Ratings Collapse for Sarah Palin’s Alaska

So, apparently one visit to Sarah Palin’s Alaska was enough.

After setting a ratings record for its debut episode a week ago, the second airing of TLC’s reality show starring former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin plunged 40%–shedding about two million viewers.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the viewers who did stick with SPA weren’t really the ones advertisers get excited about:

Only 885,000 viewers were ages 18-49, dropping 44% from last week.

In fact, the median age of the show is 57 — that’s 15 years older than TLC’s average.

TLC expected a ratings drop coming off the high-flying premiere; executives realized some of their numbers were driven by sheer curiosity rather than eagerness to see an Alaska-based travelogue reality show. Competition from Sunday Night Football and the American Music Awards may have impacted the numbers as well.

“We are very happy with the ongoing strength of Sarah Palin’s Alaska, and it continues to drive big ratings gains for TLC,” said a network spokesperson, who noted Conan had a similar drop.

If you haven’t checked out the show, you’ve got six more weeks to tag along with the Palins as they tour Wasilla, Kodiak and Nome, fishing, climbing and exploring the “final frontier” where you can just “be out here being free” Sundays on TLC.

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