‘Rock Center’ Debut Got Fewer Viewers Than ‘Playboy Club’

Television viewership was down considerably last night, as people got their fat asses off their couches to take their dumb wiener kids out trick-or-treating. But viewership was ESPECIALLY low for “Rock Center,” which debuted on NBC last night; only 4.1 million people watched the new Brian Williams show.

That is below the average for the canceled The Playboy Club that Rock Center replaced (down 38% in the demo from The Playboy Club premiere last month) and lower than the performance of NBC’s veteran newsmagazine Dateline on the less-trafficked Sunday night. It marked NBC’s lowest Monday debut ever… NBC (1.2/3, 4.3 million) once again finished fifth on Monday among adults 18-49 behind the other major English-language broadcast networks and Univision. [Deadline]

“We’re not doing this as a ratings play. We’re not kidding ourselves, we know it’s going to take some time to get established,” said NBC News president Steve Capus during a conference call with reporters Oct. 24. [THR]

Well, at least NBC’s being clear that it’s not making a ratings play. I guess in that regard, “Rock Center” is a huge success.

(I don’t know what’s going on in that picture, by the way. Brian Williams just looked lonely, so I gave him some sad animal friends.)

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