Ratings Roundup for the Week of October 8, 2023

CBS feasted on an NFL overrun that carried over into 60 Minutes' ratings. The network also premiered another game show last week, Raid The Cage. The show opened with middling numbers. Time will tell if it has a future once the looky-loos are gone. Loteria Loca lost a ratings hundredth and one hundred thousand viewers off its premiere. Three nights of Big Brother saw gains over the previous week. The Monday night instalment of The Price Is Right At Night was down one hundred thousand viewers. 

ABC premiered the fifth season of Press Your Luck to low numbers. The game show normally airs over the summer, and once the network no longer needs the schedule spackle, it will likely go back to the summer schedule. The Golden Bachelor lost three hundred thousand viewers. Bachelor In Paradise was down one hundred thousand viewers. 

NBC is still the only network with original scripted content. Quantum Leap lost three hundred thousand viewers off its premiere. Magnum PI shed about four hundred thousand viewers. Magnum is already cancelled. Quantum Leap will likely see another season even with its low numbers. Found lost half a million viewers from its premiere. Its future is getting a bit rocky. The Irrational was steady and may see a renewal. 

FOX had a week of losses. The Masked Singer was down three hundred thousand viewers. Krapopolis lost almost a million viewers last week. The honeymoon may be over for the show, but it has already been renewed for the next two seasons. Snake Oil lost four hundred thousand viewers last week. Unless it recovers, it may not be long for the world even if it is cheaper to produce. 

The CW not only ran imported repeats last week, it ran repeats of its imported repeats. It's interesting to note that college football did not draw much audience either. The Saturday game drew fewer viewers than an episode of Walker or Superman & Lois last season. 

Strike talks broke down last week after SAG/AFTRA and AMPTP walked away from the negotiating table. The main sticking point is the idea of revenue-sharing for popular streaming shows. Unlike residuals, the revenue sharing proposal by SAG/AFTRA would amount to about two percent of the profit for successful streaming shows to go to the actors. The issue of AI and digital representations of actors, how digital representatives would be used, when they are used, and how actors would be compensated, is also still up in the air. 

With the Writer's Guild back at work, there is a little wiggle room before the 2023-24 season is a complete bust, but as with the WGA, there is a point where the season will have to be scrubbed. For the SAG/AFTRA negotiations, an agreement needs to be reached before the Thanksgiving holidays or chances for even a limited spring season for scripted content won't happen.