Entertainment

Bieber fever cured

Justin Bieber may be on course to have the top-selling album of the year, but TV-wise, he’s a major flop.

The pop superstar’s hour-long NBC concert special, “Justin Bieber: All Around The World,” pulled in only 3.3 million viewers, making it the network’s lowest-rated broadcast on Wednesday night, according to reports. (CBS’ “Dogs in the City” reality show did better with 4.9 million viewers.)

The main cause of the Bieb’s lackluster ratings — compared to his anticipated chart-topping success — is a bad case of bad timing.

“It’s pretty obvious he attracts young viewers, young females in particular, and this is the time of year when a lot of those viewers are not at home watching TV,” says Marc Berman, editor-in-chief of TV Media Insights.

It’s also true that Bieber’s audience doesn’t “traditionally go to NBC to watch programs and probably didn’t even know he was on,” Berman adds.

In recent years, pop star TV specials haven’t had the ratings impact that you’d expect, given their mainstream popularity.

The problem, says Berman, is “they just don’t resonate anymore. Someone like Bieber is all over the place — on YouTube, everywhere — it’s not like you’re seeing anything unusual . . . You’re seeing [pop stars] all the time and I just don’t think [TV specials] matter to these fans.”