@MorphinBrony  
Correlation does not equal causation. It is well known that the reason for the decline in ratings is due to discovery family’s terrible practices. Remember that the primary demographic, the one’s who give most of the views, are little girls, and as we all know, young children are far less critical than adults and far less likely to stop watching a show over the introduction of a character who is only controversial among the fanbase. Also remember that the decline in ratings happened near the middle of season 5, prior to starlight’s reformation, and remember that starlight never had any real appearances in season 5 outside of the premiere and finale, so even the correlation you pointed out is false.

@MorphinBrony
 
Yeah, I shouldn’t have done that part.
 
I suppose a better comparison would be Super Sentai, which has lasted for 41 years in Japan, and while ratings have been in a bit of a decline for years, it’s still fairly high quality for the most part (save for a few duds here and there).

@Jarkes  
You can’t compare Firefly’s ratings to MLP’s because Firefly only lasted one season thanks to Fox screwing it over. The ratings never had a chance to improve or decline. MLP, on the other hand, has been around for SEVEN seasons, and yet it’s been in a ratings nosedive since Glimmer was introduced. So yes, ratings CAN be influenced by a show’s quality.
 

 
Oh, real mature. You’ll totally be taken seriously with that argument. </s>

@Silver Smoulder
 
Ever hear of a little show called Firefly? It only had one season because it had terrible ratings – and yet, it has huge numbers of fans.

@Alexlayer  
Why? That’s just weird.

@Esteban  
What does deviant art and fimfiction have to do with little girls?

@Ihhh  
The division between starlight haters and lovers is also present within the little girl community not just adult bronies. Just look out for debates about her on deviant art or Fimfiction. Same happened with Flash Sentry. If it was just some bronies hating him, he would still become a character after S4 cameos and not entirely erased from existance even as a royal guard in crystal kingdom.

Starlight is more of a Creators Pet than Poochie/Scrappy. Hasbro(Meghan) wasnt the one who invented her, Larson made her as a villain and it was mostly current directors and story editors who wanted to focus on her reformation. They are focusing on her waaay more than they ever focused on charcters such Discord or even Spike. And she just appeared in S5. You would think that characters like Zecora, Moon Dancer or Cheerilee would be first to gain some story arcs, then non main six main characters like Discord, Spike and Big Mac could get some backstory. Someone as fresh as Starlight should just take the role ofa very minor secondary character for now. Not being the one befrinedsing all cool chars in order to make her more likable by audience.

@Background Pony #5083  
I don’t believe you.

Seems like none of you understand how ratings work. Remember that most of the people who watch the show on TV are kids, and kids are far less critical, so they wouldn’t stop watching a show over a character that some adults don’t like.

@Silver Smoulder  
Because season 6 was terrible. They barely used Starlight and the episodes ranged from boring to unbearable.
 
@Alexlayer  
No, I’m not a troll.

@thatguy
 
And as I said, only the most mainstream shows, which Simpsons falls under.

@Silver Smoulder
 
No, it absolutely is an argument. There’s a reason most shows never make it past 2 seasons.

@thatguy  
Not an argument. If the show kept being good, it would keep attracting viewers.
 
Also, I would point out that in the Simpsons, Seasons 2-8 are the most beloved.

@Silver Smoulder
 
The show is in its 7th season. Do you honestly expect ratings to be rising at this point? Only the most mainstream shows can maintain a stable viewership for this long.

@Background Pony #5083
 
Starlight is a good character, huh?
 
I mean, you’re wrong, but you’re certainly entitled to your opinion.
 
So how come with the introduction of Glimmer, the Nielsen ratings have been dropping? Or that as the screencap suggests, she’s literally poochie? Or that you can’t actually describe her as a character, but rather, as a narrative device?

@Alexlayer  
They didn’t seem like a troll to me.

@MorphinBrony  
Dude, dude. Do not. That anon you just replied to is just about the biggest troll you’re gonna find. Do not waste your energy with them.

@Background Pony #5083  

 
No, Starlight is a toy advertisement added by Hasbro to make the show sell more toys. It’s almost like you people have forgotten why the show even exists.

@Silver Smoulder  
The difference is, Poochie was a bad character forced onto a show by executives who made the show worse.  
Starlight is a good character who was added by the writers themselves & who made the show better (or would if they’d actually use her).

I kinda want to go to a con and ask some of the staff what they think of Poochie.
 
Man, the show sucks ass now.

@Alexlayer  
OK.

@Meanlucario  
Yeah, I think you and I already talked this throughout.

@Alexlayer  
I like her, but some other aspects of her would be nice to see.