Low Ratings No Longer Doom A Show When Web Creates Buzz

Gossip Girl was the can't-miss show for CW, the fledgling network struggling to establish its own identity. Yet the premiere Sept. 19 averaged 3.5 million viewers, modest even by the network's low standards, and a million of them left the following week.

A total bust? Not quite. The soap about privileged Manhattan teenagers — with Pittsford native Nicole Fiscella — gained 20 percent among young adults who recorded it, then watched in the seven days after the first airing. It's a top-five network show among teenage girls, the top new show among all teens and the biggest seller on iTunes.

Gossip Girl also is blog heaven. The buzz factor grew larger last week when gossip pages romantically linked one of its young stars, Chace Crawford, to country star and American Idol winner Carrie Underwood.

So, far from getting a quick hook, Gossip Girl was instead the first show of the new season to be extended beyond the customary 13-week tryout for a full 22-episode season.

It's a case in point of how Hollywood's definition of a hit TV series is radically changing. Though still the primary focus, "live" TV ratings are no longer the sole barometer of success. As viewing habits change, programmers are struggling with how to factor in DVR use, Web viewing, sought-after niche audiences and online chatter when weighing shows' health.

"In the new world we live in, that kind of cultural permeation — the awareness that's greater than the numbers indicate — speaks to the potential for growth of the show," says Gossip executive producer Josh Schwartz.

The pattern followed last year's surprise resurrection of CBS drama Jericho, which was granted a seven-episode reprieve (due early next year). In a campaign to save the show, dedicated fans sent cartons of nuts to network executives — who were nonetheless more impressed by the 5.3 million episodes that were streamed online. [x]

While I have never watched the show, the buzz and hype surrounding it was inescapable prior to its premiere. They promoted the hell out of this show. So when the series premiered with a disappointing 3.5 million viewers and quickly dipped into the 2 million territory, it was clear that the show had underperformed. Apparently the CW didn't think so as it picked up "Gossip Girl" for a full season.

Huh? How? Why? The show tanks and it gets renewed almost instantly. What about Reaper,which has had better ratings than "Gossip Girl" this whole season? And if internet buzz and blogs were that important, why was Veronica Mars canceled (no show had an internet fanbase as big as VMARS)? The CW is such a crappy network. :-/