Originally Posted by rzt:
“Yeah it was only marginally beaten in episode 2 but 3.5m more viewers were watching BBC1 and C5 that night than the previous week at 9pm, which was bound to knock Monroe down somewhat. I'm sure people did genuinely give up too, as you say, but it's a mixture of both things. You made it sound in your previous post that viewers were deserting Monroe in huge numbers weekly when you said people were "abandoning it", but that's not really been the case. Since the drop in episode 2 (which was the sort of drop most ITV dramas experience anyway), it's been pretty steady going.”
I guess we'll agree to differ on that one!
Originally Posted by rzt:
“Well yes, compared to them the figures are low. But you can't expect every new drama to be as successful as those, that's just ridiculous if you expect that to happen. Do ABC expect every new drama to be as successful as Desperate Housewives/Lost, do CBS expect every new scripted show to be as successful as CSI/TAAHM, do the BBC expect every new drama to be as highly rated as Doctor Who/Sherlock? Of course not.”
Indeed - but ITV's track record in hit returning drama series over the past ten years has been pretty abysmal. So the pressure on them, of all channels, is intense.
Originally Posted by rzt:
“Those 4 dramas (the first 3 in particular) are among ITV's top 5 most watched drama series. Midsomer Murders began in 1997 in a completely different TV landscape when it was able to begin with ~15m viewers, and because it's started with such a massive audience, despite ratings erosion over the years it still remains higher than most other dramas. Do you really think if Midsomer Murders began in this day and age, it'd be getting ~6m like it does at the moment week in week out? Wild at Heart, Lewis, Downton Abbey - they're all once/twice in a decade type shows in terms of their level of success. You really can't expect all dramas to be as successful as those ones, they only come along once every few years.”
But bear in mind that 15 years ago, ITV was running rings round BBC One in popular drama. They had an extraordinary raft of returning series that routinely demolished the opposition. Surely that's what they should be aspiring to, rather than just a few big hits ...?
Originally Posted by rzt:
“Yeah, Marchlands was a big success. It was ITV's most watched new weekly 3+ episode drama series on a weeknight in the best part of five years. But I don't think you can use that as a barrier as to what should be considered a success and what shouldn't because Marchlands rated very highly compared to how most dramas rate, especially on a night other than Sundays/Mondays.”
We kind of agree here!
Originally Posted by rzt:
“You're right that most dramas tend to rate the highest during their first series. The Fixer, I think, was more of a "pity recommission" as it was ITV's best rated drama in a very weak year - it wouldn't have got recommissioned had it aired in 2009 or 2010 as its ratings fell below 4m by the end of its run. But I think for a new show which is getting almost almost 5m weekly pretty consistently (5.5-6.0m in the consolidated figures), Monroe deserves to be given another chance assuming the next two episodes do alright. Yes, it may well rate worse in the next series but you can never be sure, so it deserves another shot.”
The Fixer was commissioned not out of pity but out of desperation to make it appear that ITV's drama executives had not entirely lost the plot. Rumours were rife that they were for the chop if they did not land a hit and The Fixer's opening ratings in its first series were held up in their defence. (Indeed, the extensive use of voiceover in the pilot was seen as so successful that it was extended to every other new drama going ...
). I suspect that Monroe will get recommissioned - partly for the argument you make, but also partly because writer Peter Bowker is a protege and friend of the commissioning editors.
Originally Posted by rzt:
“Yeah, it's a low strike rate. But it's not too dissimilar to other countries, is it? 33% seems to be the strike rate in the US from what I've read, which is about the same as above.”
This may the case, but the US networks are capable of generating massive hit series that run for 22 episodes. Remember that ITV's big hitters back in the day ran for at least 13 episodes, and comfortably maintained their audience across those runs. So it's still failed spectacularly to reclaim that territory - and cannot rely on any of its current successes to do so.
