Show Ratings

[roddma]

Does anyone have the latest ratings for the show?

[lisa_m]

The last two episodes got 2.143 & 2.046 million viewers. The ratings are definitely down from last season, but good enough to keep it on the air.

[calimojo]

I know this sounds mean, but personally I would like to see the ratings just continue to drift downwards just to demonstrate in a big way the declining interest in the freak show.

It seems like the minor scandal ( ie catgate), the numerous lies, the crazy gothardisms, etc aren't enough to kill the show. So what I think will finally be their undoing: Boredom. The show is just dull as watching paint dry.

[eri]

I try to do my part by watching the content fraudulently. (Online streaming and pirating, lol)

[19 cats and counting]

If JB gets word the show's ratings are down due to boredom expect another courtship to be announced. Bonus if it's with a Bates kid (Gil didn't deny it when asked on an UP video on the show's website).

[Becket70]

I don't think it is my imagination when I say that TLC pushes this show more than their others. Reruns of 19 Kids pop up all over the place....Friday they showed it during the prime-time bride shows. Meanwhile, I looked all week for a rerun of Who Do You Think You Are? so that I could watch the Julie Chen episode again. Not one rerun. (and Who Do You Think You Are? gets impressive ratings) They never promote The Little Couple like they promote 19 Kids. TLC and Jim Bob have some sort of special relationship. Jim Bob seems to have a sense of entitlement and TLC goes along with it. I don't get it.

[Kira]

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/tag/19 ... g-ratings/

[Rainytown]

They never promote The Little Couple like they promote 19 Kids. TLC and Jim Bob have some sort of special relationship. Jim Bob seems to have a sense of entitlement and TLC goes along with it. I don't get it.

We enjoy both The Little Couple and The Little Family. The six-year-old on The Little Family is sufficiently charming to carry the show on his own -- what a cutie! Plus, both families seem refreshingly normal -- they work outside the home, they're not religiously insane, etcetera. To say that Jen and Bill Klein's round-the-world adoptions was touching is an understatement. It's hard not to root for everyone involved. Watching the every day activities of two nice, low-stress families is refreshing. Of course, that's IMHO.

I wish I knew what Jim Boob has on the TLC executives. Naked photos? Sheesh. And yeah, the show is as boring as watching paint dry.

[jarona]

If JB gets word the show's ratings are down due to boredom expect another courtship to be announced. Bonus if it's with a Bates kid (Gil didn't deny it when asked on an UP video on the show's website).

Please no. While the Bates family is also of the funda-mental-ist ideology, they still come across as a more humane and much more loving family that the Duggars. Gil and Kelly actually raise their children--faults and all. The older siblings have a life outside of the cult.

I would feel badly for any Bates offspring that would have to be entered into the horrific Duggar cult. Besides, my thinking tells me that JB doesn't want the Bateses anywhere NEAR TLC due to the fact JB wants to be the ratings king. God forbid the Bates family should become more popular!

[MatthewDuggar]

It seems like each fan/discussion board I encounter for any popular TLC show, (little familes, huge families, polygamy families) - they all say that program is the number one show on TLC.

[Becket70]

It seems like each fan/discussion board I encounter for any popular TLC show, (little familes, huge families, polygamy families) - they all say that program is the number one show on TLC.

Ratings are fluid so a lot of shows have a shot at being #1 for the week. What matters in the long run is which show was the highest rated for a particular quarter. For the current quarter, I would guess that would be 19 Kids. For the second quarter of 2014, it was The Little Couple. I suspect you will never hear The Little Couple boasting about their ratings, though, the way that JB boasted about his. It was tacky and classless. For a show that has been on as long as 19 Kids, it certainly has found a second life because a couple of years ago its ratings were hovering around the one million mark....not good.

[freealljs]

I have a feeling that the show is not popular like before and may be canceled in a couple seasons, courtships, babies, or whatnot. Nothing new is going on in the lives of the J'kids, because nothing new is allowed to go on. The J'girls won't cut their hair, wear pants or sleevless tops, because J'Boob likes it that way. The J'kids are not allowed to go to public/private school or even attend the local brick and mortar university. If the J'kids show any spark, that's quickly extinguished with re-education camps.

The only half-decent thing to watch (at least for me) is J'chelle's crazy eyes. I love seeing how many times she goes all crazy eyes in one episode. The woman is unhinged and would find any avenue (for example, bulimia story anyone?) to be the most popular Duggar.

The Duggars and 19KAC will be TLC's downfall if TLC does not cut the cord with them, and I hope that, at some point, TLC execs will realize that and kick J'Boob and J'Mullet to the curb, regardless of the ratings. Well, that's my opinion anyways.

[Zungstache]

The ratings decline should not be a surprise to anyone who watches these so-called basic cable "reality" shows. They cruise along under the public's radar for a few years, blow up when the general viewing public becomes aware of the show and everyone tunes in out of curiosity, then the ratings return to the baseline after most people realize that the shows are just one-trick ponies with little new to add each week (and viewers realize that the stars got the shows to begin with because they are whacked out). You saw it with Duck Dynasty, John and Kate Plus Eight, and now with 19 Kids. However, 19 Kids never became the cultural phenomenon the first two were, so the ratings drop back to its previous hard-core viewership won't be as steep.

That said, there are three reasons we will still be able to mock the show long after its ratings have cratered to a third of what they once were (which would still make it a pretty successful show for TLC)

1) Appearance fees. With all the talk of "TLC money" on this site, I think the average reader forgets that the family also makes a ton of money in appearance fees. They are not showing up at all these family values conferences (where the attendees pay a cover charge) for free. If the ratings decline, Jim Bob will be perfectly happy to take a greatly reduced payout from TLC to keep his family in the public eye and keep those appearance fees flowing.

2) They view this as a ministry. I'm sure that Jim Bob and Michelle have deluded themselves that they are not fame whores, but rather, simple folks preaching the gospel through their inane TV show. Quitting the show because it wasn't paying enough would be a tacit admission that they were in it for the money, so that won't be happening.

3) Fans who support the show as Christian TV. While I have never had this conversation about 19 Kids, I have had several conversations with fundamentalist friends who insist that I have to go out to the theater to show my support for some "Christian" movie or another (that I have no desire to see). These people feel an obligation to support entertainment that supports their world view. I think it's the same for the Duggars. I'd bet large sums of money that there is a baseline of Christian viewers out there who will be watching the show out of an obligation to support "family friendly Christian" television... regardless of whether it's any good. There are enough of those viewers out there that the show can avoid cancellation for a good long time (I'm sure that TLC would be happy to continue airing the show even if ratings dipped to 750,000).

[Becket70]

The ratings decline should not be a surprise to anyone who watches these so-called basic cable "reality" shows. They cruise along under the public's radar for a few years, blow up when the general viewing public becomes aware of the show and everyone tunes in out of curiosity, then the ratings return to the baseline after most people realize that the shows are just one-trick ponies with little new to add each week (and viewers realize that the stars got the shows to begin with because they are whacked out). You saw it with Duck Dynasty, John and Kate Plus Eight, and now with 19 Kids. However, 19 Kids never became the cultural phenomenon the first two were, so the ratings drop back to its previous hard-core viewership won't be as steep.

That said, there are three reasons we will still be able to mock the show long after its ratings have cratered to a third of what they once were (which would still make it a pretty successful show for TLC)

1) Appearance fees. With all the talk of "TLC money" on this site, I think the average reader forgets that the family also makes a ton of money in appearance fees. They are not showing up at all these family values conferences (where the attendees pay a cover charge) for free. If the ratings decline, Jim Bob will be perfectly happy to take a greatly reduced payout from TLC to keep his family in the public eye and keep those appearance fees flowing.

2) They view this as a ministry. I'm sure that Jim Bob and Michelle have deluded themselves that they are not fame whores, but rather, simple folks preaching the gospel through their inane TV show. Quitting the show because it wasn't paying enough would be a tacit admission that they were in it for the money, so that won't be happening.

3) Fans who support the show as Christian TV. While I have never had this conversation about 19 Kids, I have had several conversations with fundamentalist friends who insist that I have to go out to the theater to show my support for some "Christian" movie or another (that I have no desire to see). These people feel an obligation to support entertainment that supports their world view. I think it's the same for the Duggars. I'd bet large sums of money that there is a baseline of Christian viewers out there who will be watching the show out of an obligation to support "family friendly Christian" television... regardless of whether it's any good. There are enough of those viewers out there that the show can avoid cancellation for a good long time (I'm sure that TLC would be happy to continue airing the show even if ratings dipped to 750,000).

I totally agree. There is only one thing that can cause the Duggar's to be cancelled no matter what the numbers are: the sponsors. If the sponsors balk, which they haven't so far, there could be a problem. I believe they are an accident waiting to happen, however. Stay tuned.

Regarding #3, remember when The Passion of the Christ came out and played to sold-out audiences? In my town, there was a Christian physician who bought out all the tickets several times a week and gave them away to people. The movie was sold out but most of the seats were empty. It wouldn't be stretch to think that happened in a lot of small towns throughout the country.

[AmericanAmigo]

There will always be a market for some type of reality shows but I find most are getting boring. 19 kids and counting is completely boring. I watch sometimes but fast forward through most of it. I skip the commercials. I am amazed at such a dull show being on the air.

[Toothfairy]

The ratings decline should not be a surprise to anyone who watches these so-called basic cable "reality" shows. They cruise along under the public's radar for a few years, blow up when the general viewing public becomes aware of the show and everyone tunes in out of curiosity, then the ratings return to the baseline after most people realize that the shows are just one-trick ponies with little new to add each week (and viewers realize that the stars got the shows to begin with because they are whacked out). You saw it with Duck Dynasty, John and Kate Plus Eight, and now with 19 Kids. However, 19 Kids never became the cultural phenomenon the first two were, so the ratings drop back to its previous hard-core viewership won't be as steep.

That said, there are three reasons we will still be able to mock the show long after its ratings have cratered to a third of what they once were (which would still make it a pretty successful show for TLC)

1) Appearance fees. With all the talk of "TLC money" on this site, I think the average reader forgets that the family also makes a ton of money in appearance fees. They are not showing up at all these family values conferences (where the attendees pay a cover charge) for free. If the ratings decline, Jim Bob will be perfectly happy to take a greatly reduced payout from TLC to keep his family in the public eye and keep those appearance fees flowing.

2) They view this as a ministry. I'm sure that Jim Bob and Michelle have deluded themselves that they are not fame whores, but rather, simple folks preaching the gospel through their inane TV show. Quitting the show because it wasn't paying enough would be a tacit admission that they were in it for the money, so that won't be happening.

3) Fans who support the show as Christian TV. While I have never had this conversation about 19 Kids, I have had several conversations with fundamentalist friends who insist that I have to go out to the theater to show my support for some "Christian" movie or another (that I have no desire to see). These people feel an obligation to support entertainment that supports their world view. I think it's the same for the Duggars. I'd bet large sums of money that there is a baseline of Christian viewers out there who will be watching the show out of an obligation to support "family friendly Christian" television... regardless of whether it's any good. There are enough of those viewers out there that the show can avoid cancellation for a good long time (I'm sure that TLC would be happy to continue airing the show even if ratings dipped to 750,000).

Most of their viewers are Christian. Every time I read comments about the Duggars it's always they're such a christian wholesome family. Or more people need to raise their children like the Duggars they raise their kids the right way.

[SassyPants]

Most of their viewers are Christian. Every time I read comments about the Duggars it's always they're such a christian wholesome family. Or more people need to raise their children like the Duggars they raise their kids the right way.

Ick, more people do not need to limit, isolate and withhold basic education from their children.

[Imagine20]

I wonder how many people really like them and watch because of that, versus how many people watch because they think they're just a freak show.

[Tinkks]

Ick, more people do not need to limit, isolate and withhold basic education from their children.

[roddma]

Reality TV has been called the modern version of the circus freak show. Not all shows fit this category, but most do. I feel most Duggar viewers watch for that reason.

Re Bates:

Though the Bateses are slightly more likable, I see them another hypocritical family who preaches against tv but puts themselves on it. They dont have the same income as the Duggars so they are more grounded. Gil at the least has a real business.I hope it doesnt disappear like JIm Bob's real estate job. I am sure they studied the Duggars on what not to do.

[Tiny Bubbles]

19kids, or an offshoot involving the adult kids, would make a GREAT soap opera. They already have a foot in both genres, in my opinion.

[Freefundies]

I wonder what the ratings were for Jill and Jessa's weddings compared to the regular show ratings. I also wonder what type of viewers will checkin for the upcoming 2hr special showing Jill suffering through childbirth.

[albanuadh_1]

Wish they would go back to specials. Maybe 2 per year.

[SassyPants]

Wish they would go back to specials. Maybe 2 per year.

I agree. And in terms of the legal adults per the law [not Gothard} they get to determine of they wish to participate or not.

[lilwriter85]

I wonder what the ratings were for Jill and Jessa's weddings compared to the regular show ratings. I also wonder what type of viewers will checkin for the upcoming 2hr special showing Jill suffering through childbirth.

I also wonder about the ratings for Jill and Jessa's wedding episodes vs the ratings for Josh's wedding episode. I think Jill/Derrick and Jessa/Ben seem to be getting more attention than Josh and Anna. I bet Anna is jealous about the new focuses on her sister-in-laws and their husbands.