Having said that, however, chinks in the armour of the once untouchable programme are now glaringly obvious, gaping weaknesses. The programme that once rightfully held the bragging rights to the most number of successful crossover talents into the mainstream market has admittedly been reduced to a branding exercise for the TV station.
That sinking feeling throughout weeks of endless flaming from fans was justified with figures from official sources that placed the eighth season as a failure when it came to numbers.
The highest rating received for any concert (with the exception of the final) during season eight was during the introductory Tirai Akdemi Fantasia with a peak of 835,943.
AF7 achieved 1,119,390 (Konsert 2), AF6 - 1,382,188 (Konsert 3), AF5 - 1,045,197 (Konsert 2), AF4 - 1,196,416 (Konsert 9) and AF3 - 1,043,758 (Konsert 8).
audience
POOR REVELATION: AF8 garnered a total of 3.75 million SMS votes
Looking at the numbers for the last five seasons, AF8 is a failure. The highs don't match up, and the lows reached deeper than ever before. Take into account the lowest ratings. AF8 registered the lowest rating during Konsert 7 with 590,012, a painfully low number compared to other lows for AF7 (Konsert 8 - 786,810), AF6 (Konsert 9 - 946,168), AF5 (Konsert 9 - 916,244), AF4 - (Konsert 5 - 832,355) and AF3 (Konsert 1 - 603,680).
Despite the increase in subscribers (numbering over three million for 2010, according to some sources), not only has the figures of viewers decreased for the weekly concerts, its appeal to Astro subscribers in general may have also waned.
It held the lowest channel share ever among previous seasons with AF8 hitting bottom with Konsert 6 (32.45 per cent). Compare this to other seasons - AF7 (Konsert 8 - 44.1 per cent), AF6 - (Konsert 7 - 60.1 per cent), AF5 - (Konsert 9 -57.5 per cent), AF4 (Konsert 1 - 67.9 per cent) and AF3 (Konsert 1 - 73.3 per cent).
The production would like everyone to believe they have not taken a hit in numbers. In fact, unrevealed numbers were what they relied on to claim that the show maintained its popularity.
The waning appeal of the show as based on comments and lack of cyberspace presence - something unique to AF here in Malaysia - compared to other shows, was brushed off. In fact, at the Press conference after the Debaran Akademi Fantasia on the fifth week, it was stated that they declared there was actually a 40 per cent increase for AF8 in viewership as compared to AF7.
Needless to say, whatever interpretation of figures they have made, the ones mentioned here are from the Nielsen television audience measurement utilising the Arianna TV ratings analysis software.
So with these figures, perhaps it is time for concern. Especially for Astro. If they are indeed staunch in their stand and unwavering in the belief that AF is still a brand name to be reckoned with, perhaps they can begin to clear the rot by ridding the dreadful production team that has made the show a horrendous and extremely cheap imitation with the rip-off of the Idol format.
No glory can be claimed through figures, which were their last line of defense from criticisms of failure. AF8 averaged 798,632 viewers from nine concerts, still a far cry lower than any of the other five seasons for basis of comparison.
The final concert's viewership has not been released at Press time, but despite their arguments, one wonders if they even breached the million mark, let alone meet AF7's grab of 1,242,192 viewers or 57.9 per cent channel share.
In terms of AFUNDI, or votes, the breakdown of past released figures have also put AF8 as the lowest ever in the history of the show. AF8 garnered a total of 3.75 million SMS votes as revealed on Saturday night. Still bottom of the barrel compared to figures from AF1 (4.5 million), AF2 (15 million), AF3 (10.9 million), AF4 (7.4 million), AF5 (6.6 million), AF6 (3.9 million), AF7 (5.5 million).
Are you still convinced AF8 is the best Akademi Fantasia ever?
joe lee
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