Superman Homepage

2006 TV News Archives

May 23, 2006: “Smallville” Ratings Resurgence

The NY Times has published an article on how the young male audience has lifted the ratings for "Smallville" in Season 5.

Mr. Gough said, "Looking at what we were up against on that night - 'The O.C.' and 'Alias' and 'Survivor' - it was like, 'Oh, my God.' "

But rather than being crushed by those three shows, which directly compete for a similar group of young adult viewers, "Smallville" experienced a resurgence. For the season it was No. 1 in its time period among men 18 to 34, a hard-to-reach audience that would often rather play video games than watch television. (Over all it averaged 5.3 million viewers for new episodes, a slight increase over last year.) In the middle of the season Fox moved the "O.C." time slot back an hour; ABC's "Alias" moved to Wednesdays.

When the sixth season of "Smallville" begins in September, it will be on the new CW network, created by the merger of UPN and WB. Laura Caraccioli-Davis, executive vice president of Starcom Entertainment, who advises companies on product placement, said "Smallville" was one of CW's most valuable shows.

"To get young men to the screen, it takes a lot," she said. As for why "Smallville" experienced a ratings renaissance and caused its competitors to move, she said: "You just go back to the tortoise and the hare story. It's been a really strong, solid property that had good characters, good narrative."

Mr. Millar and Mr. Gough also said they thought "Smallville" would run for two more years - if it continues to do well - as the actors are signed through seven seasons. Mr. Gough said, "After that is when 'Smallville' and 'Superman' will sync up."

If you're a subscriber, you can read the complete article online at the NYTimes.com.