The One no more
TERRY WEBER
Globe and Mail Update
The ABC reality show The One: Making a Music Star ? which made headlines in Canada for bumping CBC's The National from its berth ? has been dropped by the U.S. network after only two weeks.
The ABC's Web site for the two-week-old program, hosted by Canada's George Stroumboulopoulos and the model for a planned Canadian version this fall, said Friday the show has come to an apparent end.
?There are no plans for additional episodes,? the site said. ?Thanks to all who participated in and supported The One!?
CBC reported the news on CBC Newsworld early Friday. The network said there was no word yet on what the decision means for this fall's planned Canadian version.
The series debuted just two weeks ago with disappointing ratings. The talent search's second week saw numbers sag even further.
Canadian viewership during the second week fell to 150,000 on Tuesday, compared with the 236,000 viewers it pulled in from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. a week earlier.
By comparison, Tuesday night's edition of CTV's Canadian Idol came in at 1.65 million, while Global's Rock Star: Supernova delivered 1.28-million viewers. (CTV is owned by Bell Globemedia, which also owns The Globe and Mail.)
In the United States, The One kicked off last week with 3.08 million viewers, the smallest audience ever for a series premiere among the big three networks.
In Canada, The One made headlines when CBC announced it would bump The National from its 10 p.m. time slot on several Tuesdays and Wednesdays to make room for the show.
Visitors to CBC's own Web site for The One were redirected Friday to the ABC site.
Kirstine Layfield, CBC's executive director of network programming, said the network will now shuffle its schedule to fill the slot. Hustle, which had served as the Wednesday lead-in to The One, will move to Tuesday nights.
Wednesday will become a movie night for CBC, with films like Under the Tuscan Sun and Mission Impossible among those scheduled to air.
She said no decision has been made about the Canadian version of the program.
Ms. Layfield also said the U.S. version was already showing signs of improvement ahead of the cancellation, with Wednesday's instalment outperforming Tuesday's episode.
?That's one of the things we've learned from watching the show overseas, that it does take time to build,? she said, noting the show's setup isn't a ?straight-up talent format.?
?It is one where you need to find out more about the contestants, they're raw talent so early performances aren't going to be as good as later performances,? she added.
?It's all part of them being coached and trained. The BBC stuck with it through its first year and renewed it for multiple years because it found its way.?
The Globe and Mail