Sinking ratings, is nostalgia not working?

[Andrew NDB]

The Nick show debuted in 2012 with 3.92 million strong. The whole season they averaged about 2.9 million. Season 2 closed out averaging about 2.5 million. Season 3, significantly less at about 1.9. Season 4 even less at about 1.7... and "Trans-Dimensional Turtles," almost a new series low at 1.53 million viewers. Ouch.

Was "Trans-Dimensional Turtles" a bad idea? Are they overestimating the value of Fred Wolf nostalgia, or is the Nick show simply overstaying its shelf life?

[Phoenix Fire]

I kind of expect to see this sort of trend in many animated series. I'm sure ratings will fluctuate as the movies come out, but all these series seem to have a set shelf life. Perhaps we will see yet another new series around 2020.

[mrmaczaps]

The Nick show is just boring as heck... I've tried to like it but it seems pointless and in some cases, the jokes are gross and not very kid friendly.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Phoenix Fire

I'm sure ratings will fluctuate as the movies come out

But if anything, the Nick TMNT cartoon ratings took a sharp decline when the last movie came out. By that logic, the next one might just sink it.

[Vicky82]

I don't think Nickelodeon gives a damn about ratings anymore because the episodes are up on ITunes before they air.

Trans Dimensional Turtles was on Easter Day so most people were at church. It was on I Tunes before it aired. and Nick uploaded the episode on the website after it aired eastern time.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Vicky82

Trans Dimensional Turtles was on Easter Day so most people were at church.

Don't know if you can blame it on that... a couple months before it on 1/31, "The War for Dimension X" only garnered 1.35. Double ouch.

[Vegita-San]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

The Nick show debuted in 2012 with 3.92 million strong. The whole season they averaged about 2.9 million. Season 2 closed out averaging about 2.5 million. Season 3, significantly less at about 1.9. Season 4 even less at about 1.7... and "Trans-Dimensional Turtles," almost a new series low at 1.53 million viewers. Ouch.

Was "Trans-Dimensional Turtles" a bad idea? Are they overestimating the value of Fred Wolf nostalgia, or is the Nick show simply overstaying its shelf life?

venturing out of my safe area for a bit.

To me, it's just not that strong a show. and it's a shame because it has a potential to be.

The cast is amazing. the animation is great. The Music is superb.
But the show itself is just kind of....everywhere.

It can't decide if it wants to be brazenly serious, brazenly comedic, brazenly horror.

It forgets plot points. it throws out cool plot points that get forgotten about (aprils mother,anyone?) . Characters show up at random. There is NO REASON to have a Krang Prime if it's not a main character. why even bother having it?

Karai's all but been forgotten about. Shredder shows up when they remember he's in the show. Baxters been all but forgotten about.

this show is like its' being run by 5 different people and not one is on the same page.

And these super long breaks in between episodes isn't helping it either. by the time you get used to the show being back, it's gone again for two months.

This is the first turtle series I haven't seen episodes more than once. Me. one of the biggest turtle fans out there.

there's just not enough new ground covered. and the old ground that is revisited just isn't done well enough to capture my imagination. except leatherhead and Bebop and Rocksteady. those I think they got right. everything else, not so much.

this thing feels like it's run too much by committee rather than by fans with a plan.

[neatoman]

The Nickelodeon cartoon was originally meant to coincide with the movie, but then the movie got delayed which resulted in the cartoon debuting two years before the movie. It is my belief that the cartoon we have now was probably intended as placeholder that would eventually be replaced by (or molded into) a show based on the movie to emphasise brand name synergy. It's a rather common practice, shows like these don't typically last more than two or three seasons.

If this is correct, then the show will most likely end next year to be replaced with a new show a couple of months later. You can tell by the somewhat wishy washy story that the show has probably outlived it's intended lifespan, which is why kids might not feel like watching the show anymore.

As for nostalgia, I guess there aren't that many adults who get excited about the Fred Wolf Turtles anymore and I don't think children are that interested in a cartoon that hasn't been on the air for twenty years.

[Utrommaniac]

I think the problem is that they aired it on Easter Sunday, airing when most families would be at church for Easter service.

Now, it was probably enough of a bad move to have it set on Sunday at 11 in general (when most Sunday services take place), but Easter was probably a really bad time to have a special crossover.

[Vicky82]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

Don't know if you can blame it on that... a couple months before it on 1/31, "The War for Dimension X" only garnered 1.35. Double ouch.

But it was also on I tunes before it aired.

[Phoenix Fire]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

But if anything, the Nick TMNT cartoon ratings took a sharp decline when the last movie came out. By that logic, the next one might just sink it.

Good point. Its hard to say I guess, I just hope we don't see the next series mirror the movies. I know people have different opinions on the movies, but I for one wouldn't be ecstatic.

[NinjaPug]

Originally Posted by Vicky82

But it was also on I tunes before it aired.

Episodes have been out on iTunes before they aired dating back to S2. Ratings are falling and it has nothing to do with iTunes.

[Vicky82]

Originally Posted by NinjaPug

Episodes have been out on iTunes before they aired dating back to S2. Ratings are falling and it has nothing to do with iTunes.

Actually ITunes didn't air Season 3 episodes before they aired on Nick, only Season 2 episodes and the ratings were falling then.

I think the other reason the ratings are falling is because of Nickelodeons bad scheduling.

I expect a lot of people record the episodes now and watch later.

[ABrown]

Here's a thought: it's not that great of a show. If it wasn't "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", I wouldn't even watch the show. To me, the brand is all that the show has going for it.

[TMNachoT]

I´m not interested in this show, don´t like it. This has been my opinion since the middle of the first season.

[CyberCubed]

This thread is baffling. All cartoon shows decline in ratings after the first season, this happens in the history of anything.

Go look up the ratings for the 4kids series if its archived online anywhere, you'll see the same decline in ratings.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

This thread is baffling. All cartoon shows decline in ratings after the first season, this happens in the history of anything.

Go look up the ratings for the 4kids series if its archived online anywhere, you'll see the same decline in ratings.

I wish I knew more about cartoon ratings... but looking at something like Nick's Avatar: The Last Airbender, that never dipped below 3.5 million viewers its entire run. TMNT is now struggling to stay above a single million viewers... on the surface, that seems pretty dire.

[CyberCubed]

Avatar aired a decade ago. It began in 2005 and ended around 2008-2009, didn't it?

The whole media landscape is vastly different now than in the early 2000's. Now most kids watch episodes online, they don't even watch shows on TV anymore.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Avatar aired a decade ago. It began in 2005 and ended around 2008-2009, didn't it?

The whole media landscape is vastly different now than in the early 2000's. Now most kids watch episodes online, they don't even watch shows on TV anymore.

But even peeking at a recent show like "Sam and Cat" on Nick, that managed to stay afloat well above 3 million its whole run. Why would kids be more apt to not watch TMNT on TV but watch something like Sam and Cat on TV instead?

Seems pretty clear that the kiddies and audiences in general are just walking away from Nick TMNT.

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

But even peeking at a recent show like "Sam and Cat" on Nick, that managed to stay afloat well above 3 million its whole run. Why would kids be more apt to not watch TMNT on TV but watch something like Sam and cat on TV instead?

Because young 10-13 year old boys and girls enjoy seeing scenes like this: