Ratings
While the franchise may have had a built-in audience, the Nielsen ratings were surprisingly low, and the show was considered a major disappointment for the summer 2008 season by the entertainment media. Besides being topped by reruns of sitcoms on CBS and Deal or No Deal encores along with the 2008 Summer Olympics on NBC, and many weeks by various repeats from Fox, the series was also constantly outrated in the 18-49 demo by the Spanish language telenovela Al Diablo con los Guapos on Univision; the telenovela beat HSM: Get in the Picture on five consecutive Mondays (August 11 through September 8) in the overall ratings those weeks.
Additionally in August, in markets where a pre-season edition of NFL Monday Night Football on ESPN aired over a broadcast station, the show was either pre-empted or delayed until a later time or date on the local ABC affiliate (which is usually the default station which takes ESPN simulcasts). The finale also suffered the same fate on September 8 within the Twin Cities of Minnesota, Green Bay & Milwaukee markets for the early portion of the Monday Night Football regular season premiere doubleheader.
Read more about this topic: High School Musical: Get In The Picture