@Background Pony #0CE0
 
see the thing is if THAT is the case, then Discovery Family itself should probably just close up shop. Cause they’ve throughly failed. Squandered all the HUBs gains on everything within a year.
 
Ultimately relative to the other shows on that channel, pony still does well.

@Exedrus  
This is true.
 
However, the show is now running on a channel owned by a different company. Who do have a vested interest in the show’s ratings. Because they sure as hell aren’t making any money from the toy sales themselves.
 
 
However, this is all moot because the Nielson Rating system is terrible and broken and fundamentally worthless and should be scrapped.

@The Twelfth Doctor Whoof
 
Well your numbers on S3 vs S4 aren’t true, S4 received much higher numbers than S3, where we are now is more similar to S2-S3 numbers your other point is correct. Pony is still by far the most watched show on Discovery Family. Littlest Pet Shop is second and that’s been having a hard time cracking 100K since the switch from HUB to DF.

I’d have to imagine, the whole problem with Disco. Kids, -> The Hub, -> Disco. Family being a high-end premium Channel is itself an issue, to the ratings. Somehow though I have the feeling that they’re making way more selling the EPs on iTunes etc… to really care. Sadly given the poor quality (and attention span), of a “Live Stream”. I usually just chill an extra Day for it to land up on Kodi somewhere and watch the 720p TV rip there. (Note no matter how bad I’d pay to have it. Disco. Family (Formally known as the Hub), just doesn’t exist here in Europe.
 
Besides I’m in the camp that clearly sees the death of Broadcast TV in the next 10~20 Years. The USoA will be at the assend of it given the power of local Broadcast. But, local Broadcast like that, just doesn’t exist here in Gwrmany. And, so isn’t itself a threat to prevent the eventual goal take over of OTT IPTV.

@TheBrianJ  
Pretty much. Prime time TV is driven by ratings because cable networks don’t rely on selling associated merch. They rely on selling commercial time. If a time slot isn’t raking in the views, then the people who run the channel lose bargaining power (fewer people see those ad slots) and their prices/profits fall.

Really at this point Ratings mean basically nothing. If this was season 1 or 2 then yeah they would matter but at this point they really don’t.

If MLP was in another position, ratings would probably matter a lot more. However, MLP is a show that is primarily made to sell toys and merchandise, and in that front the show is doing pretty outstanding.
 
But take a show that’s on prime time on a major network, ratings drops are going to be a big issue.

Big Jim is the basest of the based.
 

Hasbro probably be like  
yeah if we make the show good, peeps gonna by the merch and itunes ep and soundtracks n stuff and we get money. its cool
 
And then Cartoon Network was like WARALRALGAGHALRHAGLHAG CANCEL YOUNG JUSTICWE AWLAJRLAFHAF NON-TARGET DEMOGRAPHICS DON’T BUY MURCH.

Give this guy a friggin’ medal.

Why can’t Jim be the CEO of Discovery Family? He seems so cool, calm, and collective about everything that happens.

lol wtf estories. this tweet is so dumb, no “calming down” is possible for something so trivial :P

I seem to recall that when Season 1 was airing, if fans wanted to support the show, we should buy merch. If merch stops selling, then that’s the end.
 
With the awesome minis they have, the vinyls, the Power Ponies target exclusive, I’ve got a lot I want to keep buying.

see, this is further proof my we’re super lucky to have guys like jim on the mlp team. i mean the network is gonna be all like OOOOOOOOOH and he’s gonna be all like yeeeeeea and it’ll all be cool. i can think of more than a few directors who are scared shitless of the suits and would get down on their knees to avoid scaring or angering them (and by “them” i don’t mean guys like mike vogel, i mean other ones.) jim’s cool and has integrity and is part of the reason why mlp doesn’t suck.

@Itsthinking
 
He directs ponies and doesn’t afraid of anything.

Jim’s a cool guy.

@NostalgiaSchmaltz  
Where can one get a “special cable box”?

“a small portion of fans”

@NostalgiaSchmaltz  
Perhaps more importantly, Hasbro’s calculus for MLP is different than for other shows which do depend chiefly on the Nielsen ratings - Hasbro has an incentive to keep MLP going as long as the merch is selling, which it seems to be.
 
Also, everything needs to be looked at in context - MLP’s ratings have been falling since Season 3, but how does it compare to the other shows on Discovery Family? Is it a drag on the Saturday schedule or is it propping it up?

Thank you, Big Jim.

@Reb4Ham  
Then don’t get involved.

Based Jim is based as Tartarus.

Thank you, based Jim

FINALLY. I always hated that drama about ratings.