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October 19, 2005
Sad, sad demise for NBC's 'West Wing'
Once-great show is down 30 percent this year
By Kevin Downey
Media Life
Another weekend has passed, and with it comes yet more evidence that NBC’s once-powerful “West Wing” is dying a pathetic death.
This is not the sort of end one would have imagined for a series that in its prime won four consecutive Emmys for best drama series while attracting the most affluent viewership and the most desirable advertisers.
Yet the series, which this season moved to Sunday from its longtime Wednesday berth, has seen a 30 percent plunge in its ratings and now consistently finishes in fourth place among adults 18-49 in its 8 p.m. timeslot.
Some media buyers were hoping the Sunday move would invigorate the series, reversing a decline in ratings over the past several years. It's had the opposite effect, and now the sense is that the move will prove the show's final indignity. As one media buyer opined in a recent Media Life survey about the networks’ fall programs: “NBC killed a great show!”
"Wing" is now down to a 2.3 among adults 18-49, from its 3.3 average rating last season, and this past Sunday it ranked a distant No. 4 behind “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” on ABC, “60 Minutes” on CBS and baseball on Fox. It did slightly better than “Charmed” on the WB.
The show's slide has been precipitous. “Wing” peaked in 2001-02, its third season, generating an average 6.2 rating in the demographic and attracting more than 17 million viewers. On Sunday, its rating was barely one-third of that while its total audience was down to 8.1 million people.
The show has even failed to improve its timeslot rating over last year's canceled “American Dreams.” That show averaged a 2.5, while "Wing" is pulling a 2.3.
NBC earlier this year cut in half the licensing fee it had been paying to Warner Bros. TV for the show. The price per episode was slashed from $6 million to $3 million, with several well-paid series regulars being demoted to recurring roles.
One could argue whether the Sunday move was the right decision. Clearly, NBC needed to make space for Martha Stewart's "Apprentice," which explains why "Wing" was shifted from the 9 p.m. Wednesday slot. But while the Sunday move pitted it against ABC’s powerful lineup, it would have perhaps faced a worse humiliation against ABC's "Lost" had it stayed.
In truth, though, there's little to debate. “West Wing’s” problems date back to 2003, if not before. In 2001, creator Aaron Sorkin was busted on drug charges, and in 2003 he left the show, as did original lead actor Rob Lowe. The show never recovered creatively.
By the 2003-04 season, “Wing” had already begun to fade, with its 18-49 rating tumbling to a 3.7 from a 4.5 a year earlier and a 6.2 at its peak.
“West Wing” has long attracted an affluent audience, which, while falling in sheer numbers, remains attractive to advertisers. The show this season so far still ranks No. 1 among all series in the percentage of 18-49 viewers who have a household income of more than $75,000.
Posted by Jo at October 19, 2005 07:19 AM