DROP DEAD DIVA (LIFETIME)
Scheduling history: Aside from the second half of the two-hour second season finale and sixth season premiere, all of Drop Dead Diva's run aired on Sundays at 9:00.
See (who saw) how it all began: Drop Dead Diva began its run on July 12, 2009 with 2.8 million viewers. I don't have a demo for that airing, but based on how the rest of the season skewed it was most likely either a 0.8 or 0.9. It hung around a 0.8 for most of the first half of season one, then perked up to more of a 0.9 level in the second half of the season.
The best of times: The series high point was just past the midpoint of season one, when the show scored 3.41 million viewers and a 1.1 demo on 8/30/09. Though the show dropped a bit in subsequent weeks, the second half of that season was really the only time the show was able to hit a 0.9+ demo on a fairly consistent basis.
The worst of times: Drop Dead Diva then dropped just under 10% in each of its next two seasons. In the first four seasons, its worst performance was on Labor Day weekend in 2011, when it dropped below two million viewers and to a 0.5 demo on 9/4/11. But it hit another three 0.5's at the end of season five, the first episodes that the show had aired in the fall against regular season competition. Season six was worst of all, mostly a mix of 0.4 and 0.5 ratings (and the two-hour premiere, not listed among cable's top 100 for the day, may have gone even lower).
Then vs. now: For a network that has a very checkered recent history in scripted development, Drop Dead Diva was long the only show outside of Army Wives that could pull a reasonable number. But it was another show (like TNT's Leverage) that always felt like it was one big downturn away from a less-than-reasonable level. The funny thing about Drop Dead Diva is that it got cancelled after season four, before that downturn ever happened. Reports were that Lifetime was looking to go "edgier" with The Client List a recent success and Marc Cherry's Desperate Housewives-esque Devious Maids on the way. But Lifetime soon rethought the Diva axing, and it was probably a good idea to have this show on the roster considering the behind-the-scenes implosion that killed The Client List and then the cancellation of Army Wives. It was down but respectable in season five, but the end came after a much weaker run in season six.
Adults 18-49 info by season:
| Seas | Year | Timeslot | Avg | y2y | Lo | Hi | Results | Grade |
| 1 | Summer 2009 | Sunday 9:00 | 0.88 | 0.7 | 1.1 | |||
| 2 | Summer 2010 | 0.80 | -9% | 0.7 | 1.0 | |||
| 3 | Summer 2011 | 0.73 | -9% | 0.5 | 1.0 | |||
| 4 | Summer 2012 | 0.76 | +5% | 0.6 | 0.9 | |||
| 5 | Summer 2013 | 0.63 | -18% | 0.5 | 0.8 | C+ | ||
| 6 | 2013-14 | 0.43 | -32% | 0.3 | 0.6 | D- |
Historical-adjusted ratings by season:
| Seas | Year | A18-49+ | Label | Now15 | y2y | Lo | Hi | Premiere | Finale |
| 1 | Summer 2009 | 29 | 23 | 37 | 0 | 30 | |||
| 2 | Summer 2010 | 28 | 25 | 36 | 36 | 32 | |||
| 3 | Summer 2011 | 29 | 20 | 39 | 39 | 28 | |||
| 4 | Summer 2012 | 32 | 26 | 39 | 36 | 39 | |||
| 5 | Summer 2013 | 30 | 23 | 36 | 31 | 25 | |||
| 6 | 2013-14 | 23 | 16 | 31 | 16 | 24 | |||
For more on The War of 18-49, my look at the history of primetime TV's veteran shows, see the Index.
