MarioGS
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Post by MarioGS on Jul 21, 2019 9:22:16 GMT -5
Wheel’s Nielsen rating for the week of July 1-5 was a surprisingly-low 4.7, down from the previous week’s 5.2. Obviously #3 in game shows where it’s been stuck for the past several months below those two other shows.
Yes, this was a holiday week. Yes, these were reruns. Still, dipping below the 5.0 mark is not good at all. This week was also when Eric’s $100K win reran, and no affiliates pre-empted any of the week’s episodes. The previous week had one of the million losses, so their decision to re-air it may have contributed to the drop.
A 4.7 is likely a new record low for the syndicated era, at least in the 21st century. I don’t believe they’ve ever been below 5.0 before, even during periods such as Summer Olympics with both reruns and mass pre-emptions. This is not a good sign for the show’s future if sub-5.0 becomes the norm, just like sub-6.0 became the norm a few years ago, while the two “better” game shows continue to hover around that mark or higher.
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Post by aaaa on Jul 21, 2019 14:37:54 GMT -5
Wheel at least tries to stay family friendly, unlike Unfamily Feud. WHo Wants to Be a Millionaire and the Karn-O'Hurley Feud survived for years with a 1-2 rating.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 21, 2019 15:57:57 GMT -5
Wheel at least tries to stay family friendly, unlike Unfamily Feud. You are completely right! I mean sure Wheel of Fortune has been having contestants that were questionable how they even got the show lately(some of whom were lucky to even get the Bonus Round). Yes it doesn’t help that there’s been a lot of Bonus Round losses lately. But let’s be real Steve Harvey version of Family Feud is way over performing in the ratings. Think about it! The questions that the 100 people get surveyed on the show are sometimes inappropriate for family audiences. The answers from the survey question often aren’t the most accurate or appropriate answer. It appears as though it’s fixed so neither of two families can get to 300 points on the Double the points survey question round(or atleast on this version). Finally there’s way more goofy contestants on Steve Harvey’s Family Feud than there will ever will be on Wheel of Fortune. In fact I stopped watch Steve Harvey’s Family Feud a few years ago because that is not my idea of a game show. |
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Post by aaaa on Jul 21, 2019 16:15:32 GMT -5
Feud airs an hour a day and often two hours a day in many cities, not counting GSN reruns
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Post by Prizes on Jul 21, 2019 17:53:09 GMT -5
We’re a serious site. We do more than just conjure and rag on a very successful program like Harvey Feud without merit. It’s one thing to be tired of the format, but leave this rag stuff for other pages. It’s not progressing discussion in a thread specifically about ratings, nor does it help the page’s reputation at large. Thanks. Back to the topic at hand.
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Post by pannoni1 on Jul 23, 2019 7:41:56 GMT -5
Here are some historical syndication ratings for Wheel:
Sweeps period Rating
5/84 12.3
11/84 16.4
2/85 19.7
5/85 16.0
11/85 18.5
11/86 19.3
2/87 20.1
Weekly period Rating
5/18-5/24/87 15.9
10/5-10/11/87 16.2
4/3-4/9/89 13.9
10/16-10/22/89 14.3
11/19-11/25/90 13.1
12/30/91-1/5/92 14.4
10/26-11/1/92 13.9
5/24-5/30/93 12.7
12/5-12/11/94 14.4
2/26-3/3/96 13.2
1/20-26/97 13.0
12/8-12/14/97 12.4
2/99 (Sweeps) 13.4
3/27-4/2/00 10.9
3/26-4/1/01 10.8
9/2-9/8/02 7.5
Note that a 2001 article in Broadcasting & Cable mentioned Harry Frindman mentioning that simply dedicating each week of episodes to a different theme helped the show remain on top. But as you can see above, the recent decline seems to outpace the "natural" decline. Keep in mind most of the late '80s and '90s "decline" comes from tech-related trends like cable and VCR penetration, with the early 2000s decline a consequence of the Internet and Digital Cable/longplay video game booms. While it's true that historically, summer ratings have been lower, it's a far cry from the days that it would draw 12's and 13's during rerun seasons, and even though 4.7 is sound considering that other shows have lead it to being "square" compared to the Beat Shazams and Spin The Wheels out there, I feel that its going to get worse before it possibly gets better.
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Post by aaaa on Jul 23, 2019 8:44:45 GMT -5
When Wheel was getting numbers like 16 or 19, Steve Beverly years ago said that Jim Lange's Name that Tune averaged a 4.8 in 1984-85, and didn't get a season two.
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WarioSajak
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Post by WarioSajak on Jul 23, 2019 9:32:57 GMT -5
a 2001 article in Broadcasting & Cable mentioned Harry Frindman mentioning that simply dedicating each week of episodes to a different theme helped the show remain on top. Sure, Friedman, keep telling yourself that. Meanwhile, I'll be over here trying to find more palms for my face because the two I have don't feel like enough. |
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Post by aaaa on Jul 23, 2019 9:37:55 GMT -5
It took the PG rated Family Feud to beat it. IIRC the Ken Jennings J! run in 2004 was the only time IIRC from February 1984-2011 or so that Wheel wasn't the #1 rated syndicated game show. Granted it was a considerably less crowded game show field in syndication after 1990-91, but still.
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Post by aaaa on Jul 23, 2019 13:48:06 GMT -5
Wheel is back up to a 5.2 rating for the 7/8-7/14 period, with Jeopardy at 5.6 and Feud at 5.9
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WarioSajak
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Post by WarioSajak on Jul 23, 2019 14:02:52 GMT -5
It took the PG rated Family Feud to beat it. PG. A show that's made a thousand and one references to the male groinal area (among other things) over the past eight years, using terms that either come from Urban Dictionary or sound like they should, is rated PG. I...I got nothing. |
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MarioGS
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Post by MarioGS on Jul 23, 2019 14:04:49 GMT -5
Wheel is back up to a 5.2 rating for the 7/8-7/14 period, with Jeopardy at 5.6 and Feud at 5.9 Well, that's good. It's still depressing to see such a distance from Jeopardy!, though. Last season, unless there was a super-champ, J! was never more than 0.2 higher than Wheel, IIRC. Does Wheel have any chance of beating J! ever again without some kind of unexpected broadcasting upset like the Kavanaugh Hearings that actually works in Wheel's favor due to its rule of no daytime slotting? Heck, does Wheel have anything at all over Jeopardy! anymore? J! has now out-followed Wheel on every single social media platform. |
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WarioSajak
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Post by WarioSajak on Jul 23, 2019 14:15:55 GMT -5
Does Wheel have any chance of beating J! ever again without some kind of unexpected broadcasting upset Maybe if they reinstated returning champs with no limitations. Maybe. Heck, does Wheel have anything at all over Jeopardy! anymore? The only thing I can think of is that it offers prizes that aren't just cash. J! has now out-followed Wheel on every single social media platform. Not too surprising given how little effort Wheel puts into its social media platforms. |
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Post by wipeoutman33 on Jul 24, 2019 15:55:44 GMT -5
The syndicated version of Wheel debuted during the days of the Yuppies. Upper middle class young adults were taking over the workplaces and fueled the market for luxury items. The show was appealing because it was giving away diamonds and furs galore. Fast forward to today, and you’ve got millennials and hipsters, most of whom probably don’t have a high starting salary. It’s fair to say the era of opulence has all but died out. Consumer habits have changed, and Americans are much more practical than compared to 35 years ago.
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Post by mechamind on Jul 26, 2019 14:17:02 GMT -5
^ A lot of the prizes available during the early years were in fact practical. It wasn't until maybe the big month of cash in October 1987 that luxurious gifts appeared, but even then it didn't become notoriously common until Season 7. By 2001-2002, it started to become practical again.
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Post by aaaa on Jul 26, 2019 19:20:33 GMT -5
The nighttime show offered $10K and $20K jewelry gift certificates from the outset to Tiffany, Van Cleef and Arpells, and a few other places, from the outset. COntestants won them in Speed Up rounds, and played for them in the bonus round(they'd pick to play for the watch or ring or necklace and Jack Clark would say "you're playing for a Tiffany(or whomever) gift certificate, with which you might choose this(piece of jewelry)" I wouldn't call those prizes practical, and they were in the bonus round well into the 90s.
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Post by Bryce L. on Jul 26, 2019 20:37:49 GMT -5
Nor would I call fur coats practical. Hell, the Round 2 prize (prize wedge) on episode S-1 in 1983 was a $6,500 mink cape from Dicker and Dicker of Beverly Hills. And those were there for the entirety of the Burbank era, and probably the first year or so at Television City.
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Post by aaaa on Jul 27, 2019 4:42:43 GMT -5
It was around 1990 when PETA asked WOF to stop giving away furs, which would have been about a year into their time at CBS. They and Top Card on TNN in its first season(season two to four the bonus game was played for cars for the grand prize) were IIRC the last two known game shows to offer fur coats as prizes. 10 Seconds plugged a fur coat in the end credits on TNN in 1993(the episode IIRC was/is on Youtube) but it is unknown if one was ever given away as a prize.
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Post by mechamind on Jul 27, 2019 9:38:43 GMT -5
Yes, they did have the prize wedges and the Speed-Up for a gift certificate back them. But I'm talking about the shopping rounds, and I've recapped enough episodes from the shopping era that I think most of the items can satisfy basic needs.
By 2001-2002, being mostly cars and cash, again a lot of adults have plenty of use for those too. It's mostly the trips that are a concern.
The main thing is that the prizes couldn't be the reason for the more recent ratings.
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Post by aaaa on Jul 27, 2019 11:01:15 GMT -5
Maybe they could make the prize puzzle round for a $5K Sony or Amazon gift card once in a while instead of a trip.
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