Please excuse me if this is posted elsewhere.  Rumors are flying that there will be no live event for Halloween.  Seems nobody is even talking about it and there is an Octoberfest scheduled at the Spalding a week or so before the 31st. But given how they travel on a moment's notice, that in itself doesn't preclude a live show.

Of course all this doesn't mean anything yet.  But to tell the truth, I wouldn't be a bit surprised, given the fiasco last year.

I understand that neither Jason or Grant are mentioning anything on twitter about it, and there's nothing showing up on their website.  Guess we have to just wait and see.  It may only be that: a rumor with no foundation.  But interesting, nonetheless.

Yes Revenant.  It was only a 6% increase.  Here are the Neilsen ratings for broadcast and cable tv for the week of 8/17 (opening week for GH).  Notice, GH wasn't even in the top 10 and that includes 3 shows in a tie for the 10th spot.  USA took the most places in cable.

http://en-us.nielsen.com/rankings/insights/rankings/television

This is from Multichannel regarding the opening of the season:

"Syfy's paranormal-tinged reality series Ghost Hunters scared up 2.5 million viewers during its Aug. 19 summer premiere episode.

The debut episode of the second half of season five for the series — which follows the exploits of daytime plumbers Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson who search for paranormal occurrences by night — fell just short of the 2.6 million viewers generated by the March 11 season five premiere, according to the network.

Compared to the season five premiere, Wednesday's episode – which faced stiff competition from Bravo's Top Chef and TNT's Leverage – also drew a slight 2% audience gain among adults 18-49 and was flat among adults 25-54."

However, here is what Jason has to say, and I quote:

"Just in from Syfy channels press release. Syfy's Ghost Hunters returned on the 19th with its summer premiere to rank #1 cable telecast.11:31 AM Aug 22nd from Tweetie"

I've been trying to find that particular press release but haven't had much luck on it yet.  Hmmm….  I'll keep trying but, in the meantime, GH didn't even crack the top 25 for last week.  Warehouse 13 had more viewers.  Heck, even Spongebob had more viewers.  Here's the info (the link was way too long):

"Syfy: Warehouse 13 (3.273M), Ghost Hunters (2.54M), Eureka (1.989M), ECW (1.74M)

Bravo: Real Housewives of Atlanta (2.822M), Top Chef (2.592M), Top Chef Masters (2.42M), Flipping Out (1.02M)

Top 25  cable shows for the week ending August 23, 2009:table updated to include True Blood (#3) as well as including both # of homes and viewers:

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alicat said:

Revenant,

And, regarding your thought that Jason might have been talking about GH being #1 in their time slot on their opening night, I don't think that's the case because NCIS on USA beat GH out in the 7, 8 and 9 p.m. time slots ranking at 22, 12 and 24. 

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No, my joke was "Maybe he meant #1 on SyFY (and only the SyFy channel) in that particular time slot on Wednesday."  It's like me saying that I'm the best poster on these boards with a name that starts with "Rev" and ends in "ant."   

Revenant,

Very funny analogy!  Since they are the only show that's on Syfy that night (from 7-midnight) that would be true sir!     Unfortunately, anyone reading or listening to Jason or Grant wouldn't have a clue or doubt anything they say.  They are in their own little world and take J&G's words for gold.  So, at least to me, that's almost cult like and shows some are incapable of an individual thought process which is very scary.

Oubliette said:

@Rev,

Never thought of the situation from your point of view.  Very interesting.  Do you think the final say would be decided by SyFy or Pilgrim, rather than Jay and Grant?

Well, SyFy writes the checks.  If either Pilgrim or J&G don't want to do it, tough, it will be done.  The boss gets what the boss wants.

I mean if Pilgrim begins to whine about how hard it is to produce a live show, well…you've probably been around the business world long enough to know what the response will be.  Something like "Oh really?  Perhaps we should bring in someone who can make it happen…"  That pretty much shuts up Pilgrim and they will soldier on.

As for J&G whining about it, the response "Oh really?  We were really looking forward to that event to pull our numbers up throughout October.  So, since we have some time now, we can take this opportunity to re-examine your contract for next year.  By the way, since producing your show seems so difficult, let me call in our efficiency experts to help smooth out any problems for you."  Yeah, J&G would hop on that live show idea pretty quick.  I mean…efficiency experts?  I think they'd rather face the demons again…if they aren't one in the same…

So really, it doesn't matter if Pilgrim or J&G want to do it or not.  It all depends upon SyFy and whether or not they believe that a live show can turn a profit and boost ratings.  If they think that they can…we'll be enjoying another live Halloween special.  It does, however, become more interesting if there isn't.  If SyFy doesn't think that they can make money on it and that it won't boost ratings…that tells us a little bit about the future of the show, doesn't it?

The Doctor said: 

Other then that, it was 6 hours of NOTHING  - 

(I didn't see your post since we were probably writing at the same time.)

I completely understand what you are saying and to a point, I agree with it.  Yet…there is another perspective…

Yes, finding evidence is why the investigation is done.  It is the goal of the investigation.  But is that why people watch?  Some do.  Others…they want the experience.  And that is truly the allure of the live show.  It isn't the evidence per say, it is the chance to "virtually" go on a ghost hunting trip with TAPS.

For all those that posted in this thread…tell me…honestly…weren't you just a little jazzed about seeing that live show?  Even with everything that we had to seen to that point, wasn't it still kind of fun to watch it?  Be honest now.  Sure, nothing really happened beyond Collargate and "the voice" but…you continued watching, didn't you?  Probably the whole thing too.  I know I did.  And that's my point.

We're so jaded now, and rightfully so, that sometimes we forget that we were actual legitimate fans of the show at one point.  It was interesting watching the live show.  And for the people who are still into it…what is better than taking that trip with TAPS for an evening?

I guess that's another reason why I'm shocked that there may not be another live show this season.  I mean if they're so into their fans, what can they give to the fans that is better than a live show? 

Revenant and Oubliette,

Good points.  I rather doubt Pilgrim would do any complaining to Syfy.  They are trying to build their "stable" and it would not look good to be difficult or complain since they haven't been around all that long (founded in 1997 with reality programming starting in 1999) and Syfy has very long tentacles in the business.  So, depending on the contracts with TAPS, the heirarchy is Syfy, Pilgrim and then Jason & Grant.  In J & G's case, it's Pilgrim's way or the highway and no matter how much Jason's recently posted on his Twitter about them telling Syfy what they would do in their commercial, I doubt it's as easy as that.  Syfy holds the cards including the money and number of episodes contracted with Pilgrim and, as long as they are under contract, Pilgrim will have J & G do whatever Syfy wants or they risk breaching their contracts with both companies.  However, with Syfy being in the NBC/Universal family, I would say they have much deeper pockets than Pilgrim, TAPS and J & G combined.

Rev, I believe your last sentence is an accurate barometer of the matter:  "If SyFy doesn't think that they can make money on it and that it won't boost ratings…that tells us a little bit about the future of the show, doesn't it?"