![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Sorta OT: Fen and our poor luck with t.v.
Oct. 9th, 2008 06:39 pmFen have never had much luck with our favorite t.v. shows. The first Star Trek series chugged along for two years and was almost cancelled in 1968. Bjo Trimble led the first fan effort to save a t.v. show, which succeeded. Then Trek went bye-bye from prime time t.v. a year later, thanks in part to NBC moving the show to Saturday nights. In 1991, Twin Peaks went off the air after poor scheduling, though I admit the show flat-lined after the Who Killed Laura Palmer thread was resolved. The ambitious Young Indiana Jones Chronicles went off the air thanks to Ross Perot and more bad scheduling. For every X-Files or Lost that becomes a mainstream hit, there are dozens of fan favorites that don't last more than two or three seasons. Heck, these shows are lucky to last more than one season! Fannish t.v. fares better on cable or in syndication because the numbers don't need to be as high for the show to survive. Which is why I'm kinda glad CW is on cable.
I read this yesterday on ClubJade via a link from jedi_news:
Heroes is steadily dropping with each episode: down 18% from the already-sluggish season premiere. However, according to EOnline, it’s doing really well on Hulu. (Have you people learned nothing from Stargate? TV execs and advertisers don’t understand this whole alternative viewing thing, yet. Watch it live if you want to keep it!)
Sarah Connor is, according to SyFyPortal, on the verge of cancellation, but also thriving in the alternative market.
Chuck is holding on, but has also dropped 11%.
So let’s focus on the happy, shall we?
Clone Wars set a new record for Cartoon Network with 4 million viewers.
Fringe won the coveted 18-49 demographic
And even Sanctuary drummed up strong numbers for SciFi with 2.7 million viewers. (Although I suspect this will be another that soon bleeds off to online and DVR viewing.)
Remember, fellow geeks, only you can save TV shows: watch them live!
There's a reason why t.v. execs and advertisers don't understand the whole alternative viewing thing. If you choose to DVR a show or watch it on Hulu, you don't see the advertising. Advertising is the primary way network television and non-pay cable make money. If ratings are high, the network charges advertisers more money. This is why a big event like the Super Bowl, which drew close to 100 million eyeballs last year, costs millions for even a 30-second ad. If the ratings are middling or crappy, they can't charge the advertisers much. If a show is expensive, the networks lose money if it cannot generate the advertising to justify the high production costs. This is actually the #1 reason why high-concept shows go quickly. It doesn't cost much to make a doctor or cop or lawyer show unless it turns into a Grey's Anatomy and you have to pay the stars out the you-know-what.
Fans are great for DVD sales but that alone isn't going to save any show. We need to be worth it to advertisers to keep our favorites on the air. At least until they start to suck.
I read this yesterday on ClubJade via a link from jedi_news:
Heroes is steadily dropping with each episode: down 18% from the already-sluggish season premiere. However, according to EOnline, it’s doing really well on Hulu. (Have you people learned nothing from Stargate? TV execs and advertisers don’t understand this whole alternative viewing thing, yet. Watch it live if you want to keep it!)
Sarah Connor is, according to SyFyPortal, on the verge of cancellation, but also thriving in the alternative market.
Chuck is holding on, but has also dropped 11%.
So let’s focus on the happy, shall we?
Clone Wars set a new record for Cartoon Network with 4 million viewers.
Fringe won the coveted 18-49 demographic
And even Sanctuary drummed up strong numbers for SciFi with 2.7 million viewers. (Although I suspect this will be another that soon bleeds off to online and DVR viewing.)
Remember, fellow geeks, only you can save TV shows: watch them live!
There's a reason why t.v. execs and advertisers don't understand the whole alternative viewing thing. If you choose to DVR a show or watch it on Hulu, you don't see the advertising. Advertising is the primary way network television and non-pay cable make money. If ratings are high, the network charges advertisers more money. This is why a big event like the Super Bowl, which drew close to 100 million eyeballs last year, costs millions for even a 30-second ad. If the ratings are middling or crappy, they can't charge the advertisers much. If a show is expensive, the networks lose money if it cannot generate the advertising to justify the high production costs. This is actually the #1 reason why high-concept shows go quickly. It doesn't cost much to make a doctor or cop or lawyer show unless it turns into a Grey's Anatomy and you have to pay the stars out the you-know-what.
Fans are great for DVD sales but that alone isn't going to save any show. We need to be worth it to advertisers to keep our favorites on the air. At least until they start to suck.
