‘Over There’ audience drops off after 2nd episode

For the first TV series about a contemporary war, a dramatic ratings drop raises questions beyond the usual small-screen analyses.

Did last week’s second episode of FX’s “Over There” lose 37 percent of its premiere audience because it was too gory? Does the series (Wednesdays, 10 p.m.), which follows an Army unit in Iraq and their families in the United States, hit too close for viewers still digesting news from the real Iraq war? Has news coverage tapped out interest in many viewers for a fictional drama?

Or did the drop – from 4.1 million viewers for the July 27 premiere to 2.6 million last week – result from more common reasons: lack of interest in the subject and characters, or erratic summer viewing patterns?

After just two episodes, it’s far too early to determine why the audience declined or whether that will reflect future viewing patterns, FX’s John Solberg says.

“As far as we’re concerned, it’s still a success,” Solberg says, noting that the series has received mostly positive reviews from TV critics.

Huge advance publicity probably brought in casual viewers who might have found the show’s content too harsh and decided not to watch again, says analyst Brad Adgate of Horizon Media.

But FX viewers familiar with the cable network’s gritty offerings probably weren’t deterred, Adgate says. He points out that the median age for the second episode was 38.3 years, nearly five years younger than that for the premiere, indicating younger adults were more receptive.

Lawrence Suid, co-author of “Stars and Stripes on Screen,” wonders whether real war news – such as the killing of Marines from an Ohio unit last week – could dampen interest in a contemporary fictional depiction.

“My gut feeling is, I wondered why they would bother to make it, given (the war has) been covered so well on television,” he says.