American Bible Challenge

[Matt Ottinger]

Early numbers show the debut of ABC (OK, that acronym won't really work, will it?) getting a whopping (by GSN standards) 1.73 million viewers and a decent 0.4 in the 18-49 demographic.  I believe that makes it GSN's highest-rated episode of anything ever. (Didn't the PYL special draw just over a million viewers?)  Granted, there were still more than fifty other cable programs with a bigger audience that same night, but for a network that averages around a quarter million viewers in prime time, that ain't bad.

[tyshaun1]

Early numbers show the debut of ABC (OK, that acronym won't really work, will it?) getting a whopping (by GSN standards) 1.73 million viewers and a decent 0.4 in the 18-49 demographic.  I believe that makes it GSN's highest-rated episode of anything ever. (Didn't the PYL special draw just over a million viewers?)  Granted, there were still more than fifty other cable programs with a bigger audience that same night, but for a network that averages around a quarter million viewers in prime time, that ain't bad.

Yes, the PYL special drew around 1.2 million during its 2nd hour, and nothing's really come close since; just to show you how impressive the ratings were for TABC. The bad news (good news?) for them is that "Beat the Geeky Chefs" lost 70% of its lead in audience.The important thing for GSN is how it holds up in its second week, but congratulations to them for a big gamble that paid off.

Tyshaun

[cmjb13]

Why does anyone care about debut numbers? They obviously won't hold up in the long run.

And anyways, the real ratings count after 3 weeks

[Matt Ottinger]

Why does anyone care about debut numbers? They obviously won't hold up in the long run.
And anyways, the real ratings count after 3 weeks

I think the fact that GSN got the best numbers, by far, for anything they've ever done ever is noteworthy.  So I noted it. I didn't state or suggest any more than that, though others have.

Meanwhile, we're all very impressed with how much you know about ratings.  Especially the part where you say the show won't always get that high a rating.  That's downright insightful of you.

[Don Howard]

Why does anyone care about debut numbers? They obviously won't hold up in the long run.
And anyways, the real ratings count after 3 weeks

I think the fact that GSN got the best numbers, by far, for anything they've ever done ever is noteworthy.  So I noted it. I didn't state or suggest any more than that, though others have.

Meanwhile, we're all very impressed with how much you know about ratings.  Especially the part where you say the show won't always get that high a rating.  That's downright insightful of you.

I love you so.

[Joe Mello]

just to show you how impressive the ratings were for TABC. The bad news (good news?) for them is that "Beat the Geeky Chefs" lost 70% of its lead in audience.

And the resulting half-million is still pretty decent for GSN, is it not?

As an aside I did a quick perusal of that ratings list and TABC came in 4th out of 11 8PM shows.

[TLEberle]

Was the game any great shakes? The first half sounds like a total slog but the last round (we'll tell you the topic, you get to research whatever you can) interesting. How's the entire package?

[cmjb13]

Why does anyone care about debut numbers? They obviously won't hold up in the long run.
And anyways, the real ratings count after 3 weeks

I think the fact that GSN got the best numbers, by far, for anything they've ever done ever is noteworthy.  So I noted it. I didn't state or suggest any more than that, though others have.

Meanwhile, we're all very impressed with how much you know about ratings.  Especially the part where you say the show won't always get that high a rating.  That's downright insightful of you.

As a general rule, the 3rd week after a new show debuts is usually what the audience will be.

Most recent example...Anger management...

There was a press release that this show set a scripted comedy cable record with 5.5 million viewers. 3rd week was 2.4. Finale drew 1.9 million.

This show did worse than the norm, though FX appears to still be happy with it

I can give you example after example of a show tooting its own horn for setting ratings records for people sampling a show but by the 3rd week, the ratings haven't held up.

[clemon79]

As a general rule, the 3rd week after a new show debuts is usually what the audience will be.

What part of "there were probably ways to communicate that that didn't have you coming off sounding like a complete douchebag" don't you seem to be picking up on?

[Don Howard]

As a general rule, the 3rd week after a new show debuts is usually what the audience will be.

What part of "there were probably ways to communicate that that didn't have you coming off sounding like a complete douchebag" don't you seem to be picking up on?

And I love you as well.

[Clay Zambo]

Was the game any great shakes? The first half sounds like a total slog but the last round (we'll tell you the topic, you get to research whatever you can) interesting. How's the entire package?

I liked it a lot.  Sure, there's only so much you can do with a straight quiz show, but I liked how the team dynamic works: you play together in the first segment; then you choose your strongest player to sit out the second round; then *only* that player comes back for the third round.  The low-scoring team is cut, then the two remaining teams do the study-for-10-minutes/best-in-60-seconds game to determine the winner.

[Neumms]

I liked it a lot.  Sure, there's only so much you can do with a straight quiz show...

Maybe, but without anything new except the subject matter, it needed to move way faster. It was like sitting through plagues. Like Abraham and Sarah waiting to conceive. Like Moses driving you to the Promised Land.

There were aspects that worked. The questions had some wit. Foxworthy was really good--funny, able to add tension without doing it the annoying NBC way. The gospel choir on set wasn't the best I've ever heard, but it added to the show. The background pieces on the contestants teetered toward sickening, but weren't too bad, definitely not as bad as You Deserve It.

The choose-your-strongest-player bit was the one fresh idea but came out of nowhere and left. And sure, the bonus round moved and was exciting, but answering as many as you can while timed is hardly a new idea. Giving them time to study was fairly preposterous--the topic left the whole Bible in play with 10 minutes to cram. Calling it "The Final Revelation" was the only bit of tacky. Otherwise, the game was handled very nicely, just not imaginatively.

[TLEberle]

the bonus round moved and was exciting,

Which round was the bonus round again?

but answering as many as you can while timed is hardly a new idea.

So?

[Tim L]

Got to see Bible Challenge for the first time tonight..Pretty good for the most part..Foxworthy is one of the few who could host a Bible Game Show, and really look like he's interested in the subject matter...The "Faithbook" segment was pretty unique and fun...The Gameplay was good..The most creative way to do it and be fair throughout..Not sure the choir adds that much to it, though they were pretty good singers..I hope this gets a chance to last awhile..

[Marc412]

If they're smart, they'll do another tournament next year.