Madonna’s Televised ‘Confessions on a Dancefloor’ Tour Ratings A Flop in United States
Madonna Concert a U.S. Ratings Flop
Madonna concert a flop – Metro.co.uk
by metrowebukmetro
Nov 29, 3006
A televised Madonna concert on NBC was a flop, it has been revealed, with only four and a million viewers tuning in.
Madonna: The Confessions Tour – Live From London, was billed as a gala spectacular on the network and was broadcast the night before Thanksgiving.
But apparently, the Material Girl is not the hot property she once was – the show came 78th in the ratings charts, being beaten by, well, almost everything on at the same time on the major channels.
The show was recorded on the singer’s recent tour and had to undergo some snipping before it was ready for viewing.
Most famously, the controversial moment in which Magde is seen hanging from a crucifix was cut for the the broadcast.
It was taped at London’s Wembley and was touted as the first time Her Madgesty had ever done a concert special for a network.
Sadly, it seems that at the moment people are more interested in the star adopting Malawian baby David Banda than they are in her music.
MADONNA CONCERT SPECIAL FAILS TO SCORE RATINGS
The controversial broadcast of MADONNA’s CONFESSIONS tour special on US TV failed to lure viewers and ended up finishing fourth in its time slot.
US network NBC made headlines when it censored the concert and refused to broadcast controversial footage of the pop star hanging from a crucifix during one of her songs.
The special MADONNA: CONFESSIONS TOUR was broadcast on Wednesday (22NOV06), the night before Thanksgiving, and failed to find an audience.
Among those shows beating Madonna were CBS drama JERICHO, ABC’s SHOW ME THE MONEY and Fox broadcasting of the movie CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN.
28/11/2006 03:28
Charlie Brown Feasts, Madonna Gets the Crumbs
By Lisa de Moraes
Wednesday, November 29, 2006; Page C01
Charlie Brown outstripped Madonna last week — in the ratings. That’s among kids, teens, young adults, old adults. Everybody. And for this, we give thanks.
Here’s a look at the week’s gravy and mincemeat:
WINNERS
“A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.” This year, about 9.4 million people gobbled up this old holiday feast on ABC — its biggest Thanksgiving crowd in five years.
Later in the week, Horsy Girl [Madonna], cracking her whip on her “Confessions Tour” over on NBC, clocked about 5 million fewer viewers — Charlie’s never done that badly on ABC.
Also, the “Peanuts” character, who was born the same decade as Madonna, snared about twice as many young viewers as Madge. He also thumped her in every other demographic, including older viewers and kids.
In fact, this holiday classic and a new “He’s a Bully, Charlie Brown” are now this TV season’s two most-watched broadcasts among kids.
LOSERS
Madonna. Only 4.6 million viewers caught Faux Brit Girl on NBC Wednesday.
The network doesn’t seem to have much luck with Kabbalah Girl.
At various points in her Wednesday 8-10 p.m. slot, she got beat by the likes of William Shatner (“Show Me the Money”), Mandy Patinkin (“Criminal Minds”), Steve Martin (“Cheaper by the Dozen”) and Univision’s telenovela “La Fea Más Bella.”
Back in ’03, when she sat down with Matt Lauer to discuss her fabulousness, it resulted in the lowest-rated Tuesday “Dateline” of the season, though, in fairness, her appearance on “Will & Grace” that same year, playing a limber secretary in a bad wig, scored nearly 18 million viewers.
ABC’s Day Break Appears Broken – Contact Music
In its second week as a replacement for Lost, ABC’s Day Break appeared truly broken Wednesday night, as it drew a meager 3.4 rating and a 6 share in the 9:00 p.m. hour.
By contrast, CBS’s Criminal Minds, which had been running neck-and-neck with Lost all season and had managed to take a narrow lead before Lost’s current hiatus, dominated the hour with a 10.3/17.
Even more disappointing perhaps was the poor showing for the NBC special Madonna: The Confessions Tour Live. The first hour of the telecast, which had received heavy publicity, drew a 3.3/5, while the second hour dipped to a 3.2/4.
The special drew plenty of flak when it was reported originally that it would contain a scene in which Madonna hangs on a crucifix. After angry protests from religious groups, NBC removed the scene from the special.
23/11/2006
Madonna Special Turkey – E! Online, Nov 28, 2006
By Joal Ryan
Tue, 28 Nov 2006 04:23:05 PM PST
Madonna is many things, but apparently, a holiday favorite she’s not.
The performer’s concert special, Madonna: The Confessions Tour—Live from London, airing on NBC the night before Thanksgiving, drew only 4.6 million out of the kitchen and before the TV hearth.
A turkey of Butterball proportions, the show placed 78th in the latest Nielsen Media Research rankings.
Madonna had the stuffing knocked out of her by Thanksgiving Eve offerings both traditional and not. Fox’s broadcast of the 2003 family comedy Cheaper by the Dozen (66th place, 6.4 million) qualified as the traditional; CBS’ post-apocalyptic series Jericho (37th place, 9.7 million) qualified as the not.
Live from London, taped last summer at the U.K.’s Wembley Stadium, was billed by NBC as Madonna’s first-ever concert special for a broadcast network. Making the Material Girl fit for prime time took some work, with NBC, under pressure from religious groups, excising footage of the singer hanging out on a crucifix.
The religious controversy was nothing compared to the firestorm Madonna faced for her planned adoption of a Malawian boy, with the singer accused by some of buying her way out of the usual red tape.
As far as the TV special was concerned, the controversies created no ratings sparks. Or maybe they deadened them.
Other ratings highlights for the TV week ended Sunday:
ABC’s Desperate Housewives (first place, 21.4 million) is still back.
NBC’s Heroes (10th place, 16 million) is still climbing.
ABC’s What About Brian (72nd place, 5.4 million) is still very lucky to have been renewed for the entire season.
With every weak passing week, Day Break (74th place, 5.1 million) is making Lost look bigger to ABC.
The annual USC-Notre Dame gridiron clash was a big hit for ABC’s Saturday Night Football (16th place, 14.6 million). It was less so for the Fighting Irish.
Fox’s House (13th place, 15.2 million) deserves a medal for making a mountain out of the molehill-size lead-in provided by Standoff (77th place, 4.8 million).
ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy (third place, 18.51 million) took the Thanksgiving night round against CBS’ CSI (sixth place, 17.17 million).
ABC’s Ugly Betty (way down to 48th place, with 8.7 million viewers) is thankful Turkey Day comes but once a year.
CW’s 7th Heaven (80th place, 4.2 million) is taking to Sunday after a lifetime on Monday.
ABC’s The Nine (83rd place, 4.1 million) has been taken off Wednesday after seven episodes.
Fox’s Prison Break (38th place, 9.6 million) hit a season high in viewers.
The 2006 American Music Awards (32nd place, 10.8 million), as aired on ABC, hit an all-time low in viewers. It was down about 1 million from last year, about 37 million from 1984.
William Shatner’s romantic moves helped ABC’s Boston Legal (18th place, 13.5 million) to a perfectly respectable Sunday outing.
Shatner’s hippy-hippy-shake moves couldn’t help ABC’s Show Me the Money (52nd place, 7.8 million) approximate Dancing with the Stars’ success on Wednesday.
Disney has primed 7.2 million for the release of Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto via a special Primetime Live (58th place) on Disney-owned ABC.
In a Tuesday matchup, CBS’ NCIS (seventh place, 17 million) blew out the candles on NBC’s birthday-themed special, Tony Bennett: An American Classic (65th place, 6.4 million).
As far as ABC-aired animated specials go, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (43rd place, 9.4 million) is traditional and all, but He’s a Bully, Charlie Brown (39th place, 9.5 million) apparently carries a message of broader appeal.
Overall, CBS emerged as the holiday week’s most watched network, averaging 12.2 million viewers, while ABC took honors as the highest-rated network among 18-to-49-year-old viewers.
Feeling plucky, both networks claimed similar victories for the November sweeps month, which ends Wednesday. CBS says it’ll be the most watched network; ABC says it’ll be the choice of the demographically desirable.
ABC finished second for the week in viewers (10.6 million), followed by NBC (9.7 million) and Fox (8.4 million). The CW (3.1 million) followed Univision (3.3 million).
Here’s a look at the 10 most watched prime-time shows for the week ended Sunday, according to Nielsen Media Research:
1. Desperate Housewives, ABC, 21.4 million viewers
2. CSI: Miami, CBS, 18.54 million viewers
3. Grey’s Anatomy, ABC, 18.51 million viewers
4. Fox NFL Sunday Postgame, Fox, 17.6 million viewers
5. Fox NFL Thursday Postgame, Fox, 17.19 million viewers
6. CSI, CBS, 17.17 million viewers
7. NCIS, CBS, 17 million viewers
8. Deal or No Deal (Monday), NBC, 16.97 million viewers
9. Criminal Minds, CBS, 16.6 million viewers
10. Heroes, NBC, 16 million viewers
E! Online Headline: ‘Madonna Special a Turkey’
Screen capture from an old E! News site story (archived in Feb 2008) about Madonna’s televised tour (The Confessions tour) being a total failure. The ratings for Madonna’s tour were so terrible that the article describes it as “a turkey of butterball proportions.”
Madonna special is phony from the word go
Last Updated: November 22, 2006
Madonna special is phony from the word go
By Kevin McDonough United Feature Syndicate
It’s the night before Thanksgiving, time for ”Madonna: The Confessions Tour — Live from London” (NBC 4,10 and 28 at 8). Wow, a live show from England the night before Thanksgiving? Wouldn’t that make it like 2 a.m. in the United Kingdom? Who is preparing the big Butterball in Madonna’s baronial estate?
OK. It’s not live. It was taped last summer at Wembley Stadium in London. So why call it ”Live”? Sure, it was live then. But this is now. Everything on television was ”live” at one point, usually the point when it was taped. But it is not passed off as live, like sports telecasts or ”Dancing with the Stars,” unless it airs live.
But let’s not accuse Madonna of trying to pass off something phony. She was born with that British accent!
In one city, Madonna’s TV concert was bumped off the air in favor of a tree-lighting ceremony. LOL.
Channel 3 Won’t Broadcast Controversial Madonna Show
WRCB-Channel 3 officials said Tuesday that the NBC local affiliate will not broadcast “Madonna: The Confessions Tour Live” – a two-hour special set to air Wednesday.
The special was taped this summer at Wembley Stadium in London during Madonna’s worldwide sold-out 25-city “Confessions Tour” and “has received local and national controversy concerning content,” station officials said.
WRCB-TV Channel 3 President and General Manager Tom Tolar viewed the preview of the special late Tuesday morning and announced the station’s reluctance to air the content at the 8 p.m. time slot.
Madonna fans tuning in for Wednesday’s concert on NBC will get a show they weren’t expecting — the annual tree lighting at SouthPark mall.
WCNC-TV (Channel 36) will pre-empt the network special for the annual ceremony at SouthPark, which the station has broadcast live for five years.
“We had a prior commitment with SouthPark,” said Stuart Powell, president and general manager of WCNC. “We’re not making a statement with this one.”
“Madonna: The Confessions Tour — Live From London” generated controversy when it was first announced because her live show includes a scene in which she sings “Live to Tell” while suspended from a cross.
Before NBC announced in October that the scene was cut from the special, WCNC got about 300 complaints from viewers, Powell said.
Because of the preemption, the station has gotten about 20 complaints, he said.
One was from Logan Smith of Charlotte, a fan who went to Philadelphia to catch Madonna’s latest tour. “I was a little upset,” Smith said. “I think people who are expecting it to see it on TV are going to be a little shocked.”
Powell said that WCNC had contacted NBC about running the Madonna special late at night, but the network had not responded as of Tuesday afternoon.
Originally, NBC had scheduled the two-hour concert to begin at 9 p.m., but when it was moved back to 8 p.m., it conflicted with the SouthPark broadcast, which the station had contracted to air long ago, Powell said. WCNC’s “Carolina Traveler” will air during the 9-10 p.m. hour tonight.
NBC to Air Madonna Crucifixion? Madonna, It’s Not Your Cross to Bear
NBC Asked to Cancel Madonna Special – NewsMax
Madonna Enjoys Upsetting People
Ratings at Root of NBCs AntiChristian Madonna Broadcast Says Critic
Madonna’s crucifixion circus act – Townhall
Special Won’t Have Crucifixion Scene – People magazine
What’s the Problem with Celebrity Crucifixions?
NBC: Special won’t show Madonna on cross – San Jose Mercury News
NBC won’t show Madonna on the cross – Reuters
Madonna world tour: 41% say staged crucifixion “offensive”
rasmussenreports.com, Wed Sep 27, 2006
Never one to shy away from controversy, Madonna is at it again with her current “Confessions” world tour.
During one segment of her performance, the Material Girl sings while suspended from a giant cross and wearing a crown of thorns. The scene has prompted sharp responses from the Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches, especially overseas, but generated lukewarm responses among the American public.
Fifty-one percent (51%) of respondents to a recent Rasmussen Reports survey about the pop star say they’ve read, seen or heard about the segment; 45% have not.
Forty-one percent (41%) of the 1,000 adults surveyed say they consider the scene offensive. Thirty-two percent (32%) disagree.
The singer claims that the staged crucifixion is not an attempt to mock religion, but rather her “plea to the audience to encourage mankind to help one another and to see the world as a unified whole.”
A majority of survey respondents (55%) don’t buy that explanation and believe the scene is meant solely for publicity. Only 16% believe Madonna’s explanation is sincere.
NBC, which plans to air a concert special in November based on the “Confessions” tour, is deciding whether to include footage of the crucifixion scene in its broadcast.
Sixty-six percent (66%) of those surveyed say they would not watch a Madonna concert on television and 21% say they would.
The majority of respondents do not classify themselves as Madonna fans, which could account for their lack of interest in her latest controversy.
Fifty-six percent (56%) report unfavorable opinions of the singer with 25% saying they have “very unfavorable” opinions of her.
Thirty-two percent (32%) feel favorably toward Madonna, but only 5% are at the highest extreme [i.e., are die hard fans].
Compared to other celebrities in the news lately, Madonna’s favorable ratings fall quite a bit below the average.
In a recent survey, Rasmussen Reports asked about five very visible celebrities, with 53% reponding that they view Jennifer Aniston favorably, 41% view both Vince Vaughn and Brad Pitt favorably, 32% view Tom Cruise favorably, and 13% view Paris Hilton favorably.
Other recent surveys found that 46% have favorable opinions of both Angelina Jolie and Katie Couric, while 56% view Mel Gibson favorably despite his much publicized problems.
Madonna’s 60-date, 4-month tour wrapped up on September 21 in Japan. “Confessions” was the highest-grossing tour ever by a female artist, generating nearly $194 million and attracting 1.2 million fans.
The national telephone survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted by Rasmussen Reports April 23-24, 2006. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.
Chattanooga TV station refusing to show Madonna special
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. N-B-C television affiliate W-R-C-B decided against showing Madonna’s Thanksgiving eve special, with the station president saying it is inappropriate.
Station President and general manager Tom Tolar watched a preview of “Madonna: The Confessions Tour Live,” set for the 8-10 p.m. slot tonight and said viewers will instead see the 1986 film, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”
Toplar said it is a prime time for families to get together, and the show just did not seem appropriate.
Tolar said an N-B-C representative told him the program was not cleared to air by at least 18 percent of affiliates around the country.
Third Estate Sunday Review
– TV Review: Confessing to no talent
Madonna Blows Chunks 
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