Glee | Pure Dancing with the Stars

DWTS Season 14 – Oh Come On, That’s Not Gonna Happen!

This is a new series that I decided to write in order to reduce my exasperation that comes from reading “DWTS” and “Dancing with the Stars” twitter searches every day. Partly based in annoyance and partly based in sympathy…I just need to vent a bit. And maybe save some people some time.

What do I mean, you ask? Well, the title pretty much says it all. Everyday I see comments, petitions, made up rumors and the like that are so totally implausible and so…not gonna happen…that it’s hard not to write to the posters and explain why they should save their breath and/or their time.

The number one idea that got me started down this road guaranteed to piss someone off is the Twitition going around to get Cory Monteith (Glee) on DWTS as a celebrity dancer. While I appreciate the passion that fans have for their favorite celebrities, don’t waste your time on this one kids. I like Cory as much as the next Gleek, but there are several reasons why you won’t see Cory on DWTS in the next few years. For one thing, he’s not insane. He’s riding a popularity wave right now, even though DWTS is much higher rated than Glee is in total viewers. The single most important reason why he won’t be on DWTS is that he’s not only on a hit TV show…he’s on a hit TV show ON ANOTHER NETWORK. Soap stars who aren’t on ABC can’t get on the show even when they desperately want to do the show…like Michelle Stafford from Y&R, who would look amazing with Derek. It’s not likely to happen even though she can be seen in the audience during the season and her soap tapes at the same studio. It’s never been publicized, but it’s a widely held belief backed up by years of anecdotal evidence that ABC will not cast stars of current shows from other networks on this show. The end.

All that said – I sure would love to see Heather Morris and Harry Shum busta move on a results show. Derek was hanging out with Mark Salling over New Years, maybe he can have another idea that includes those two and Mark can hook him up. Hey, I can dream too.

Speaking of petitions…there is one that Chelsie fans are spreading around trying to get her back on the show. Again – I really appreciate the desire, especially as a person who’s fav has sat out a season. You miss them. I get it. For this to work, you will need THOUSANDS of signatures, otherwise it is unlikely to make an impact. It’s simple math, really – the show is watched by 20 million people, on average. Anything less than 10 percent of that number is unlikely to have an impact. There is NO indication that the professional dancers have any impact on ratings by their presence OR absence. Don’t waste your precious time…besides, I think the odds are very good that she’ll be back if they find her a tiny guy to dance with. Sitting out one season is not necessarily a death nell. Lacey sat out a season against her will and she came back. Chelsie will be back too. But if anyone here is seriously worried that I’m wrong, do a search on twitter and sign the petition. It won’t hurt anything, for sure.

I saw one thing today that actually made me laugh out loud. Someone posed the question in a poll “Should Maks date Kirsti Alley??” Like it was a real possibility. Like we get to vote on it. Okay, so a youngster has shipper dreams. We’ve all been there. But Oh dear lord. First off….oh come on, that’s not going to happen!! Secondly – you all DO realize that we don’t actually have a say in who Maks and/or Kirsti dates, right?? I mean…NO SAY. The show needs to come back on again, and quick. The boredom is making some people act strangely. Or they just want a bunch of like-minded followers. Who can say?

My last bit of exasperation of the day is ABC’s fault, the twerps. We are now on the third consecutive season where ABC/DWTS encourages people to “cast the next season” of the show. The result is massive online campaigns to get a variety of stars on the show….including those who are on other networks, and we already discussed why this doesn’t work. This makes me say it in all caps: OH COME ON!!!! How many people who have had massive twitter campaigns for their favorites, encouraging people to “go vote” on the abc website have actually made it on to the show?? ZERO. If any one of those people get selected it will be pure blind luck…or someone they already desperately wanted anyway. Since no one has been chosen the past two seasons, why do people insist on wasting hours a day (clogging my twitter feed) begging people to go vote?? Do they work for ABC??

Granted, ABC never claims that it is an actual contest. It phrases it in much the same way that Vogue phrases her polls…asking what readers think. The big difference is, of course – we have no actual connection to the show (not to mention that we actually try to limit it to ONE vote). The very nature of the DWTS website lends the question some…plausibility. There are people who think they actually have a chance. All they really succeed in doing is giving a whole bunch of slow season hits to the website guaranteed to keep the ad revenue high. Which of course makes it genius, albeit extraordinarily annoying. Please quit clogging my twitter feeds with spam request to “vote for…” Please?

Until next time, sports fans!!

Dancing with the Stars Ranks 3rd in “Top Content Power Ratings”

Well, this may only be of interest to nerds like me, but I find it facinating; and I didn’t know it existed before today. It came up because “upfronts” are next week, which have to do with new show pilots – I guess they screen them and then the networks buy them or not. I have a friend who works on these – I suppose I could ask for more info, but that really isn’t the point of this post.

The Top Content Power Ratings are described in detail by Consumer Electronics Net (click to read the whole article):

NEW YORK, NY — (Marketwire) — 05/12/11 — For the fourth year in a row, American Idol has topped the Content Power Ratings report, followed by Glee, which moved into the No. 2 slot, after debuting at No. 9 on last year’s rankings.

Optimedia US (www.optimedia-us.com) created the report, which is in its fourth year and based on a proprietary metrics system that goes beyond traditional audience ratings to measure a show’s true commercial value and footprint. Content Power Ratings 4.0 factors in total cross-platform audience size, involvement, and advocacy — providing the industry’s only TV ranking system across three screens — TV, web and mobile.

This year, Optimedia reported a greater impact and influence in the rankings from the growth of social media.

While American Idol (#1) continued to dominate the popular culture across all three screens in 2010, Glee (#2) showed an impressive gain in terms of audience involvement, advocacy and overall search volume. It also has some 13 million Facebook fans and was the show that got the most press mentions in 2010. Dancing with the Stars ranked third, meaning that the top three shows in 2010 in terms of audience delivery, involvement and advocacy across multiple platforms had musical performance as their core offering.

“Content owners and advertisers are becoming increasingly aware of the influence that social media has on television viewing behavior. Content Power Ratings 4.0 is the most comprehensive measurement system in the marketplace today for evaluating the equity of television programs,” said Greg Kahn, EVP, Business Development at Optimedia US.

Maureen Bosetti, EVP, Broadcast Buying Director at Optimedia US, said, “Content Power Ratings gives dimension to the content available across multiple screens so we can more effectively place our clients’ creative in the right environments. This report enables us to tap into sponsorship opportunities across multiple platforms and amplify our client’s message where consumers are most engaged.”

I guess they are starting to realize – or maybe they have for a while – that the Nielsen ratings aren’t the end all be all of television. This is facinating, and it gives hope to shows that don’t seem to make the cut on the Nielsens but which have a strong online presence. Hollywood Reporter goes into more detail on the list itself:

NEW YORK – American Idol, Glee and Dancing with the Stars are the top three TV shows in the Content Power Ratings for 2010 that media agency Optimedia U.S. unveiled Thursday and that look at TV shows’ overall viewer equity based on audience delivery (across TV, Internet and mobile), involvement and advocacy, particularly in the social media realm.

South Park and Family Guy, ranked 211th and 88th in the Nielsen ratings, round out the top five, according to media agency, which announced its latest findings just ahead of upfront week.

Last year’s top five shows in the ranking, which the company has done since 2008, were Idol, Lost, Dancing, Grey’s Anatomy – which this year dropped to number 11 – and House – down to 14.

Two and a Half Men continues to have “real equity” and moved up from the 15th to the 10th spot last year as it performed well in all three measures, according to Optimedia.

Beyond the music-themed top shows, Boardwalk Empire was the top-ranked new show on the Optimedia list at number 21 as a rabid fan base made up for a relatively small audience. Hawaii Five-0 and The Event followed in the ranking of top new shows.

Most improved series in the overall rankings were The Big Bang Theory, which moved from the 24th into the eighth spot, Modern Family, which ranks 16th, up from spot 50, The Vampire Diaries (from 61 to 29), Cougar Town (95 to 42) and Breaking Bad (92 to 75).

South Park is the most-watched show online, and Family Guy has more Facebook friends than any other series, according to Optimedia.

Social media winners highlighted by Optimedia include Idol and Comedy Central’s Tosh.0, which the firm said has grown its ratings driven by high engagement on Twitter.

Positive social media buzz also helped such shows as Chuck, which took the top spot in this category, and The Game, which ranked sixth. Both shows avoided cancellation partially due to online buzz, Kahn highlighted.

Optimedia’s ranking of late-night shows put Saturday Night Live on top, followed by Conan and The Daily Show.

Idol last year showed its “unparalleled staying power,” even ahead of its new panel of judges, said Kahn. He pointed out its top Nielsen ratings position and its number one position in the number of Web visits and in the comScore mobile rating.

Meanwhile, Glee is a true “powerhouse” and the top challenger to Idol’s dominance thanks to such things as 13 million Facebook friends, its number one ranking in terms of press mentions and nearly all-positive online buzz, he said.