FOX cancels Anchorwoman after one ep, even though it had higher ratings than On the Lot

FOX has cancelled Anchorwoman, the relatively intriguing if gimmicky look at local news that debuted last night.

It was watched by 2.7 million viewers, which Variety reports “is less than half the number put up in the time period by unscripted fare on CBS and NBC, and about one-third what Fox was generating a week earlier with the conclusion of its hit ‘So You Think You Can Dance.'” Still, as Variety’s Cynthia Littleton notes, “those 2.7 million viewers represent more than 25 times the population of Tyler (94,146 projected for last year),” so more than people in the town were watching.

What Variety doesn’t say is that 2.7 million viewers is many more viewers than FOX’s On the Lot had for months. In June that show lost half a million viewers and eventually settled in to an average of 2.3 million a night. Even its finale, which saw an increase, wasn’t watched by as many people as watched Anchorwoman.

Of course, fewer than three million viewers in prime-time on a major network is dismal. Why save one and not the other, especially since the one we had to suffer through was much worse? Maybe because Steven Spielberg and Mark Burnett didn’t produce Anchorwoman.