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On Wednesday night, the most unpredictable thing happened: Masked singer revealed Rudy Giuliani as its newest contestant in disguise. Very few people at home are shocked — Deadline report during the former New York City mayor’s appearance on the show in February — but when Giuliani reprized his performance of George Thorogood and Terminator’s “Bad to the Bone,” judge Ken Jeong stepped in. walked off the stage in disgust. It’s not surprising that the show’s producers included former President Donald Trump’s adviser to gain attention. But the fact that the gambit didn’t work.
TV shows, be it news programs or reality series, controversial guest lines, lightning rods to get ratings. That is, using a cliché, one of the oldest tricks in the book. In fact, it’s a trick Masked singer previously pulled; the show featured former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin as a contestant in early 2020. However, that performance was dwarfed by news that Tom Hanks have Covid-19. Giuliani’s appearance, meanwhile, is overshadowed by (among other things) the fact that he has summons by the House committee investigating the January 6 uprising on the US Capitol for perpetuating bogus claims that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.
As the show aired on Wednesday night, Twitter lit up with comments – mostly negative – about Giuliani’s arrival. But all that buzz, often gold for a TV show trying to attract viewers, didn’t translate into great ratings. The show only garnered 3.6 million viewers, lowest in season hitherto. It seems the people who watched, did so just to verify that the puzzling moment they had read about did indeed happen — and Jeong walked away, which he did, declaring “I accomplished”.
Perhaps the viewer does too. As much as they love to watch the train wreck play on their TV screens, the fact that Giuliani doesn’t appear on Masked singer to snatch the ratings proves that there is a limit to this type of stunt casting. Features former White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Dancing with the stars tiptoe in line; Giuliani seems to have gotten over it. Sometimes the lightning rod just blows you up.
Masked singerThe drop in ratings comes at a precarious time for network television. Yes, the industry has faced stiff competition from streaming services for years, but broadcast television has recently lagged behind. Only this week Nielsen reported Streaming content accounted for about 30 percent of viewers’ TV usage in March, while broadcast market share fell below 25 percent. Cable TV makes up the majority of viewing time — 37 percent — but that’s largely driven by news outlets reporting on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. And if we’ve learned anything this week, it’s that traditional TV can’t just jump into the streaming game and expect to capture viewers, even if that streaming service is offering it. news. (REST IN PEACE, CNN +.)
