Logo

After Beating CBS in Court, New ABC Reality Show Loses in a Court That May Matter More: the Nielsens

Jun 19, 2012  •  Post A Comment

All the legal wrangling and hype generated by a legal challenge from CBS apparently didn’t help ABC get its new reality show "The Glass House" off the ground. The show premiered to weak viewer numbers Monday night — even falling short of a CBS rerun that aired at the same time.

TVbytheNumbers.com reports that “Glass House” opened in the 10 p.m. time slot with a 1.6 average rating in the key 18-49 demo, according to Nielsen overnights. A rerun of CBS’s “The Big Bang Theory” airing at the same time pulled a 1.8 average, followed by a 1.4 for a rerun of “Two and a Half Men.”

The “Glass House” premiere was made possible when ABC prevailed in a court challenge by CBS, which argued that the new show is too much like its own “Big Brother.” As previously reported, a judge late last week rejected CBS’s effort to obtain a restraining order to block the ABC show.

ABC, whose all-reality lineup included a two-hour installment of “The Bachelorette,” did beat CBS’s all-repeat lineup for the night overall. But Fox, with its own all-reality lineup of “Hell’s Kitchen” and “MasterChef,” won the night, with NBC — and another all-reality lineup, consisting of “America’s Got Talent” and “American Ninja Warrior” — coming in a close second.

When the dust settled, it was Fox on top for the night with a 2.4 average rating in viewers 18-49, followed by NBC (2.3 average), ABC (2.0) and CBS (1.3). NBC won total viewers with 7.6 million to 6.0 million for ABC, 5.6 million for Fox and 5.2 million for CBS.

One Comment

  1. I watched the first five minutes of the Glass House. All of the players were, in my opinion, completely phony and unlikable. Thank goodness I had my remote nearby.
    A total piece of crap.

Your Comment

Email (will not be published)