Sean Hayes Blames NBC for His Low Ratings – But He’s Wrong

“Sean Saves the World” is the lowest-rated NBC show, except for two that have been cancelled

Sean Hayes may want to start clarifying: The “Sean Saves the World” star says one reason for the show’s low ratings is the network that airs it. But that network, NBC, is currently in first place.

“Sean,” meanwhile, is dragging it down with the lowest ratings of any NBC show this season that has not been cancelled.

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“To me, [the show] is working,” Hayes told The TV Page in a story posted Wednesday. “It’s just the struggle of the elephant in the room, which is, ‘How do you get viewers to NBC?’ NBC programs great shows, it just doesn’t have the eyeballs CBS does.”

In fact, four weeks into the 2012-13 season, NBC is the top-rated network in the key 18-49 demographic, with a 3.2 rating to CBS’s 2.6. Hayes is right that CBS gets more viewers overall. It averages 11.4 million to NBC’s 9.9 million. But NBC is still ahead of ABC and Fox.

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And NBC has no problem early in the week, when “Sunday Night Football” is TV’s top show and “The Voice” and “The Blacklist” have won every Monday this season. NBC’s biggest problem is Thursdays, when Hayes’ show airs. “Sean Saves the World” has a 1.3 rating, the same as the now-cancelled “Ironside.”

The only lower-rated show for NBC this season was the canceled “Welcome to the Family,” which led into “Sean” and had only a 1.0.

Hayes can blame some of his low ratings on his lead-in — but not all of them. “The Michael J. Fox Show,” which follows “Sean,” has managed to score a 2.2 despite the 1.3 lead-in from “Sean.”

Hayes also told The TV Page that both he and NBC executives are “confident” in the show. Hayes’ good track record with NBC may be one reason his show is still on the air: Besides breaking out on the network’s “Will & Grace,” he also produces NBC’s “Hollywood Game Night.”

NBC declined to comment for this story.

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