ARTICLE: ‘Promised Land’ Not Living Up to Its Name in the Ratings

[Errol]

Airing just two episodes thus far, the new primetime soap “Promised Land” is already not living up to its name in the Nielsen ratings.

Debuting Monday, January 24 on ABC, “Promised Land” averaged a mere 1.893 million viewers and a 0.22 rating in Adults 18-49 in Live+Same Day broadcast finals for episode one, reports ShowBuzzDaily. In week two (January 31), the series held its week ago demo but lost over 100,000 viewers (1.765 million vs 1.893 million) in Live+Same Day broadcast finals.

Overall, lead-in “The Bachelor” averaged 3.607 million viewers and a 0.77 rating in Adults 18-49 for the January 24 episode while attracting 3.537 million viewers and a 0.78 rating in Adults 18-49 for its January 31 episode.

For context, “The Bachelor” airs over two hours (from 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET/PT) and was the highest-rated or the second highest-rated show among the big four networks on both nights. Meanwhile, “Promised Land” airs at 10:00 p.m. and was the lowest-rated (including ties) or the second lowest-rated series on both nights. Also, the first two episodes were made available on Hulu the day after the series premiered (since January 25), marking the first time an ABC series was available on Hulu before airing on the network.

Courtesy of NBC

Further, on Monday, January 31, NBC’s special celebrating the life and career of the late Betty White (“Celebrating Betty White: America’s Golden Girl”) won its 10:00 p.m. slot with 4.274 million viewers and a 0.52 rating in Adults 18-49 which was the fourth highest-rated program of the night in the demo and the second most-watched overall.

“Promised Land” follows two Latin families vying for wealth and power in California’s Sonoma Valley. The series stars John Ortiz as Joe Sandoval, Cecilia Suárez as Lettie Sandoval, Augusto Aguilera as Mateo, Christina Ochoa as Veronica Sandoval, Mariel Molino as Carmen Sandoval, Tonatiuh as Antonio Sandoval, Andres Velez as Carlos, Katya Martín as Juana and Rolando Chusan as Billy and Bellamy Young as Margaret Honeycroft.

The show is written and executive produced by Matt Lopez. Adam Kolbrenner and Maggie Malina also serve as executive producers. Executive producer Michael Cuesta also directs. The series is produced by ABC Signature, a part of Disney Television Studios.

Note: The post ‘Promised Land’ Not Living Up to Its Name in the Ratings appeared first on the Soap Opera Network website.

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[DramatistDreamer]

Hm, I should probably try to watch an episode or two of "Promised Land" before trying to analyze those ratings, lol.

I watched a teaser and it didn't look bad but the fact that I didn't feel compelled to rush to watch it...

[Soapsuds]

I didn't care for it. I was bored. I'll stick to my Primetime telenovelas on Univision.

[Khan]

Even when a soap says it's a soap, it's still reluctant to be a soap, lol.

[DramatistDreamer]

I thought about whether this would have found more of an audience had it been presented on UniMas but it doesn't sound like it, if it bores you. 

EDT. Damn, autocorrect.

Edited February 8, 2022 by DramatistDreamer

[te.]

Well, I really enjoy it. It's very much an old school prime time soap though and I do wonder if that's just not a strong enough premise anymore. But oh well, I'll watch as long as it airs.

[DramatistDreamer]

And it's the fault of the daytime soaps (or the companies and networks that produce and air them) that they haven't been able to capitalize on the enduring appeal of continuing drama. Daytime dramas, in particular have been too slow to embrace innovation, different creative voices and truly diverse characters and stories. They have been and continue to be the architects of their own demise.

Some shows struggle to find an audience, but it sounds like some viewers tuned in for the premiere episode but didn't return. I'm curious as to whether that changes and viewers give it another chance. I also wonder how long ABC will stick with the series and if they cancel it, will another network or service pick it up. 

Edited February 8, 2022 by DramatistDreamer

[te.]

Honestly, most shows have some fall off from the premiere episode and in that respect falling 100k in viewers is minimal (not that it had much room to fall..). I'm worried though that ABC might end up pulling it if it gets too low as the ratings are pretty horrendous.

[Soapsuds]

It would do better on a Spanish station. I don't know if I'd have the same writers and producers though.

Univision had been a slump with their telenovelas too just like the daytime English counterparts until recently.  They had some modest hits and just recently had the highest rated telenovela in years with La Desalmada which had a 9.3 HH rating for it's season finale.  

It's a story of a wife getting justice for the death of her murdered husband. She goes on a mission trying to find out who murdered her husband and why. She vows to destroy that person and make them suffer as much as she has.

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[victoria foxton]

You made some great points. I haven't seen episode 3. But episode 2 was rather lackluster.  PL is a essentially a Spanish soap. So moving it to Spanish station would work. I think the show moving to a streaming service might help as well. 

Edited February 8, 2022 by victoria foxton

[Faulkner]

For me, they don’t really nail the tone (which is all over the place). It gives me a new appreciation for how Agnes Nixon balanced social consciousness, family drama, and soapy excess, because this show isn’t navigating that very well. Bellamy Young feels like she’s part of a whole other show.

[janea4old]

I don't have cable, so I can't see shows broadcast on ABC. Recently I got hulu and discovered that some ABC shows are uploaded to hulu the same day or night.

On the first night that Promised Land aired on ABC, I checked Hulu.  Episodes #1 and #2 both appeared on Hulu that night.  So I watched both together seamlessly.  Really enjoyed it! I liked the twist about the histories of the characters.

I was bummed to have to wait two weeks to see episode #3.

Stayed up last night to wait for Episode 3 to drop to Hulu.  Unfortunately #3 had too much exposition.  I agree with the above post that Bellamy Young doesn't fit.

Edited February 8, 2022 by janea4old

[DramatistDreamer]

That reminded me to check the ABC website and I see that episodes 1 and 2 are available to stream without having to sign in. 

I may check out the first episode later on and see what I think.

[Faulkner]

It’s been pulled from ABC (after next week’s episode). It will finish the season on Hulu.

 

[DramatistDreamer]

Question answered, I guess.