Much has been made about the poor ratings received by The Next Great American Band.  When the idea for American Band was first announced near the tail end of last season's American Idol, the potential seemed limitless.  The Idol team could do no wrong.  You had Idol, So You Think You Can Dance and America's Got Talent – all big hits in their own right.  If it worked with singing, a talent show, and dancing, why wouldn't it work with bands?  Then, prior to the beginning of the Fall TV season, FOX announced the time slot for The Next Great American Band: Fridays at 8pm.  Fridays are where TV shows go to die.  Why would FOX place a big event show by the creators of TV's biggest hit (American Idol) in the worst possible time slot? 

It's possible that optimistic FOX executives thought they could re-invent Friday nights.  The show they had initially wanted to pair with American Band was Nashville, which had premiered in September.  Nashville was from the creators of Laguna Beach and The Hills which followed a group of young singers trying to make their way in the music haven of Nashville, Tennessee.  Unfortunately, the two never shared a Friday together – Nashville was canceled after only two episodes thanks to abysmally low ratings.  When The Next Great American Band premiered it was by itself on Friday and the ratings were very, very low.  This can be attributed to both the brutal time slot and general viewer apathy.  The question remains, though, could The Next Great American Band have succeeded in a better time slot.

Last week, The Next Great American Band shifted from 8pm to 9pm and was given a re-run of Don't Forget the Lyrics as a lead-in.  American Band received its highest amount of viewers since the premiere (2.99 million).  The series had been sitting at around 2.5 million or lower for most of its run.  If a re-run of a semi-popular show can increase the ratings for American Band significantly, wouldn't be reasonable to think that a mid-week time slot might have catapulted the series into ratings glory? 

FOX clearly had little faith in the latest production from Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe.  Whether the ratings could have been better is something we'll never know.  Even a significant improvement in ratings would leave the series far short of a legitimate success.  With only a couple more episodes of American Band left to air and a second season renewal out of the question, the series will become a mere footnote in the book of reality TV failures. 


-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of FOX)