Younger Viewers Drawn to ‘Temptation,’ ‘Mole’

Hopes among writers and actors that fascination with unscripted programming would be a flash in the pan were delivered a setback this week, as two so-called “reality” shows--Fox’s “Temptation Island,” which arrived awash in controversy, and ABC’s “The Mole”--premiered to solid ratings, especially among the younger viewers most coveted by advertisers.

“Temptation Island” made its debut Wednesday with an estimated 16.1 million viewers, trailing only NBC’s largely unfazed “The West Wing”--at 17.7 million viewers--in its time slot.

“Island’s” rating more than tripled Fox’s average with its short-lived drama “The $treet” in that hour, and the singles-tempting-couples concept fared disproportionately well among adults age 18 to 49, the primary currency when networks sell time to advertisers. “Temptation Island” attracted 10.3 million viewers within that age group, based on a breakdown of Nielsen Media Research data, compared with about 7.8 million adults under 50 for “The West Wing.”

The fact that “West Wing” essentially mirrored its average--and ABC sitcoms “The Drew Carey Show” and “Spin City” were within hailing distance of their usual results--also suggests that “Temptation Island” reeled in younger viewers who might not be normally watching broadcast television, as opposed to merely robbing from Fox’s most direct competitors.

Fox normally performs better in big cities such as Los Angeles, and that was also true with “Temptation Island,” which was watched in an estimated 690,000 homes locally on Fox’s KTTV--or nearly 13% of all households in the area. KTTV still trailed “The West Wing,” seen in about 735,000 homes, in the L.A. market on KNBC-TV.

“The Mole”--which replaced ABC’s “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” on Tuesday night--followed a similar pattern, with unspectacular overall tune-in (about 13.7 million people, more than 6 million short of “Millionaire’s” average in its time slot) but disproportionately strong ratings among younger adults.

Despite losing to CBS’ “JAG” in terms of overall viewing, for example, “The Mole” delivered ABC’s highest rating in its time period this season among adults age 18 to 34, also improving on “Millionaire’s” average among adults 18 to 49.

Earlier this week, UPN Chief Executive Dean Valentine suggested that younger viewers are more open to alternative formats, saying, “They’re finding it harder and harder to suspend disbelief in traditional story-form programming.”

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While the durability of these concepts will be determined over the next few weeks, and the numbers so far pale next to the huge audiences “Survivor” amassed over the summer, these initial figures suggest the appetite for “reality” remains healthy--especially among younger viewers--and thus unlikely to experience the sort of fast flameout that “Millionaire’s” quiz-show imitators experienced early last year.

That prospect could be comforting for the networks, which have increased production of unscripted programs as a hedge against possible strikes by writers and actors later this year. Yet while executives have indicated they can cobble together functional prime-time schedules with movies, newsmagazines, “reality” shows and reruns, most concede it will be difficult to maintain satisfactory audience levels for long without fresh episodes of the scripted dramas and comedies on which they have traditionally relied.