'Utopia' ratings plummet

Not good: Fox’s Utopia ratings dropped through the floor last night.

It was only the second episode of Fox’s big reality gamble, yet ratings fell 55 percent to a mere 2.5 million viewers and a 0.9 rating among adults 18-49. Granted, the series shifted from having a strong NFL lead-in for its Sunday debut to cold-opening Fox’s Tuesday night at 8 p.m. But this is the show’s regular time slot and it needs to perform competitively in this space. The ratings also declined slightly from the show’s first half hour to its second, which is not an optimistic sign.

By comparison, CBS’ Big Brother delivered 6.8 million viewers and a 2.3 rating in the same time slot, and at 9 p.m. NBC’s America’s Got Talent had 9.7 million and a 1.9 rating.

Utopia stranded 15 “pioneers” in a remote California area to build a new society. The show is envisioned to last an entire year and fills two slots on Fox’s fall schedule (the other is Fridays at 9 p.m.). The show effectively replaced Fox’s The X-Factor as its multi-night fall reality show, yet even enduring all the critical barbs, Factor‘s ratings were significantly higher than this.