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Sacha Baron Cohen’s ‘Who Is America?’ Debut Pratfalls In Ratings For Showtime
deadline.com ^ | July 17, 2018 8:06am | by Dominic Patten

Posted on 07/17/2018 9:55:56 AM PDT by Red Badger

Oscar Wilde once quipped that “there is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”

Having generated a lot of chatter recently, Sacha Baron Cohen and Showtime may take The Importance of Being Earnest author’s words as some cold comfort today. They may have to. Because, for all the hoopla around the debut of Cohen’s Who Is America? series, the 10 PM satire offering attracted a pretty meager viewership on July 15, at least on the small screen.

Just 327,000 sets of eyeballs tuned in to the premium cabler on Sunday night to see the Borat star spoof Senator Bernie Sanders, gun activists, Trent Lott, supporters of Donald Trump and more. Among the key demographic of adults 18-49, Who Is America? pulled in a low 0.1 rating. That put the secretive and controversial Who Is America? in the hinterland of the 70th highest-rated original show on cable on July 15.

Which is clearly not a place you want to be if you are a marquee name for the CBS owned outlet.

In comparison and airing in the same 10 PM ET slot as Who Is America?, Fox Sports 1 had UFC Fight Night with a 0.3 rating and 754,000 viewers. Over on Home, House Hunters Renovation snagged a 0.3 in the key demo too. However, the politics free HHR also pulled in an audience of 1.4 million.

Of course, unlike those other shows Who Is America? wasn’t just limited to television.

Hoping to see some of the digital success that Starz’s Power has pioneered in recent years, Showtime launched Who Is America? online, on streaming and On Demand almost a full day before the show appeared on TV.

While no hard numbers are available for how that that July 15 12 AM premiere did, Showtime is claiming that Cohen’s multi-character show had over a million viewers on Sunday when you put all the platforms together.

In spin mode, the David Nevins-run outlet also says that Who Is America? fueled the most sign-ups this year for a series in a single day for Showtime’s streaming service. That also translates into the No. 3 best sign-up rate for a series debut since Showtime started its over-the-top service back in 2015.

Having said that, back to TV proper for a sec, Who Is America? certainly did provide its lead-out with a small bump on Sunday. The latest episode of the Stephen Colbert EP’d animated Trump-mocking series Our Cartoon President snared 186,000 viewers. That’s up from the 171,000 that Our Cartoon President had for its last original of April 8.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Music/Entertainment; Society; TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: borat; fail; flop; hollywood; miserablefailure; palin; sarahpalin; showtime
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I hope CBS lost a ton of money.................
1 posted on 07/17/2018 9:55:56 AM PDT by Red Badger
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To: Red Badger

Me too.....plus I turned my cable off!!!


2 posted on 07/17/2018 9:57:35 AM PDT by Halgr (Once a Marine, always a Marine - Semper Fi)
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To: Red Badger; onyx; Abbeville Conservative; abigailsmybaby; afnamvet; alley cat; antceecee; ...
To Sarah's List.

I'll just leave this here....


3 posted on 07/17/2018 10:12:12 AM PDT by KC_Lion (If you want on First Lady Melania's, Ivanka Trump's or Sarah Palin's Ping Lists, just let me know.)
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To: KC_Lion

God Bless Sarah Palin!!!


4 posted on 07/17/2018 10:16:00 AM PDT by MeganC (There is nothing feminine about feminism.)
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To: Red Badger

I skimmed through it, 30 seconds here 30 seconds there, just to see what all the hoopla was all about.

A big fat nothing burger. All bread; no meat.


5 posted on 07/17/2018 10:21:59 AM PDT by Boomer (Leftism is the Mental/Moral Equivalent of End Stage Cancer)
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To: KC_Lion

Thank you, KC!


6 posted on 07/17/2018 10:22:13 AM PDT by miss marmelstein
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To: Red Badger

This show may have worked if other people had been interviewed. The people Cohen chose to make fun of;
Sarah Palin, V.P. Cheney and the fictional stereotypic Trump Voter have already been talked about, and satired for years.
Trent Lott? Really? I doubt if the average 18 to 48 demo. viewer knows or cares who Trent Lott is or used to be. Cohen’s ‘Hit List’ is full of those who while still famous, are not Top Tier influential at this time.

To have really gotten somebody’s goat, Sacha should have
tricked someone like David Hogg or the Bald headed Girl.
He should have interviewed Police Chief Scott Israel of Broward County, and had the chief show off his actual fluency in Farsi.

If Sacha had found someway to interview Obama, MadMaxine Waters,
Robert DeNiro or Stephanie Wilkinson, Co-Owner of The Red Hen, now THAT would have been worth watching.
I know most of his filming was already done before this year began, but the meaning is the same.
As is, ‘Who Is America?’ seems stuck in 2010 mentality. Somewhat dated, trite and shallow. Nothing surprising. Nothing to get up about.


7 posted on 07/17/2018 10:29:16 AM PDT by lee martell
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To: Red Badger
CBS likely green lit the show because they believed the hyped 'Resistance' would be a massive audience.

They thought it would be a home fun. It turned into a strikeout.

8 posted on 07/17/2018 10:29:25 AM PDT by yesthatjallen
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To: Red Badger
Sacha Baron Cohen’s ‘Who Is America?’

Why would anyone pay attention to a British citizen's screed about what America is? Britain is this country's oldest enemy.

9 posted on 07/17/2018 10:34:13 AM PDT by bkopto
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To: MeganC

He has Megan dear :)


10 posted on 07/17/2018 10:36:01 AM PDT by KC_Lion (If you want on First Lady Melania's, Ivanka Trump's or Sarah Palin's Ping Lists, just let me know.)
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To: Red Badger

I find SBC repulsive.


11 posted on 07/17/2018 10:37:26 AM PDT by apocalypto
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To: miss marmelstein
You are very welcome Miss Marmelstein.

Borat can't handle this much woman.


12 posted on 07/17/2018 10:38:38 AM PDT by KC_Lion (If you want on First Lady Melania's, Ivanka Trump's or Sarah Palin's Ping Lists, just let me know.)
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To: lee martell

As someone posted on another site, His shtick is so old even his mom won’t watch.................


13 posted on 07/17/2018 10:40:16 AM PDT by Red Badger (July 2018 - the month the world discovered the TRUTH......Q Anon)
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To: KC_Lion

Yeah! Thanks for my favorite photo, KC!


14 posted on 07/17/2018 10:40:44 AM PDT by miss marmelstein
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To: apocalypto

Rush just gave out the number of viewers: 300,000.

Go home, Cohen!


15 posted on 07/17/2018 10:41:28 AM PDT by miss marmelstein
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To: Red Badger
This is me dancing on their graves. ♪ ♪ヾ(ʘ‿ʘ)ノ♪ ♪
16 posted on 07/17/2018 10:44:50 AM PDT by catbertz
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To: catbertz

CBS = Clinton Bull Sh!t...................


17 posted on 07/17/2018 10:47:30 AM PDT by Red Badger (July 2018 - the month the world discovered the TRUTH......Q Anon)
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To: Red Badger

There are SEVEN episodes of this. Only the first one has been seen as of now.
He should have interviewed Megyn Kelly.
Or George Soros.


18 posted on 07/17/2018 10:50:52 AM PDT by lee martell
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To: lee martell

He may be persona non grata at CBS soon...................


19 posted on 07/17/2018 11:11:58 AM PDT by Red Badger (July 2018 - the month the world discovered the TRUTH......Q Anon)
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To: Red Badger

Good.


20 posted on 07/17/2018 11:17:15 AM PDT by EdnaMode
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