Robert posted the news about Undercover Boss being chosen for the post-Super Bowl slot, but what other shows have shared that honor and how many viewers have they attracted?
Survivor's been put after the Super Bowl on two occasions, and I'd have put it at the top of the list this year as well. It's also the only "reality" show of the modern era to have followed the game, although a wide variety of unscripted shows have in the past (60 Minutes on 4 occasions).
I admit to being puzzled at the choice. It wasn't done to cash in on the advertising revenue that airing one of their established shows would have (as has been the case in recent years), nor was it used to give a big sampling to a new (or relatively new) scripted drama.
How well might Undercover Boss do?
My wild guess is that it's going to do below average by historical standards. It's not an established show and it's a bit of an unusual premiss. I'll guess between 20-22 million viewers.
The game itself may effect the numbers, although its hard to tell for certain. The last two Super Bowls were quite close until the end, and presumably carried their large audiences later in the game. Alias did relatively poorly in 2003 after the Buccaneers drubbing of the Raiders, but so did Malcom in the Middle in 2002 and The Office in 2009 after close games.
What do you think the viewership of Undercover Boss following the Super Bowl will be and why?
[poll id="29"]
Note that while the table has been updated with 2009 numbers for The Office, the chart has not.
| Super Bowl | Year | Network | Program | Rating | Share | Avg. Homes (million) | Avg. Viewers (million) |
| XLIII | 2009 | NBC | The Office | 11.6 | 21 | 13.338 | 22.905 |
| XLII | 2008 | FOX | House | 15.7 | 27 | 17.719 | 29.045 |
| XLI | 2007 | CBS | Criminal Minds | 15.1 | 26 | 16.770 | 26.314 |
| XL | 2006 | ABC | Grey's Anatomy | 21.0 | 34 | 23.106 | 37.881 |
| XXXIX | 2005 | FOX | Simpsons | 13.0 | 22 | 14.228 | 23.074 |
| XXXVIII | 2004 | CBS | Survivor All-Star | 17.9 | 32 | 19.415 | 33.535 |
| XXXVII | 2003 | ABC | Alias | 10.6 | 20 | 11.283 | 17.362 |
| XXXVI | 2002 | FOX | Malcolm In The Middle | 11.5 | 21 | 12.117 | 21.445 |
| XXXV | 2001 | CBS | Survivor II | 24.5 | 39 | 25.076 | 45.369 |
| XXXIV | 2000 | ABC | The Practice | 15.3 | 27 | 15.420 | 23.847 |
| XXXIII | 1999 | FOX | Family Guy -Preview | 12.6 | 21 | 12.560 | 22.005 |
| XXXII | 1998 | NBC | Third Rock from the Sun | 19.7 | 34 | 19.260 | 33.662 |
| XXXI | 1997 | FOX | X-Files | 17.2 | 29 | 16.730 | 29.098 |
| XXX | 1996 | NBC | Friends | 29.6 | 46 | 28.400 | 52.925 |
| XXIX | 1995 | ABC | Extreme Special | 14.2 | 25 | 13.350 | 22.594 |
| XXVIII | 1994 | NBC | John Laroquette Show | 12.3 | 22 | 11.590 | 17.708 |
| XXVII | 1993 | NBC | Homicide Special | 18.0 | 31 | 16.760 | 28.121 |
| XXVI | 1992 | CBS | 60 Minutes | 16.8 | 30 | 15.470 | 24.821 |
| XXV | 1991 | ABC | Davis Rules | 15.5 | 25 | 14.430 | 26.695 |
| XXIV | 1990 | CBS | Grand Slam | 18.6 | 30 | 17.130 | 30.765 |
| XXIII | 1989 | NBC | Sun Nite Movie | 20.9 | 36 | 18.890 | |
| XXII | 1988 | ABC | Wonder Years | 17.9 | 31 | 15.860 | 28.976 |
| XXI | 1987 | CBS | Hard Copy Special | 19.8 | 33 | 17.310 | |
| XX | 1986 | NBC | NBC Sunday Night Movie | 16.5 | 25 | 14.170 | 39.729 |
| XIX | 1985 | ABC | Macgrouder and Loud | 22.8 | 38 | 19.360 | |
| XVIII | 1984 | CBS | Airwolf Special(s) | 21.6 | 36 | 18.100 | 27.874 |
| XVII | 1983 | NBC | A-Team Special | 26.3 | 39 | 21.910 | 21.910 |
| XVI | 1982 | CBS | 60 Minutes | 26.2 | 36 | 21.350 | |
| XV | 1981 | NBC | Chips | 16.3 | 26 | 12.680 | |
| XIV | 1980 | CBS | 60 Minutes | 33.0 | 50 | 25.179 | 40.746 |
| XIII | 1979 | NBC | Brothers and Sisters | 21.0 | 32 | 15.650 | 31.722 |
| XII | 1978 | CBS | All In the Family | 30.4 | 47 | 22.160 | 35.472 |
| XI | 1977 | NBC | Disney's "Kit Carson | 25.8 | 37 | 18.370 | 42.816 |
| X | 1976 | CBS | Phoenix Open Golf | 16.5 | 31 | 11.480 | 22.363 |
| IX | 1975 | NBC | NBC Sunday Night News | 16.7 | 28 | 11.440 | 15.924 |
| VIII | 1974 | CBS | Perry Mason** | 12.7 | 20 | 8.410 | 15.058 |
| VII | 1973 | NBC | Disney's "The Mystery | 28.4 | 44 | 18.400 | |
| VI | 1972 | CBS | 60 Minutes | 20.3 | 36 | 12.610 | |
| V | 1971 | NBC | Bing CrosbyPro-Am Golf Champshps | 19.2 | 36 | 11.540 | |
| IV | 1970 | CBS | Lassie | 21.5 | 34 | 12.580 | |
| III | 1969 | NBC | G.E. College Bowl | 11.7 | 21 | 6.670 | |
| II | 1968 | CBS | Lassie | 26.3 | 41.2 | 14.730 | |
| I | 1967 | CBS | Lassie | 15.6 | 25.3 | 8.560 | |
| I | 1967 | NBC | Disney's "The Mosby Raiders" Part II | 21.7 | 33.7 | 11.910 |
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2006-9 numbers are Live+Same Day, all others are Live Viewing.
Nielsen TV Ratings: ©2008 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.
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For comparison, here are the historical Super Bowl ratings themselves.
I would rather watch a rerun of “Lassie” from 1968, then to watch even one minute of a reality show.
I will be switching away from CBS after the game. Or maybe I will go to Hulu & see if I can find a “Lassie” rerun!
Honestly, no post-Super Bowl show ever gets as good as 2001′s Surivor or 2006′s Grey’s Anatomy.
Oh I forgot, 1996′s Friends.
I mean, in terms of reality shows, this one seems pretty sincere. Not so much a cast of fame-whores competing for money. More of a social experiment about bosses and employees.
I hope it’s an embarrassing failure. Reality TV’s domination of the airwaves is becoming too much.
Am I alone in missing quality scripted TV? Those are the shows I buy the DVDs of, and that I love and follow week after week. And they’re being killed off to make room for more reality TV, which is cheap to produce, easy ratings, but total, total crap.
I know this site is all about the ratings, so maybe I’m out of place here complaining about the quality of our TV. But it just pisses me off. Ok, I’m lame, I have no life, and I really look forward to the good shows throughout the week. Sue me. But I do, and reality TV is killing it off, and I don’t see any end in sight, and it’s getting ridiculous. Will there be any quality entertainment 10 years from now?
I’m surprised looking at the success of Friends, that CBS wouldn’t wanna push TBBT. I mean obviously TBBT could never get 52 million after the SB but I think that a comedy show would always get the most viewers post Superbowl, because a comedy people can jump right into and laugh along with their families after the SB.
I’ve never watched a super bowl and never will.
I’m betting CBS decided it would rather save original scripted shows for their regular slots. With only a couple of exceptions, the post-SB slot has not made a real difference in the long run.
“Am I alone in missing quality scripted TV? Those are the shows I buy the DVDs of, and that I love and follow week after week. And they’re being killed off to make room for more reality TV, which is cheap to produce, easy ratings, but total, total crap.”
I totally agree with you and can’t STAND reality shows. That being said, I am worried that this is a smart move for CBS (who only has a couple of reality shows in the mix at any given time) to launch a new reality show on a day when they can use it to win the night handily.
It sounds like a crappy show. I would have watched Survivor after the Super Bowl. I’m not interested in this thing, though.
2 questions – bearing in mind I am Australian and don’t know much about NFL:
1) How is it decided which network airs the super bowl? How did NBC go 11 years without getting it?
2) Is it true that the super bowl is named after the “super ball”, because one of the executives saw his kid playing with the bouncy ball?
Thanks
I’m shaking my head with disbelief.
Based on the promo shown at the end of tonights ‘Survivor’ reunion special, ‘Undercover Boss’ looks like a very lame, contrived reality premise. The boss goes undercover by taking of his suit and leaving his Gucci watch on the night-table, but when he shows up at work in his average people clothes, he’s trailed by a CBS crew of camera, sound, and lighting technicians…gee, that’s going to give us all a lot of profound insights!
In todays intranet age, most people know their CEO by face because everytime you log on in the morning over coffee there’s always some sort of announcement or rallying cry from the boss.
I think this is all about some golden opportunity for CBS to do some product integration…’look how carefully they make burgers’, ‘I never knew so much work went into making a car’. None of the companies featured will come off looking bad, and at the end, the CEO shall return to his oak-panelled office, ennobled by his ordinary people walking a mile in their shoes, and contemplating extra bonus owed for his new found media personality as he contentedly pours himself a smugly self-satisfied Scotch.
Battye, the short version is, that in the early 1990s FOX outbid CBS for NFC games, and then several years later, CBS bid very aggressively for the AFC package and NBC was out. Ultimately Sunday Night Football moved from ESPN to NBC (and Monday Night Football from ABC to ESPN).
Currently, the TV deals are structured in such a way that ABC/ESPN are not included in the Super Bowl rotation which is limited NBC, FOX and CBS.
And yes, the legend goes that former Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt named it the Super Bowl based on seeing his kids play with the Super Ball!
I think you are forgetting a show possibly. American Dad aired after the Simpsons in 2005.
“Am I alone in missing quality scripted TV? Those are the shows I buy the DVDs of, and that I love and follow week after week. And they’re being killed off to make room for more reality TV, which is cheap to produce, easy ratings, but total, total crap.”
Personally I think you’re a couple years too late, the overall amount of reality TV seems to have leveled off. And there’s plenty of quality stuff on TV, you just have to look for it.
Anyway I think Undercover Boss was an absolutely terrible choice. I was generous and voted 20-25 million, but I kind of doubt it will even hit that. When was the last time there was a successful new reality show? All the ones on TV are well-established and have been on for like five+ years.
The only way this won’t be a total flop is if the Super Bowl is close. If not, then Undercover Boss will definitely be the lowest-rated post-Super Bowl show ever. Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains (now official) would have been a much, much better choice.
What’s the “Super Bowl”?
Wow, CBS has a knack for stunningly bad post-SB choices. They blew it with Criminal Minds a few years back, and are now blowing it with this. The obvious, obvious, super obvious choice would be TBBT, followed by HIMYM.
DenverDean, you can look at it that way, but TBBT getting 25 or 30 million after the Super Bowl is better than 15 million on a Monday night, any way you slice it.
Well, sitcoms skew very much younger, which seems to be the demographic that all the advertisers look to, so why not have Big Bang Theory and something else, or a double episode of Big Bang, they can cash in the big bucks. Granted it won’t get 53m like Friends or 45m in Survivor 2, it will at least get viewers, probably 35m or so. The only people who will watch Undercover Boss are those who are over 55, and are probably asleep by 10:15, generally when the USperbowl finishes.
I’d say 16m viewers and a 6.5 18-49 rating give or take for the Undercover-post-Superbowl episode.
18-49 ratings chart since 1988
1) 1996 Friends (NBC) 28.2% (52.9 millions)
2) 2001 Survivor (CBS) 21.8 % (45.4 millions)
3) 1998 3rd Rock From the Sun (NBC) 17.1% (33.7 millions)
4) 2006 Grey’s Anatomy (ABC) 16.5% (37.9 millions)
5) 1997 The X-Files (Fox) 15.3% (29.1 millions)
6) 1988 Wonder Years (ABC) 15.1% (29 millions)
1992 60 Minutes (CBS) 14.3% (34 millions)
7) 2004 Survivor All-Stars (CBS) 14.9% (33.5 millions)
9) 1989 Film : Brotherhood of the Rose, partie 1 (NBC) 14% (32 millions)
10) 1990 Film : Grandslam (CBS) 13.9% (30.8 millions)
11) 1993 Homicide (NBC) 13.7% (28.1 millions)
12) 1991 Davis Rules (ABC) 13.6% (26.7 millions)
13) 2008 House (Fox) 12.9% (29.1 millions)
14) 1994 The Good Life (NBC) 11.5% (22.8 millions)
14) 1999 Family Guy (Fox) 11.5% (22 millions)
16) 2005 The Simpsons (Fox) 11.2% (23.1 millions)
17) 2009 The Office (NBC) 11% (22.9 millions)
18) 1995 Extreme (ABC) 10.8% (22.6 millions)
19) 2002 Malcolm (Fox) 10.5% (21.5 millions)
20) 2000 The Practice (ABC) 10.2% (23.8 millions)
21) 2007 Criminal Minds (CBS) 9.9 % (26.1 millions)
22) 2003 Alias (ABC) 8.3% (17.4 millions)
from : audiencesusa.com