Monday's ratings are in, and while things are looking pretty sunny at CBS, one of NBC’s summer forays is not doing so hot. The former network has been boosted thanks to Under the Dome, a short summer series event that may be expanded into a second season now that the show's numbers are looking so good. The latter network is doing quite a bit worse in the ratings, thanks to a scripted series following a fake reality competition called Siberia.
Under the Dome dropped a little in the ratings after a couple of weeks of doing more than 11 million total viewers. Yesterday’s episode featured a breakout of meningitis in the small town of Chester’s Mill and plenty of audience members showed up to catch the show, which ended up pulling in 10.8 million total viewers and a 2.7 rating, holding pretty steady with last week’s ratings. According to THR, across the night CBS averaged 6.7 million total viewers, which was enough to beat ABC, a network that had both Mistresses and The Bachelorette on the schedule.
The latter two shows didn’t do horribly, however. Mistresses nabbed only 3.6 million total viewers, but the veteran series The Bachelorette did far better, pulling in 6.7 million total viewers. Overall, the network averaged 5.7 million total viewers, which means it didn’t manage to beat CBS, but the network doesn’t need to run home crying with its tail between its legs, either.
That colloquialism can be saved for NBC, which is doing decently with American Ninja Warriors and Get out Alive with Bear Gryllis, pulling in a 1.5 and 1.4 rating, respectively. However, when we weigh in the disaster that is Siberia, the numbers look far more dismal for the night. Siberia’s third episode only brought in 2.4 million total viewers and a dismal .8 rating in the 18-49 demographic. Additionally, both American Ninja Warriors and Get Out Alive dropped slightly down from last week’s ratings, leaving NBC in a disheartening third place. NBC managed to beat out Fox, but that’s less of an achievement when we consider Fox offered no original programming on Monday night.
Siberia’s fake reality premise had hints of Tropic Thunder in it when we first heard about the project, except in the NBC show’s case, it was more about a reality series going wrong than an off-the-rails movie project. The marketing for the show didn’t always make it clear that the fictional series was spoofing a reality show. Then, when the show actually hit the air, it became clear that Siberia is actually a poorly scripted version of a fake reality show, filled with shallow characters and not a whole lot of plot. Introductory episodes are almost never the best episode a series has to offer, but a couple of weeks later, the show still doesn’t seem to be piquing the interest of a whole lot of viewers. Audiences may end up getting extra episodes of Under the Dome, but I wouldn’t be shocked if Siberia’s lifespan was cut short.
