From Playback:
We can do this if you support us. There are more Corner Gas's in us yet!Americans have been charmed by the quirky residents of Dog River, who drew high ratings to Superstation WGN when Corner Gas made its south-of-the-border premiere.
Amid favorable reviews from U.S. critics, the first two episodes of season one scored 357,000 and 290,000 viewers (2+), respectively, on Sept. 10 at 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. ET. Those numbers compare favorably to America's Funniest Home Videos, the highest rated show on the satellite and cable channel, which garnered 541,000 viewers in the same Monday timeslot the week prior.
The Gas episodes also played well in the key 18-49 demographic -- 176,000 and 168,000 -- taking second place behind AFHV and even finishing ahead of a Cubs-Cardinals game.
"Baseball, especially Cubs competing for the division title, is big on our network, so this was a great start," a spokesperson for WGN tells Playback Daily. The Chicago-based channel reaches over 70 million U.S. homes. It celebrated the premiere of the Regina-shot comedy, seen here on CTV, with a free gas giveaway during an online contest.
15 comments:
I'm missing something. If the "reach" of that one station is more than twice the population of Canada then those seem like modest numbers. I know I'm missing something.
Lotta folks fired in Canadian television this week. What's that about?
I thought that too Geoffrey but you have to compare how it's doing compared to other shows on the same station. Obviously it's not a highly watched channel so those are solid numbers for them. I always find it sad that we take any sign of life in the US as a victory for Canadian TV, but it's a great thing for the Corner Gas folks, of course, and at least we didn't need 600,000 Americans to validate the show for us - it's already a Canadian TV success, with or without them.
I am SO confused. I live in Chicago. I've searched for Corner Gas through my TiVo for the past week or so. Why can't I find it?
I can't answer the questions of Tivo. It's on WGN. Call them.
The ratings you generally see are prime time numbers ratings for over the air broadcast networks. Diane's right. You have to compare apples to apples -- in this case, to the kinds of audiences WGN gets for the programs they run.
ABC might get 20 million viewers for Greys, but then again, they probably paid 2 million dollars for that ep.
WGN pays a lot less for Gas.
The numbers work out.
And in this case, it's not the case (certainly from me) that "oh look the Americans noticed us" we're validated...it's that we have to combat this stupid, status quo serving "Canadian shows are no good/Canadians don't want to watch them"
Not only can they be good, but when they're good, people everywhere will notice.
If you're not telling that story, you're not telling the truth.
the CAB is not telling the truth.
Oh ... it's not a highly watched channel ... I see. So most of those 70 million don't watch it anyway? These numbers are as fuzzy as the CBC's.
OK, now I know why I couldn't watch Corner Gas. Apparently, the local Chicago WGN feed is a different from the national Superstation WGN feed. If I had DirectTV or whatever, I could get the Superstation.
The local Chicago feed hasn't shown Corner Gas. And it gets even more confusing, as the Chicago shows the CW network while the Superstation does not since other area's local TV stations already show CW.
Well, that's frustrating. I wonder if that's affected the ratings at all. After all, Chicago is only the third largest city in the country.
No. I'm genuinely curious. But I've evidently touched a nerve. I am so ignorant that I don't even know what it is that has you in such a terrific state of agitation. Relax. There was a lot of press talking about how Gas had the potential of reaching 70 million americans. Such was clearly not the case. Somebody, somewhere, got something wrong.
That Playback article is cheerleading, not reporting, and if makes me an ignorant ass to point that out, I'm OK with that. It smells of the ratings releases you get from the networks, where each claims to have won the night in the all-important demographic. That doesn't do the Canadian TV industry any favours when we're that desperate for American validation. You have to spin really fast to write something THAT positive about a show that lost 20% of its audience from week 1 to week 2. It's still a success - I don't mean to take away from that - but it's not quite at salivating over high numbers territory yet.
And as a Canadian viewer, why should I think this particular news is evidence that we should support you? So we can charm viewers in Chicago?
Because the narrative isn't true. The narrative -- still is -- Canadians don't watch Canadian shows. And the supporting to that is, "Because they suck."
I didn't make the rule that when something succeeds in the US it gets covered lavishly in Canadian papers. I didn't make the rule that if the Simpsons mentions Canada it's a news story. I think it's as ridiculous as you do.
But there are those out there who will promote -- even with a show like Gas -- that somehoew there's something unseemly going on. If, at a time when comedy is in a trough in the USA, a superstaion gets numbers that compare favorably with a known brand for a show that is a no-pr import from Canada, then that proves that the show travels. It takes away the provincial, "it's ours so it sucks" argument for disbelievers.
It's my fervent wish that one day Canadians really don't give a rats ass what mentions they get in the media. But until then, Jane Krakowski slightly disses T.O. and it's news, Anna Paquin is claimed as Canadian, The Simpsons mention the CFL and it grabs a news story, Canadians fret that hockey is less popular than golf down in the USA...
...I don't make any of these rules. I just live with em. And like you, shake my head.
And when the chance comes to play to it, yup. I do.
My bad. Trying to swim gainst the tide here.
Protesting too muc, like the Playback article, or using this as any kind of proof for the Canadian industry as a whole, makes it sound like the exception that proves the rule. I still don't see what Corner Gas's ratings in the US have to do with countering the argument that "Canadians don't watch Canadian TV," especially when six times as many Canadians as Americans watch Corner Gas. The Canadian ratings are what proves that lightning can strike (the pessimist's view) or that Canadian TV is rosy (the optimist's view), not the US numbers.
I worked on gas for four seasons, and I think the American sale is good news, but I agree the optics look bad: crowing about 70 million potential viewers then two weeks later crowing about less than 400,000 who actually watched.
But if 600,000 is a great number for WGN then I guess 400,00 is a good number. So I'm glad it's going well.
What I'm more impressed by is the sale in Finland. We're always comparing ourselves to the Finns, looking for validation in their eyes... this could be the "Finn" breakthrough the Canadian TV industry has been hoping for.
(Actually what I think is impressive is that the DVDs continue to sell so well in Canada. I read somewhere they've sold over 300,000 DVDs. And I, personally, have only bought, like, 150,000 of those.)
-pm
Lex -- I was about to tell you to blame the Cubs, but you figured it out for yourself already. (They're already on my blacklist at the moment because I have to drive through Wrigleyville to get to rehearsal, and dear God, aren't they EVER away???)
I'm trying to be on the lookout too. I'll drop a comment on your blog if I spot it.
Cubs traffic around Wrigelyville is NOTHING compared to Red Sox traffic and riots around Fenway, so I'm not one to complain about it.
Thanks for the offer to keep me updated!
Maybe Americans have better taste in comedy. The real question is why so many CANADIANS DO WATCH this show that so obviously DOES suck. I've tried a couple of times now and can barely sit through the first five minutes. Its just so bland, obvious and stupid. And I never laugh. I don't get it.
Blaine, dear heart, we all have those. But you've got the answer in your comment. You don't get it. That's ok. There's no such thing as the comedy that appeals to absolutely everybody. I'm sure you know lots of people with similar tastes as yours who will think similar things about Corner Gas. Luckily, there's an average of almost 2 million Canadians who disagree with you every week. Don't be bitter about that. Just go and find something else you do like. Easy peasy.
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