The Office Nielsen Ratings, Season 5

87 comments

1. What is going on with all the TV ratings this season? It’s like all the popular shows are losing viewers.

   Oh well, at least TO still was solid in the demos.

2. I think other things factor into the ratings going down. The Office still goes #1 on iTunes everytime a new episode is released.

3. while i am certainly not running for the hills, it can’t be good that the show is losing a good chunk of viewers each episode. hopefully this doesn’t continue.

4. I think last night’s ratings were down a little due to the World Series. Numbers should be back to normal (8-8.5 million total viewers, 4.3-4.5 rating share 18-49) after baseball is over.

5. What is going on with all the TV ratings this season? It’s like all the popular shows are losing viewers.

   Oh well, at least TO still was solid in the demos

   The writer’s strike from last year is affecting the ratings this year… a lot of people have “forgotten” some shows so the ratings decline, plus more people are using new media (i.e. itunes, hulu, nbc.com, tivo) to watch the episodes than ever before

6. The Office seems to be doing okay when its lead-in, the awful “Kath & Kim”, loses a bunch of viewers from the already weak “Earl”. I’m guessing that as soon as “K&K” gets the boot, they may start filling in with re-runs of the Office at 8:30 or hopefully more super-sized new episodes. I’d actually love for NBC to show previous seasons of 30 Rock in that spot but the management at NBC isn’t making very many good decisions this season. “Knight Rider” renewed?

7. Yes the World Series isn’t helpful, but at least there are not 2 really big teams this year. Also Kath and Kim is not a good lead in. That show is doing terrible in the ratings.

8. I agree with a previous comment: iTunes and Hulu are HUGE hits with the fans. Also, Netflix now has something called Roku. Roku is where you basically get movies instantly via the Internet and it plays on your television with a little black box that is hooked up and connected to wireless Internet. I know that many Office fans watch seasons 1-4 on there (myself included!!) almost on a daily basis. I supplement my Office fix with watching Season 5 episodes on the NBC site and sometimes Hulu.

9. When DVR, online streaming, episode downloads and other ways to watch The Office are taken into account, the show gains millions of viewers. And because Office viewers are for the most part younger viewers, they are shifting towards these alternative ways to watch television. Take me for instance. I’ve watched every episode of the series, yet have not seen a single episode on broadcast television since season two.

10. I love this discussion. Thanks, everybody, for posting! :)

11. I also want to say that I do watch every episode on Thursday night, but I am on Hulu.com watching a replay of the episode at least twice during the week. Hulu is so great, would have never found Arrested Development.

12. There was an article in the New York Times blog TV Decoder on Oct. 17th about this. It said that NBC is trying to determine how many people are watching its shows each week by adding the number of people who are watching it on tv, on demand, online, etc and that it’s really difficult to get an accurate number. It did say that The Office is one of the most watched online shows!

13. When Pam returns, the ratings will go back up.

14. Yeah, I’m like Eric. I haven’t watched C.S.I. for years but I’m tuning in for the last of William Petersen’s episodes. Since Supernatural will never go down my season pass list from #1, TO gets watched the next day on hulu. I would think NBC probably likes hulu and itunes numbers because it’s very easy to see how many people have watched/downloaded the show, even hour by hour!

15. [200-word limit exceeded]

16. Wow, that was a nice upturn! highest numbers of the season? what gives? were other shows on reruns or something? was everyone watching because 30 rock was on afterwards?

17. No World Series, and 30 Rock back had to help, which is always a good thing, since Kath and Kim is not helping with a lead in audience.

18. The numbers will come back up. AS stated earlier, the baseball playoffs hurt a little and the election may take a few people to news channels. Last night’s episode got nice ratings and now we go into “sweeps” month, which should bring more viewers back. The trend in tv is less people are watching. More people record shows to watch later. I am sure the office is one of the safer shows.

19. When JAM is together, ratings go up… and, in my opinion, the show is better.

20. It’s good to see the numbers that high again. i am going to blame the MLB Playoffs on their rating slipping the past 3 weeks. It doesn’t matter The Office is still the BEST show on TV.

21. What a jump! Why do you think there was such a ratings boom this week? This is higher than the premiere, even. I’m really happy, but curious.

22. Now that’s more like it. 9+ million and 4.7 share rating.

    Where’d the people go last week?

23. I did a presentation in class last night about worksite wellness with examples from The Office and then I told my class to go home and watch it. So I’m pretty sure that’s why the ratings are up.

24. I think the reason why the ratings were so high was because LAST episode was so great. I’m not that familiar with how the ratings systems work, but I don’t think Jim and Pam being in these particular episodes had anything to do with the high ratings. Especially because all of the promos NBC put out did not feature JAM.

25. Maybe tuned in because it featured Halloween and they wanted to see Halloween themed? Just a guess.

26. Here’s something to be happy about. The Office bested the first half of CSI in the demo.

27. Two things contributed to the ratings gain this week: No baseball and the return of 30 Rock (whose first episode scored a SERIES high).

28. That’s good to hear, but I predict that next week’s episode will have lower ratings since yesterday’s episode was so awful. It pains me to say that, but wow.

29. I think the fact that Grey’s Anatomy has really gotten lame HAS to help our little show. I don’t think that plot development plays into ratings at all. It has more to do with counter programming. Glad to see 30 rock get some respect.

30. These ratings will be nothing come February when TO airs after the Super Bowl. Who knows, maybe it can attract a few of the 50+ million who watch the game?

31. that was a huge jump

32. Just goes to show how weak people thought Employee Transfer was – from EW.com: “Also of note: The Office (8.4 million) lost more than a million viewers from its previous installment”

33. I hate to say it, but my guess was spot-on.
    Imagine where the ratings would be now if Employee Transfer had been successful!

34. Not too worried – The Office is still in NBC’s top-five shows in terms of ratings, according to TV By The Numbers. And, its Web site is in the top five for all TV shows (probably all those people following OfficeTally’s links!!) – again, according to TV By The Numbers.

35. Dudes and dudettes, The Office is probably the show we have to worry the least about on NBC. It’s the top comedy plus it actually still does surprisingly well in the demos compared to other shows.

36. Yeah there’s definitely no reason to worry. The Office is such a necessity for the struggling NBC. It’ll be on for years to come. Which come to speak of it, isn’t Steve Carell signed on for one or two more years anyway?

37. Yeah, I think Steve Carell signed a three year extension, but I don’t remember how long ago that was.

38. Do you guys notice the difference in ratings from this season to last season?
    I don’t think it has to do with the writers strike…I think the season didn’t come back with episodes that exemplified the classic “Office” qualities for which we watch the show. I’m talking about complete awkwardness, realistic comedy, and a plot that didn’t drastically change with every episode.

39. I think this season has been better than last season, and I have enjoyed it a lot, and I think the numbers should be decent. however, if the shows are interrupted by a strike again I will just not even bother watching them when they come back. that includes the office, 30 rock etc anything that suspends because of the strike. That might not sound very union supportive, but my disdain is directed at the whole industry, if they can’t get together – all of them, to work it out in this economy, after last years truncated season then they shall face my non-interest in the future of their shows together. I hope they do get it together, because I love the Office and have all the DVD’s and quote it everyday etc. But i will stay away if they can’t work it out.

40. Arthur, if you’re writing comments on a tv show fansite, you’re undoubtedly watching this show for the long haul.

41. Tanster…didn’t the ratings go down for this week? 8.33 million < 8.4 million. Unless I’m missing something?

    [from tanster: yeah, i wasn’t sure; number of viewers went down, share went up …]

42. YAY! A jump in both ratings categories (number & share)…:)

43. True, the ratings went down this week from last week, but…..

    1.) They’re STILL getting 8+ million viewers. Wow!

    2.) The season premiere was not advertised very well. People probably tuned in last week and saw that it wasn’t on.

    3.) Presidential speech, people may have thought Office was cancelled.

    4.) SUPER BOWL! 20+ million expected!!!!

44. Oh. My. Goodness. 37.7 million people watched at least part of OUR little show, you guys! That blows my mind! I can’t wait to see the numbers for this Thursday’s ep.

45. Who are these 15.7 million people that watched PART of the episode?!?!?

46. woohoo!! The cast/crew totally deserve this recognition! Definitely well deserved :)

47. That’s awesome, they totally deserve it. Congrats to Paul for an extremely well written episode!

48. What figures I’d like to see are how many non-football fans (like me!) watched 6 minutes or more of the Super Bowl ONLY because they were waiting for The Office to start?!

    Nielsen ratings should go both ways! ;)

49. I think Stress Relief was the funniest episode I’ve ever seen. I have never laughed so much!

50. Woo-hoo! I hope some of those people who watched our little show for the first time on Sunday give it another try on Thursday night. Mindy wrote Lecture Circuit, and it’s rare for her to have a “miss”. The Injury remains one of the best eps of all time, IMO.

51. It was an excellent episode, so it’s no surprise.

52. I doubt many people expected a new episode on this Thursday since we’d just had one on Sunday.

53. Well that sucks.

54. That sucks royally, that was a great episode too. Guess the office just appeals to a particular audience.

55. Yea, that’s really not good. There should have been a lot more since the Super Bowl’s ratings were so high. Perhaps people think it always comes on Sunday’s or that there wouldn’t be a new one this week. If next weeks are this low (although they still aren’t bad) that isn’t good.

56. The problem is that people miss or forget the date and time of the episodes.

57. That’s not good news considering how many new viewers the superbowl episode got. I think this show is just not for everyone.

    I watched the superbowl episode with a group of people who were watching the show for the first time and they just didn’t find it that funny. I just don’t understand how they can’t like the show. I may have have to end my friendship with these people now lol.

58. While the ratings for Lecture Circuit were only 8.3 million, the 18-49 and 18-34 demos were second next to Grey’s Anatomy. You also have to figure that The Office has the highest rated DVR watches of any shows on TV, which I think calculates total viewership to over 10.5 million. I know of more people who watch the Office than any other show on TV, except maybe Lost.

59. Well I’m an Office freak and I’ve probably forgot to watch 5 episodes this season so far (including “lecture Circuit”).

    I think the Office is special though because there aren’t many shows that excel as much in DVD sales and merchandise as much as this show does. How many other shows sell bobble-heads, coffee mugs, t-shirts, note pads, calendars, board games, etc.,???

60. #59 Matt…- I’m the same way, I’m an office freak that watches the episodes over and over, but this season with all the different breaks that there have been, I’ve also probably missed a bunch of episodes.

61. Wow! Nice lil jump in ratings.

62. Ugh! Nasty lil drop in ratings.

63. Not surprised about the drop in ratings – there are hardly any promos (especially compared to 30 Rock) and I wouldn’t have known about the episode this week if not for a friend. Come ON, NBC.

64. WHOA!?!?!?!? :(

65. Finally the show’s lack of good, well-rounded storylines and cartoonish humor are showing in the mass exodus in even the long-time Office fan. Two simple things can stop the drop: stop writing people as cartoon characters (cat licking!!!) and bring Pam and Jim some actual real storylines to work with. I cannot believe how much they have wasted talents of the two best actors on the show this year.

66. Ouch! Was there something else big on in the same time slot last night?

67. 66- All the conference tournaments in college basketball were on last night so I’m sure that contributed. The only other time this year there were fewer than 8 million viewers was for Crime Aid which was during the World Series.

68. #65, I totally agree. I used to watch this show religiously for the first 3 seasons. This year I’ve only seen a handful of episodes, and have been disappointed every time. Like you said, this show has become a cartoon. If the ratings aren’t enough evidence that long-time fans have deserted the show, look at the number of comments here on OfficeTally after an episode. In seasons 2 and 3, there were usually 400+ comments after the episode. Now there are less than 100. That tells me that the show has casual fans who tune in to the show for the wacky antics, but that the show has lost many of its original devoted fans who enjoyed the subtle comedy.

69. 67/66 — Yeah, I wasn’t able to watch it last night because of the basketball. I had to end up finding it on the internet somewhere.

70. Well, it’s tough to tell with ratings. CSI and Grey’s both had their lowest ratings of the season too, I think.

71. 68|

    I would tend to agree, except the thing is, this season the ratings have jumped around a lot. And the season ratings have steadily increased over the years with seasons four and five being the highest rated seasons so far, especially in the demos.

    So it’s tough to say. But ratings-wise, it’s stronger than it’s ever been.

72. I attribute the ratings drop to a combination of it being Daylight Savings Time, and the fact that a few television markets aired basketball instead. Also, if you compare previous seasons, you will notice that the tail end of each and every season sees a drop in the ratings. I’m sure this season will be no different.

73. I’m so glad you guys mentioned basketball. I would have had no clue otherwise. :)

74. “I would tend to agree, except the thing is, this season the ratings have jumped around a lot. And the season ratings have steadily increased over the years with seasons four and five being the highest rated seasons so far, especially in the demos.”

    Yeah, I should have been clearer. The ratings for season 4 and 5 are higher because the show is now attracting lots of casual fans–ones who flip through the channels and end up on The Office because of the wacky antics that appeal to the masses. However, I believe that the show has lost most of its original hardcore fans who enjoyed the subtle humor. In other words, the show has been “dumbed down” to appeal to the masses.

75. Expect another drop in the ratings for the March 26 episode.

    Obama is preempting American Idol next Tuesday, so it’ll be on Wednesday and Thursday. That means American Idol results will be competing with The Office and 30 Rock. :(

    Oh I hope the smart fans of The Office don’t fall into the trap of the AI results show. It’s such a waste of time. Just watch the end! Or check online!

76. Wow! I guess their cliff hanger really helped draw in the viewers this week!

77. WHAO! I was NOT expecting 8.4 mil this week! Competing against March Madness and all…

78. I know quite a few people had mentioned this before, so I’ll just jump right on the band-wagon. I, too, blame NBC for their poor marketing of the show!

79. 74:

    I’m sorry, but that’s BS. Since when do you speak for the entire audience of Office fans? I’m hardly a “casual” fan. Ratings always go up and down throughout the season. You’re just making stuff up.

80. This comment, from the April 3 online edition of Variety, puts The Office ratings in context:
    “The Office” is also enjoying its highest-rated season to date, standing as the No. 2 half-hour comedy in 18-49 (behind “Two and a Half Men”) and No. 1 in adults 18-34.”

    Link

81. I’ll admit was watching the Celtics last night, but I was up all night watching my DVR lol. Vacation week : )

82. The ratings haven’t been GREAT the last several weeks, however, DVR viewership remains through the roof and the 18-34 share is still good.

83. Everyone’s comments are worrying me. Do we need to start a ‘Save The Office’ petition? The shows weren’t as strong as the beginning of this year, but they’ve gotten better.

84. 84- Don’t worry. Ratings are down for all network channels across the board due to the NBA playoffs. Broke and Casual Friday were on during the Bulls/Celtics series and both games went into overtime. This is not a problem with The Office, I assure you.

85. It would be a huge waste of resources to start a Save The Office campaign during its highest rated season yet

86. The season finale pulled in just a little over 6 million viewers, the lowest rating in 2 years for regular shows and season-finales. I’m not sure why ratings have been going down, perhaps it’s just the consistent failures of the rest of NBC’s programming bringing it down. Not sure, but for a season finale that’s not good at all. They need to get those ratings up next year!

87. I knew Grey’s season finale would kill us. Didn’t think it would be this bad. I bet The Office was heavily DVR’d though. Anybody have that info?