Why Moonlight Should Return to TV
I wrote this up earlier today. Did some research and tried to get the facts as close as humanly possible. If you see any inconsistencies, please let me know! I might not be finished with this, but here is a draft anyway. I will probably send this to all our contacts. :)
Why Moonlight Should Return to TV
Besides the fact that Moonlight has a very faithful, loyal fanbase, there are many reasons why Moonlight should return to TV. The show premiered September 28, 2007 on CBS and quickly gained a huge following of fans internationally with its story of a reluctant vampire private detective who falls in love with a strong female reporter.
The ratings started off well and remained strong. The premiere garnered 8.54 million viewers with a 5.8/11 share. The average number of viewers for the 16 episodes was 7.8 million. The first rerun in December 2007 brought 3.98 million viewers, while the next 4 reruns that played from December 2007 to February 2008 were 4.88, 5.05, 5.72 and 5.45 respectively. The ratings only went up for the reruns as more people discovered the show, plus the show remained very consistent while many other, more established shows, faltered during the writer’s strike and afterward.
From Michael Hinman of SyFyPortal.com:
"Moonlight" was probably the biggest surprise of the season, finishing in fourth place with a 5.1/9, incredibly just a little more than half a ratings point off its series premiere of 5.8/11. Only "Smallville" and "Supernatual" on The CW have been able to retain that much of its premiere audience. "Moonlight's" lowest rating in the first 10 weeks was just a little more than one ratings point off its premiere.”
From the FutonCritic.com:
Of the 26 new series that premiered in September, only MOONLIGHT (+9%), BIG BANG THEORY (+6%) and "Gossip Girl" (+8%) have posted November gains in adults 18-49 versus their Sept.-Oct. averages.
Moonlight helped CBS win November sweeps.
This from the New York Times:
“Networks routinely see significant viewership declines as the season progresses, as viewers stop sampling new shows. New programming has largely been met with a yawn from viewers this fall, so programs that manage to show ratings growth are highly valued by their broadcasters.”
From the FutonCritic.com:
MOONLIGHT was first in households (4.9/09), viewers (7.57m), adults 25-54 (2.8/08) and adults 18-49 (2.1/06). MOONLIGHT has placed first in adults 25-54 for the ninth time in ten broadcasts and first in adults 18-49 the eighth time in ten broadcasts.
When CBS put other shows in Moonlight’s slot, they didn’t fare much better in the ratings. On February 22, 2008, CBS put The Price is Right on in Ghost Whisperer’s place at 8PM Eastern and had 9.36 million viewers while a brand new episode of Ghost Whisperer at 9PM brought in only 6.35 million. Usually, Ghost Whisperer brings in an average of 9 million viewers, so this helps prove that the 9PM hour on Friday nights, for CBS, is a “dead zone”. The week before (February 15, 2008), a Celine Dion concert brought in 7.5 million viewers. That’s close to what Moonlight’s viewership would have been according to Nielsen. On February 29, 2008, The Price is Right was shown again at 8PM Eastern and had 9.47 million viewers while Ghost Whisperer only garnered 6.7 million. Again…a “dead zone.” Once more, on March 7th, TPIR had 10.33 million and Ghost Whisperer had 6.83 million. When TPIR was put in Moonlight’s place on April 11, 2008, they had 8.15 million viewers. Ghost Whisperer, back in its normal time slot, had 8.74 million. It didn’t matter what went in Moonlight’s time slot, the numbers went down due to whatever reasons.
When Moonlight made its triumphant return after the writer’s strike on April 25, 2008, the viewership was 7.93 million and 5.0/9 share. That is very little change from the premiere and in keeping with Moonlight’s consistent ratings.
From the Futon Critic:
Week ending April 27th. Moonlight returned after a long absence.
MOONLIGHT won its time period in households (5.0/09), viewers (7.93m), adults 25-54 (2.8/08) and adults 18-49 (2.1/07). Compared to the program's first-run live plus same day delivery, MOONLIGHT added +20,000 viewers (from 7.91m), was even in households and maintained 90% of its adults 25-54 delivery (from 3.1/08) and 91% of adults 18-49 (from 2.3/07).
A week later, on May 2, 2008, Moonlight had 7.92 million viewers and kept the 5.0/9 share helping CBS win this night and also, May 9, 2008 with a 5.0/9 share and 7.61 million viewers. The last episode on May 16, 2008 had 7.47 million viewers and a 4.9/9 share. If you look at the premiere of the show and the last show, in viewership, it was 1.07 million difference in viewership. Not a huge dropoff unlike many other TV shows that had been on longer than Moonlight.
If you compare the finales of Ghost Whisperer, Moonlight and Numbers to the two weeks before the finales…here is the breakdown.
May 2, 2008:
GW - 9.21 million
ML - 7.92 million
Nbrs - 10.21 million
May 9, 2008
GW - 8.74 million
ML - 7.68 million
Nbrs - 9.13 million
May 16, 2008
GW - 8.36 million
ML - 7.56 million
Nbrs - 9.73 million
Ghost Whisperer lost .85 million viewers between May 2 and May 16. Moonlight .36 million and Numbers lost 1.08 bewteen May 2 and May 9th, but gained back .60 back the next week.
With the book, Twilight being made into a movie, coming out in December 2008, Dark Shadows being remade into a movie with Johnny Depp and Tim Burton, True Blood on HBO among so many other vampire-related media, it makes little sense for Moonlight not to have returned in the fall of 2008.