Why are the ratings of the pokémon show each series lower?

The Internet would be a huge factor for that. People don't have to watch episodes as they premiere on TV anymore. We can watch whatever we want whenever we want generally speaking. That's why I wouldn't put a huge stock into TV ratings. They're so outdated in this day and age when not everyone watches shows on TV anymore. For a show like Pokemon, game and merchandise sales matter a lot more than ratings too. The Internet becoming more widely available might not be the only reason ratings have gotten lower, but it's probably one of the main reasons at least.
 
I'm not sure if the quality of the series or the lack of progression would be a factor for the ratings declining. Obviously, whether or not the quality of the anime has gone down is subjective, but considering how some shows/movies are considered terrible and are still able to be popular/profitable, I have a hard time imagining that the quality of the anime would be that much of an issue here. It's especially hard to make that claim considering that kids in the target audience wouldn't necessarily have the same opinions on the anime as older fans do.

I also can't really see the lack of progression being that much of an issue. I don't think kids in the target audience would complain about Ash not winning a League or being a Pokemon Master as much as older fans do. Based on how I felt when I was within the target audience, the main appeal of the anime was seeing Pokemon animated and watching Ash and his friends have fun adventures on their journeys. I'm not sure if kids would be that upset over the lack of progression, especially if they're new to the franchise and haven't watched multiple other series. Besides that, Pokemon gets a new audience every few years, so even if some kids get upset over the lack of progression, a new audience will develop within the next couple of years. I'm not sure how common is it for people to stick with the anime for multiple series. It's much more common for people to lose interest in the anime or take a break for awhile. I used to hear about people doing that at least.
 
Hidden Mew said:
I'm not sure if the quality of the series or the lack of progression would be a factor for the ratings declining. Obviously, whether or not the quality of the anime has gone down is subjective, but considering how some shows/movies are considered terrible and are still able to be popular/profitable, I have a hard time imagining that the quality of the anime would be that much of an issue here. It's especially hard to make that claim considering that kids in the target audience wouldn't necessarily have the same opinions on the anime as older fans do.

I also can't really see the lack of progression being that much of an issue. I don't think kids in the target audience would complain about Ash not winning a League or being a Pokemon Master as much as older fans do. Based on how I felt when I was within the target audience, the main appeal of the anime was seeing Pokemon animated and watching Ash and his friends have fun adventures on their journeys. I'm not sure if kids would be that upset over the lack of progression, especially if they're new to the franchise and haven't watched multiple other series. Besides that, Pokemon gets a new audience every few years, so even if some kids get upset over the lack of progression, a new audience will develop within the next couple of years. I'm not sure how common is it for people to stick with the anime for multiple series. It's much more common for people to lose interest in the anime or take a break for awhile. I used to hear about people doing that at least.
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The Pokémon anime doesn't need quality. It will make tons of money anyways, and TPC clearly understands that.
I also think Ash's losing streak at major Leagues is just starting. He can lose 20+ League and the show will stop make tons of money.
 
Old show which naturally loses ratings normally, lack of progress, TV not being the only thing for people to view anymore, the change of format for Sun and moon, the fact the show is a bit longer than most shows (some people prefer shorter shows and will drop when it gets too long) and in the dubs case the western cartoon boom that's been going on for quite a few years doesn't exactly help things.

Also smaller factors with the dub also are determined on what kids are into. Since Pokemon is marketed as a cartoon to the general public means it's in competition with cartoons all over the world. When the interest of kids leans towards liking Teen titans Go for example, it makes it that much more difficult because kids are more likely to lean towards shows that are similar.

TPCI does it's best to stay relevant with the general public all over the world.

If it gains some new customers that buy the toys and the games, it's done it's job.

I wouldn't worry too much. There has been no signs so far that japan or the dubbing companies plan on finishing the show for quite some time yet. Until then if it's still being renewed and produced it's still doing okay for now.
 
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I don't really buy the idea that the internet is to blame, since the drop has been happening since mid-Kanto (with a few exceptions like DP and BW2' premieres). I think that it's very hard to get new people to tune in when something seems so predictable and familiar on the surface.
 
I think with everyone being busy and all that nowadays, people can just watch it on YouTube or stream it. I don't really have time to sit down in front of the TV nowadays and if I am free I will be on my computer so it's really just for ease of access. I don't think it is because the anime is doing badly or anything, TV figures are not that useful nowadays. It's nothing to worry about because Pokemon still make tons of money from the anime one way or another.
 
Rockapheller said:
...worse than the anime Pokémon XY (which was not good either).
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Rockapheller said:
Up to now, the Pokémon Sun and Moon anime has been a great success in Japan, both in ratings...
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Highest ratings SM got:
4.7 (SM052)
4.5 (SM044)
4.4 (SM001+002, SM019)
4.3 (SM049, SM053)
4.2 (SM020+21, SM039, SM055, SM056, SM064)

Highest ratings XY got:
6.4 (XY018)
6.2 (XY008)
6.1 (XY023)
5.8 (XY007)
5.7 (XY011, XY014, XY016, XY019, XY038)

So, there is no noticeable raise in ratings.
 
Rockapheller said:
Funny fact: Pokémon Origins and the Pokémon Mega Evolution Special had a pretty bad rating on Japanese Television, worse than the anime Pokémon XY (which was not good either).

In addition, the XY age films had a terrible reception at the box office
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Up to this point it's an exaggerated truth. Pokémon Origins had a lower rating than the BW special featuring Brock and Cilan, and if I recall correctly, the Mega Evolution Specials had around the same ratings as normal XY episodes. That said, the first half of Kalos was usually on the network's top 10 most viewed shows, so I wouldn't call it "pretty bad".

As for the films, the XY ones did have a poor reception, compared to previous Pokémon movies. Dogasu did a neat follow-up of this on his site every time a new movie came out. But I wouldn't call it a "terrible" reception either.

Everything that comes after those paragraphs is either false or just pure speculation.
 
Even if SM did have bigger ratings than XY did, I doubt that would really matter not only because of how TV ratings don't provide a an accurate indication of how many people watch a show anymore, but also because ratings in general don't matter for a toyetic anime series. You could make a good argument that ratings don't matter for any anime title considering most of them exist as a means to promote the source material, but it's especially the case with a show like Pokemon. The anime exists to promote the games and other merchandise. As long as they sell well enough, the ratings for the show really don't matter that much.

While SM is known mostly for its comedic aspects, it's hard to make the claim that they moved away from serious topics when Litten's capture episode was about it being depressed over Stoutland's death. There may be other examples from what I have seen of the series and what hasn't been dubbed yet that show the series can be serious, but that was the first thing that came to mind.

The XY movies didn't do well in the Japanese box office from what I understand, but saying that the reception was terrible does seem like an exaggeration. I wouldn't be surprised if that was one reason why they wanted to go with the movies being set in their own continuity for this generation in order to do something different, but I don't think that the reception was that bad for the XY movies.
 
Ratings don't means crap anymore. Don't worry about it and don't think of it :p
 
In my opinion, after the anime got enough viewers, they did stop caring about the audience and more about what they like. Isnt that a sad thing?
 
KenzeyEevee said:
In my opinion, after the anime got enough viewers, they did stop caring about the audience and more about what they like. Isnt that a sad thing?
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To a certain extent. I think the anime producers normally have quite a good idea what the consensus wants e.g. Player X beating Player Y etc. But yes sometimes they are out of touch and I don't think it's because they start to get complacent when they have a good amount of views.
 
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