When The History Channel pulled The Kennedys from its network, you probably knew something was amiss. Judging from the reviews of the Katie Holmes-Greg Kinnear-led miniseries, the answer to why THC bailed has become more clear in the ensuing months: The Kennedys was terrible. That didn't stop Reelz from picking it up, and debuting the story of former president John F. Kennedy on Sunday. Well, lo and behold, the last laugh went to Reelz; The Kennedys was a hit! Except it wasn't.
On Monday, the network reported that a record 1.9 million people watched the debut of The Kennedys on Sunday night, a record for Reelz. About that: On Tuesday, it was revealed that only 1.3 million people tuned in to watch the miniseries, a discrepancy of nearly 30 percent. Said a Reelz spokesperson to Vulture: "The numbers we reported yesterday were fast national of average viewers per minute when we add our two showings (8 p.m. east and 8 p.m. west) together, which is the gross audience for an average minute." Right. So it's the ball bearings. It's all ball bearings nowadays.
Needless to say, don't expect to see Reelz trumpeting the great ratings for the remainder of the series.
