The email that I just sent to ABC

Just mere moments ago I fired off the following email to the people you will find listed in the sidebar to the right....

I am not trying to make an argument for you to keep Women's Murder Club on the air from a purely emotional standpoint. I just want to show you some hard data that I discovered when looking at the ratings for all of the dramas on ABC.

In looking at the ratings of shows that were renewed, you will notice several interesting items.

• The only shows that showed a steady increase in the target 18-49 demographic post-strike are: Women's Murder Club. Yes, you read that correctly. Only one show and it was WMC.
• With the exception of a one-time showing on a Sunday after Desperate Housewives, Eli Stone's ratings have been moving in a steady downward trend.
• Boston Legal started the season out with strong ratings, which quickly fell with the exception of a couple of April airings.
• The ratings for Dirty Sexy Money may be the sharpest decline. Each week they lost viewers, ending with only 6.91 million viewers on their last airing.
• Out of nine original episode airings, Pushing Daisies only shows three notable instances of having viewership numbers greater than Women's Murder Club.
• In fact, Pushing Daisies numbers seem to be declining in the same manner as Dirty Sexy Money.
• Ugly Betty had a strong start to the 2007-2008 season. By November, their numbers were closer to those of Women's Murder Club. In fact, new episodes since the writer's strike are actually having less viewers than Women's Murder Club post-strike episodes.
• Women's Murder Club did not suffer a decline in viewership numbers post-strike, despite a change in night and time.
• Returning ABC shows that suffered from a decline in viewership numbers post-strike: Eli Stone, Boston Legal, Brothers & Sisters, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, and Ugly Betty. Note that this includes all those that actually returned with new episodes after the strike.

If you look at the ratings of your dramas you will come to the same conclusions. If you do not have an intern with that info at the ready, I have already compiled it for you at: http://savewmc.blogspot.com/

Now, I am sure you might say that WMC is a rather expensive show to make. I will give you that one (even though it does not have to be - trim back those explosions and car chases!). But is it really that much more expensive than Pushing Daisies (special effects) or Ugly Betty (cast $$$)? I also suspect that some of the cast of Dirty Sexy Money could be pricey. And I won't even mention how pricey the cast of Boston Legal must be since you brokered a "special" deal with David E. Kelley so you could get Life on Mars.

In conclusion, a look at the facts can only yield two possible conclusions as to why Women's Murder Club is not on your fall line-up or as a mid-season replacement.

1. The powers that be at ABC are sexist.
2. The powers that be at ABC are seriously bad at math.

I also can't help but wonder how the companies that advertise on ABC would feel knowing that they will be reaching a lesser audience with shows like Dirty Sexy Money and Eli Stone than they would have with Women's Murder Club?