FullMetal Alchemist Ratings Drop
The current FullMetal Alchemist series "Brotherhood" isn't doing so well in Japan, at least when you compare it to the original series. While the first series saw its ratings climbing higher & higher at this point into the series, Brotherhood's ratings keep dropping lower & lower. Episode 20 for both series sees the largest gap yet- 8% viewership versus 2%. Of course, these numbers don't include the online viewings through the worldwide simulcasts.
The original FMA averaged about a 6% viewership during its 50 episode run, while the current series has averaged only 3.3% so far. Granted that's only 20 episodes versus more than double that amount, but it still doesn't bode well. There are talks about moving the series to a better timeslot to help boost ratings. Things could still pick up though. The second season of Code Geass did horrible in the beginning, but viewership & interest picked up as the series went on.
Source: http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2009/09/01/full-metal-alchemist-ratings-collapse