the TV critics of the time played a role here ( they hated it ) and since back then the critics ( movies and TV ) had a lot of pull. More so than now I believe that very much influenced Gleason's decision. Of course Gilligan's Island changed all of that but that is for another thread.

on a local level...

Alan Thicke's Thicke of the Night back in 1983 scored a ZERO rating on Philadelphia's WPHL-TV

while in 1980 Norfolk's WAVY-TV 10 I remember reading in their local paper that their Eyewitness News did so bad ( another Zero here ) that vintage British shows on PBS beat them in the ratings.

Interesting a few years later in 1985 Roanoke, VA's WSLS-TV, their news got a zero rating ( or close to it ).
What did WSLS call their news at the time? Eyewitness News !!

And in the Richmond market, WXEX channel 8 Eyewitness News often got a 1 or 2 in the ratings compared to double digits at the time for the other stations.

Seems like the name "Eyewitness News" is a curse in Virginia.

 

[BRNout]

And in the Richmond market, WXEX channel 8 Eyewitness News often got a 1 or 2 in the ratings compared to double digits at the time for the other stations.

Seems like the name "Eyewitness News" is a curse in Virginia.

Back in those days, WXEX-8 was licensed to Petersburg and their OTA signal was weaker in most of the Richmond area than were the signals of WTVR-6 (CBS) and WWBT-12 (NBC). Their "Eyewitness News" tried to compete head to head with WTVR's news and WWBT's "The Scene Tonight" (how I remember THAT name!) but to no avail. IIRC, they ended up focusing more on places like Hopewell, Petersburg and southern VA. Back then, WTVR was the big #1 news station in the market and WWBT was a distant second. There were few scraps left for "Eyewitness News" to pick up.

Of course, they've since changed their COL to Richmond and their calls to WRIC.

One other memory from that station is that their weatherman during the 70's, Spencer Christian, eventually ended up on Good Morning America. Pretty good gig for a guy from the #3 station in a 3 station (at the time) market!

 

[bpatrick]

IIRC, the final game of this year's Stanley Cup
registered barely over a 1 rating, and newspaper
articles declared it the lowest-rated telecast
ever on one of the "Big Three" networks. It aired
on a Saturday night...'nuff said.

 

[Starbucks]

The Tammy Grimes Show was the first recorded worst rated show ever. I think it dates back to 68-69. Back when networks were committed to run their new fall schedule for the first 13 weeks...(before the 2nd season) the ratings and the show were so bad, that ABC decided to break the rules and cancel after 3 weeks in prime time. Then other networks started going in that direction as the 70's came around and would cancel a show within the first 13 weeks.

 

[pabsungenis]

The Tammy Grimes Show was the first recorded worst rated show ever. I think it dates back to 68-69. Back when networks were committed to run their new fall schedule for the first 13 weeks...(before the 2nd season) the ratings and the show were so bad, that ABC decided to break the rules and cancel after 3 weeks in prime time. Then other networks started going in that direction as the 70's came around and would cancel a show within the first 13 weeks.

There are two other interesting things about that show. Tammy Grimes had turned down an offer to do a TV show two years earlier (her show ran in 1966, not 68); she was the original choice for Samantha Stevens on "Bewitched." In another bit of synchronicity, the first actor approached to play Tammy's brother Terrence on TTGS was the first actor approached to play Darrin Stephens, who also had to turn that part down due to contract conflicts...Dick Sargent.

TTGS was absoluely awful, but I'm certain that some shows were lower rated. Norman Lear's "Apple Pie," cancelled after one episode in 1978, comes to mind.

 

[txchipk]

IIRC, the final game of this year's Stanley Cup
registered barely over a 1 rating, and newspaper
articles declared it the lowest-rated telecast
ever on one of the "Big Three" networks. It aired
on a Saturday night...'nuff said.

The Stanley Cup game had 1.73 million viewers. Not that it would have had huge ratings otherwise, but it was probably a near worst case -- Anaheim vs. Ottawa. Even though they are the better team in the LA market, they get minimal coverage locally behind the longer-established Kings. It might as well have been smaller market teams Columbus or St Louis against Ottawa. The only thing worse would have been two Canadian teams.

Technically, the all-time low was last month. On Saturday 9/1 (over the Labor Day weekend), NBC ran 3 re-runs of "Friday Night Lights." The 8PM ET airing averaged around 1.69 million viewers. For the whole night, it only averaged 1.9 million for all 3 episodes.

With the continuing decline of the networks, I imagine more sub-2 million viewer nights will be more common -- any Saturday over a holiday weekend or next summer.

 

[mleach]

somewhat similar to this topic, there are cases where a show may be a big hit in one part of the country but failed in another.

I remember reading several years ago that Car 54 Where Are You during its original NBC run, while it was a huge hit in New York City but got a very very low rating in some markets in the south like Charlotte and Memphis mainly due to the Jewish humor that was sometimes featured on Car 54.

 

[Ultimajock]

...in 1975, Khigh Dhiegh, who had become somewhat noted for his appearances as the villain Wo Fat on "Hawaii Five-O," was given a series on CBS called "Khan!" in which he played a detective based in San Francisco's Chinatown. CBS cancelled the show after its first episode drew what the network claimed was the lowest rating the network had ever gotten...

 

[Riley_dfwm]

Turn On and You're in the Picture were canned because they were terrible, not due to lousy ratings

 

[bk77]

My cousin is a big fan of actress Molly Ringwald. Years before she did the movie The Breakfast Club she was a regular on the orignal Facts of Life.

My cousin claims she remembers an interview with Molly saying that the ratings for The Facts Of Life at first were very very lousy, so bad that Golf Highlights were beating them in the ratings.

One thing is known, After a handful of shows, The Facts of Life dumped Molly Ringwald, John Lawlor and quite a bit of the cast in favor of only Garrett/Blair/Natalie/Tootie.

The Facts of Life aired on NBC during its "BC" days. "BC" as in before Cosby. Late 70s-Early 80s. With that being said, wonder how low the ratings were for the other NBC shows at the time like Pink Lady & Jeff, Supertrain, Turnabout, Brothers & Sisters, Harper Valley, Hello, Larry, and of course the original Facts of Life?

I have a feeling if one puts a list out of the lowest rated shows of all time, at least 2 or 3 of the above would be on it.

 

[justthenumbers]

...in 1975, Khigh Dhiegh, who had become somewhat noted for his appearances as the villain Wo Fat on "Hawaii Five-O," was given a series on CBS called "Khan!" in which he played a detective based in San Francisco's Chinatown. CBS cancelled the show after its first episode drew what the network claimed was the lowest rating the network had ever gotten...

My understanding (and please correct me if I'm wrong) is that Nielsen has been using National Peoplemeters for national overnight ratings since only 1987. So what did they use for national overnight ratings before 1987? Was it a household-only electronic sample (similar to what is currently used in larger local markets that don't have Local People Meters yet?)

And, Saturday night may automatically equate to lowest-of-the-week ratings for broadcast networks, but that's not necessarily true with cable networks. As a whole, cable networks tend to perform better on Saturdays & Sundays than the rest of the week.

 

[MBird]

There was another TV show that lasted one episode in 1978 or 1979: "Co-Ed Fever". Ratings and reviews combined forced the show off the air, never to be heard from again.

 

[Markxxx]

Off topic but there were a few shows that were never smash ratings hits but were good enough to hold their own on a week night. Such as "Mr Belvedere" and "Fact of Life" and "The Brady Bunch," which were never ratings giants but managed to keep their compeition at bay on the night they were on.

 

[Corky Marlowe]

Can't remember the exact year (early-mid 90's, maybe), but CBS had a crime drama called "South of Sunset" starring Glenn Frey of the Eagles, that I believe was canceled after one episode.

Regarding "Turn-On', I had always heard that part of the reason it was yanked was that it was too hot for TV at that time. The sketch always cited for that explanation was one where a hot chick was about to face a firing squad, and the commander (Tim Conway, I think) told her, "Miss, I know this is a little unusual, but in this case the firing squad has one last request."

 

[RicoGregg]

In the late 80s or early 90s, Fox had a sitcom about a private prep school that was apparently so appallingly bad and totally unfunny, that it was canceled before it had a chance to air.

Four episodes had been filmed, and they wound up pasted together for a "TV Movie" that pops up on cable in the middle of the night during one of the two annual time changes.

It had a title something like "Montclair Prep", but I don't think it's that exact title. There's a real Montclair Prep in the L.A. area. But, along those lines.