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It got decent but not spectacular ratings in its first season, on Tuesdays. Fox then decided to move it to make room for the new show Glee.
Unfortunately they moved it to the most demanding timeslot of the week - Thursdays at 9 pm. Predictably for a sci fi show, the ratings slid and never recovered. People just had too much other stuff to watch Thursdays at 9 pm. However, Fringe is one of the most time-shifted shows to DVR. People love the show - they just didn't watch it live on Thursdays.
Fox kept it on Thursdays for the third season (this year) but the ratings never did recover. In a last ditch effort, they moved it to Fridays, hoping the existing core audience would make the switch (or that enough people would stick with it). People don't watch TV on Fridays, they tend to go out of course, but Fringe has a pretty rabid core audience of geeks who probably aren't doing anything on Fridays anyway. Fox has been hoping they would be enough to sustain a Friday show. A Friday show does not need as big an audience as a Thursday show to remain competitive.
For the first couple weeks of the move to Fridays, Fringe did great. But since then, the ratings have started to slide a bit again so once again it really is in danger of cancellation.
Although Fox has a bad history with Friday shows (like Firefly), I know for a fact that the executives at Fox genuinely like Fringe and want it to succeed on Friday. They have advertised Fringe's move to Fridays much more heavily than they have for other shows they have put on Friday. They are not trying to "destroy" the show, but they do have a ratings bottom line to consider. So it's very much on the bubble right now. If people would just stop DVR-ing it and watch it live, it could squeak through. Part of the problem, which Fox really can do little about, is that so many people DVR shows now. Unfortunately, DVR-ing does not count in the Nielsen ratings, which sets advertising rates for shows, which is how broadcast networks like Fox make their money off of shows.
The current informed hope is that Fox may renew it for a shortened episode order (13 episodes perhaps) for next season and use it as a midseason replacement. It's looking more unlikely that it will get a full Season 4 order, unfortunately.
So please watch. Tell your friends to watch. It's a brilliant show with a brilliant cast. TV critics love it to death. It has everything except Nielsen ratings in a comfort zone for renewal. But it CAN draw a big enough audience if it goes back to what it was getting on Fridays in January.
Also, Leonard Nimoy is coming back to the show soon (yes, even though his character supposedly died!) so make sure to keep tuning in.
But in reality, it really doesn't matter how many of us watch the program live unless we are Nielsen participants. Isn't that the way ratings are captured? I don't think there is anything (like a chip) in regular TV's - maybe DVR/Tivo boxes? - to track regular viewing habits.
I would say if there is any danger in Fringe being cancelled (which would be awful), that the only thing people like us could do is write emails/letters to Fox.
But in reality, it really doesn't matter how many of us watch the program live unless we are Nielsen participants. Isn't that the way ratings are captured? I don't think there is anything (like a chip) in regular TV's - maybe DVR/Tivo boxes? - to track regular viewing habits.
I would say if there is any danger in Fringe being cancelled (which would be awful), that the only thing people like us could do is write emails/letters to Fox.
It seems that you are correct. There is nothing else we can do but to write E-mails and such.
Right now on the free over the air FOX and other channels, Fringe is one of the top shows as follows:
-Fringe. Futuristic, lots of action, with hints of romance. A serious show with serious subjects, and perhaps with the most famous or professional cast
-Castle. Cop show with a twist, and hints of romance. A little funny stuff sometimes, but a wonderful cast all around, including the black and pretty examiner (what a cutie she is!!!). And yes, "Nikki Heat" is quite pretty, too, with beautiful brown eyes that melt real men hearts.
-Chuck. Spionage, action, and a little romance. Good cast, funny stuff, and the expression on the face of the AU actress (chuck's girlfriend) is just outstanding. This girls can act, and is "eye candy."
These three are the ahead of the pack in grabbing the attention of the viewers.
BTW... Fox put Fringe into that terrible Thursday 9 pm timeslot, ironically, because they liked the show and anticipated it would be a strong enough draw to serve their competitive purposes there. But really Fringe is a show for people who can pay attention to complex plotlines (not as complicated as Lost was, but still pretty involved). People opted to DVR it and then watch The Office or Grey's Anatomy live. So the ratings on Thursday were never what Fox hoped they would be. I think they wanted Fringe to be the #3 show in the slot, but it usually wound up #4.
The show probably never should have been taken off Tuesday nights and put on Thursday, but it was more of an honest mistake on Fox's part than wanting to "kill" the show. But it bled viewers on Thursday, a lot of people stopped watching (just when the show got REALLY good) and then they decided to try and make it a Friday "niche" show just for the diehard viewers. At the start of the Friday airings in January, it really looked as if the strategy was going to be a success (it got better ratings than expected), but then the ratings slowly drained away again to the point where its future is up in the air again. (If the people who DVR the show on Fridays and then watch it over the weekend would just go out an hour later on Friday nights, and stay home and watch live, the show increases so much in the key demographic that it would be a shoo-in for renewal.)
Also, Fringe had some really bad luck last summer when John Noble inexplicably wasn't nominated for an Emmy. A lot of people were expecting he would get one and he was completely snubbed. An Emmy nomination would have gotten the show some much deserved attention from viewers.
Fringe's ratings seemed to have stabilized lately (at a 1.5 in the 18-49 demographic, for the last three new episodes in a row), but that may still not be quite good enough to keep it safe. The ratings so far on Fridays have been: 1.9, 1.9, 1.6, 1.4, 1.5, 1.5, 1.5. Most shows' ratings go down in the spring, it's just because people start going out and doing stuff in the spring rather than watching TV, but really Fox would rather have the ratings up back to 1.6 or higher. (BTW, if everyone who DVR's the show and watches it later in the weekend would just tune in on Fridays - go out for the night an hour later! - the weekly rating would climb to 2.3 or 2.4, which would be more than enough for a renewal. So, time-shifting is really killing the ratings here. Even if only SOME of those time-shifting viewers would make time for it on Fridays, it would help a lot.)
Yes, only people with Nielsen boxes count - but it is still worth watching live and especially telling others to. Because word of mouth travels and you never know who is listening. Maybe someone with a Nielsen box.
I just wish people would watch this show. I know people sometimes resolve NOT to watch a show if they're being told it's "the best show on television" or whatever... but Fringe is just a FUN show, well-acted, great guest stars, great special effects. If it gets cancelled, I can almost guarantee people will find it on DVD and be dumbfounded as to why it didn't continue. You CAN jump in on this show midway and not understand right away the plot, but still enjoy it. I didn't start watching until the 2nd season and I managed to catch up pretty quickly.
That had to have been the best opening scene I have ever seen! I got the giggles from them just watching and I wasn't smoking anything except my cig!!! ROFLMFAO!!!! More Hurley!!!!
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I got the giggles from them just watching and I wasn't smoking anything except my cig!!! ROFLMFAO!!!! More Hurley!!!!
