While politics, particularly in this day and age, can draw out the most passionate of feelings from the American electorate, it’s apparently nothing compared to Honey Boo Boo.
At least that’s the case if you judge these things by TV ratings. And really, what other fair way is there to judge these things.
The Hollywood Reporter points out that for all the time and effort spent worrying over, broadcasting and analyzing the goings-on at the Republican National Convention, a reality show spinoff about a redneck family and their beauty pageant daughter smoked the cable outlets in the ratings.
Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, TLC’s controversial reality show about a self-proclaimed redneck family and their Toddlers and Tiaras daughter, hit another ratings high Wednesday night. The fourth episode of Honey Boo Boo pulled in just shy of 3 million viewers at 10 p.m., according to Nielsen overnight ratings, growing 30 percent from last week’s 2.3 million haul. In the demo, Honey Boo Boo did even better. The half-hour series’ showing among adults 18-49 bested all other cable outings for the night — including coverage of the Republican National Convention — to pull a 1.3 rating.
Of course, had the organizers thought to include more of the bizarre content that Clint Eastwood mustered up for his surprise visit to the podium Thursday night, perhaps there would have been a fighting chance against the force of nature that is Honey Boo Boo. Or maybe they could just sign her up for a speech – call it outreach to women voters.
If you’ve missed the talents of the family, a look at Honey’s world:
Of course, it could be the ratings were not just affected by Honey Boo Boo. There was another force of nature to hit the convention in the form of Hurricane Isaac.
Nate Silver blogs at FiveThirtyEight that there were a few bounce factors, Isaac included, that contributed to the lower ratings.
Ratings for the final two nights of the Republican convention were down quite a bit from 2008, declining by about 30 percent overall. The ratings decline should not really be a surprise. Whereas, in 2008, Senator John McCain announced his running mate, Sarah Palin, just a few days before the convention, making her a national sensation, Mitt Romney rolled out his choice of Representative Paul D. Ryan three weeks ago, perhaps limiting the buildup to Tampa, Fla. The convention was also shortened by, and had to compete with, Hurricane Isaac. And the security in and around Tampa was airtight, limiting protests and distractions — but perhaps also the spontaneity and newsworthiness of the event.
