Originally posted by Bruce: However, I also think you could forget about SVU, one of my faves, but a polarizing show.
I'll give you that but the original flavor Law and Order has supposedly really regained some momentum creatively this fall. I think if it is that good then why not showcase it and try to bring viewers back to the slightly revamped version.
Dumont, when you updated fri/sat/sun with finals, can you let us know what each night is? thnks
quote:
Originally posted by dumont: FOX Vaults Into Huge Lead After Four Nights of the 2008 February Sweep:
After four nights of the February Sweep, FOX siezed a huge lead in the young adult demo, households and viewership averages, by virtue of the enormous Super Bowl numbers last night. ABC continues to hold second place in the young adult demo and viewership, while CBS has a narrow hold on second place in households.
After four nights, FOX is off the charts in terms of year-over-year improvement. Of the remaining networks, ABC, NBC and The CW are showing the low double-digit year-over-year slippage while CBS (last year's Super Bowl broadcaster) is showing huge year-over-year fall-off.
Also of note: despite the WGA-strike addled line-ups of the six networks, after four days, there is actually a year-over-year growth in demo (up 4%), households using television (HUT up 1%), and viewership (up 4%). It's been a while since I've been able to report a year-over-year improvement in overall demo, household and viewership numbers.
nights nights
demo web demo demo % won won
Rank web 2008 2007 chg 2008 2007
1 FOX 14.04 1.85 659% 3 1
2 ABC 2.35 2.94 -20% 1 1
3 NBC 1.68 2.36 -29% 1
4 CBS 1.42 11.61 -88% 2
5 CW 0.90 1.16 -22%
6 MNT* 0.50 0.27 85%
total 20.89 20.18 4% 5 4
This years and last years numbers are based upon final Nielsen numbers, except for Friday, Saturday and Sunday this year which are based upon the FAST Nationals.
===
Preliminary results for Week 19 (four nights final, 3 nights preliminary) and the preliminary season to dates show that ABC placed second last week in the advertiser-adored young adult demo, giving it enough to pull into third place in the season-to-dates behind NBC (separated by 0.01, a virtual tie):
This message has been edited. Last edited by: vlis,
Originally posted by Bruce: However, I also think you could forget about SVU, one of my faves, but a polarizing show.
I'll give you that but the original flavor Law and Order has supposedly really regained some momentum creatively this fall. I think if it is that good then why not showcase it and try to bring viewers back to the slightly revamped version.
It has revamped somewhat but too many viewers have kissed it off for good.
Plus, NBC has been trying to shake being branded as the "L&O network."
Posts: 1589 | Location: Western Pennsylvania | Registered: 13 December 2006
Originally posted by Obveeus: ...why not give the slot to Friday Night Lights?
This is NBC. A move like that would be on par with their recent 'intelligence'.
1) FNL will not be on the air next season
2) If it was still a series, it would pull an all time ratings low for a post Super Bowl show.
See, I told you it was the kind of move NBC would make.
Hmm, perhaps there is hope for the show. In my opinion, it wouldn't be the lowest rated ever just because of the audience crossover with football fans in general. Certainly no worse than the Alias disaster.
Just because the Drama is about a Football team, doesn't mean Football fans will watch it... or else, FNL would be getting about 20 million viewers a week.
Originally posted by Bruce: However, I also think you could forget about SVU, one of my faves, but a polarizing show.
I'll give you that but the original flavor Law and Order has supposedly really regained some momentum creatively this fall. I think if it is that good then why not showcase it and try to bring viewers back to the slightly revamped version.
The renewed success of the original Law&Order makes me wonder what would have happened if ABC had kept The Practice on the air for one more year -- it was a stable on Sundays, and it went off the air the season before Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and Desperate Housewives took off. With L&O succeeding, and none of The Practice's cast having succeeded elsewhere (McDermott's Big Shots has failed, Lara Flynn Boyle I think is no longer part of Las Vegas, and others have tried and failed in other new shows), it would be technically feasible to bring it back. They could even bring in Julie Bowen and Mark Valley, whom I really enjoyed in Boston Legal, The Practice's spin-off. Most of the actors should be available, add a couple of fresh faces, and bam, you got the makings of a returning hit.
I know it's not that easy, but wouldn't it be better than all those failed 10pm Monday or Thursday shows?
Originally posted by Obveeus: ...why not give the slot to Friday Night Lights?
This is NBC. A move like that would be on par with their recent 'intelligence'.
1) FNL will not be on the air next season
2) If it was still a series, it would pull an all time ratings low for a post Super Bowl show.
See, I told you it was the kind of move NBC would make.
Hmm, perhaps there is hope for the show. In my opinion, it wouldn't be the lowest rated ever just because of the audience crossover with football fans in general. Certainly no worse than the Alias disaster.
Just because the Drama is about a Football team, doesn't mean Football fans will watch it... or else, FNL would be getting about 20 million viewers a week.
I agree with that, but it would certainly be easy cross-promotion for them and would be a lot more accessible than say, the Office or any of their comedies for that matter.
Originally posted by mushu_jj: On another note, did anyone else watch last night's Paradise Hotel? I recorded it and thought it has real potential to live up to true Fox reality trash. The characters are certainly good looking enough and there's someone from Iowa so I can automatically find someone to root for. Anyone else?
I watched it.
I felt like such a voyeur, though, with all the hidden cameras everywhere.
And what exactly are they competing for? The right to share a bed with a roommate of choice? Or is there a prize? (money, free trip) I didn't watch the first series, so I'm not clear on what is to be won.
My favourite characters so far would be funny Mike and "I'm a 22-year-old virgin" Krista.
A few other comments...for such a mammoth hotel, there doesn't seem to be any other guests about or even hotel staff.
Did anyone watch the steamier late-night FOX REALITY version for comparison purposes? The teaser ads suggested that it would be really quite, ahem, revealing.
I watched SSC last night and I think it is losing steam when it comes to the writing. I thought it was kind of slow, with very little action. Maybe next week will be better.
Originally posted by wenart25: I watched SSC last night and I think it is losing steam when it comes to the writing. I thought it was kind of slow, with very little action. Maybe next week will be better.
Peace!!
That's the problem with a lot of those action shows that rely heavily on special effects. They do that in the pilot and it costs probably over $10 million (don't have the exact figure), but their episode budget goes down to only around $3 or so and they can't keep up the same special effects. Therefore, if you hook the viewers with special effects, then can't deliver that on a consistent basis, they start bailing. Therefore, the story must be at least as enticing as the special effects, as in the example of LOST, who's pilot cost $30 million to produce, but its storyline has kept the viewers around even when the special effects are largely absent.
The writers' strike is expected to end any day now, and the timing could not be better for the broadcast networks.
The strike, now entering its fourth month, will have taken a bite out of ratings, but this season will finish out without the horrendous declines many anticipated had the strike gone on much longer.
No less important, the strike will not particularly affect the upfront ad market this spring or development work on new shows for the coming season, say media buyers.
Yet even if the work stoppage by the Writers Guild of America were to end tomorrow, it would take at least two months, until April, before the networks were back to airing original episodes of primetime comedies and dramas.
“Every show is going to be different but the comedies should be up soon, assuming sets haven’t been taken down. It’ll take two to four weeks to get back into production,” says David Scardino, entertainment specialist at Rubin Postaer and Associates in Santa Monica, Calif.
“Dramas take a little bit longer because of location shoots. We’re likely to see April originals, but it’ll mostly be comedies.”
Most likely, the networks would opt for an abbreviated season ending in May, rather than extend it into the summer, which would mean added production costs for additional episodes airing when viewership typically falls off.
But even with an abbreviated season, the damage done to the networks will be minor, with ratings tumbling 10 percent over the next two months compared to last year, by most estimates.
A longer strike could have led to ratings tumbling by 15 percent or more, by some estimates, and a serious disruption of the pilot-creation process for the next season, forcing networks to return shows they might otherwise have canceled.
As it stands now, the WGA and the studios, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, have an agreement in principle and must now work out the language of a new contract, according to reports. An agreement could come next week, and a quick WGA vote would follow, with members rushing back to work.
There should be enough scripts for actors to get in front of cameras within a month, with post-production adding a few additional weeks. That would put comedies back on the air by early April and dramas by the end of that month.
As for next season, production on pilots will get underway as soon as the strike ends. And while it will be a little later than usual, it's not expected to affect the quality or quantity of the shows the networks present to media buyers during the upfront presentations.
The networks will have scripts and possibly clips in time to show media buyers during development meetings that usually take place in March.
The actual upfront, where the networks preview new programs and schedules for media buyers, could be pushed back from mid-May into June, but with no dire consequences.
Advertisers spent $9.3 billion in last year’s network TV upfront.
“The upfront will be more normal than it could’ve been,” says Scardino. “The ducks that need to be in a row are this season, then pilot season, so they can announce a schedule. That could be slightly delayed.”
What damage the networks suffer they'll suffer this month and next with primetime lineups loaded up with repeats of top-rated scripted shows like ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” and sitcoms such as NBC’s “The Office.” Until just recently, the strike had had almost no effect on ratings.
If ratings fall short of what the networks guaranteed advertisers, the networks will have to make up for these shortfalls by giving away spots to advertisers that would have otherwise generated revenue, or return their money.
Originally posted by TV-aholic: Just because the Drama is about a Football team, doesn't mean Football fans will watch it... or else, FNL would be getting about 20 million viewers a week.
The funny thing is that I mentioned the possibility of airing Friday Night Lights after the Superbowl as a joke. The proper responses were along the lines of: 'FNL will be gone by then' or 'even NBC is not that dumb', but instead mushu is thinking that FNL just might work. In thinking about it, I'm not sure that NBC has any show available that would be a worse lead-out for the Superbowl.
Originally posted by TV-aholic: Just because the Drama is about a Football team, doesn't mean Football fans will watch it... or else, FNL would be getting about 20 million viewers a week.
The funny thing is that I mentioned the possibility of airing Friday Night Lights after the Superbowl as a joke. The proper responses were along the lines of: 'FNL will be gone by then' or 'even NBC is not that dumb', but instead mushu is thinking that FNL just might work. In thinking about it, I'm not sure that NBC has any show available that would be a worse lead-out for the Superbowl.
I wonder if the trend of going back to a Brand New Series premeire is in order.
The last two years have had hot Veteran shows that get good numbers but not the GREAT numbers from the past. Its now too easy to see an episode of HOUSE or Criminal Minds, The Simpsons, ect... because they air so many times each week, on and off network.
Perhaps NBC should wait untill late October/Early November before deciding what will air after the Super Bowl
Originally posted by TV-aholic: I wonder if the trend of going back to a Brand New Series premeire is in order.
That definitely could have worked for FOX given that they don't start their season schedule until January anyway. With NBC, maybe they could premiere a show after the Superbowl, then slip it into a regular Sunday evening timeslot to replace the absense of Sunday Night Football? it would certainly give them an opportuntiy to reach a demographic that was already used to watching NBC on Sunday night.
In my opinion, it wouldn't be the lowest rated ever just because of the audience crossover with football fans in general. Certainly no worse than the Alias disaster. 
