Network News...
ABC's Lost Gamble
ABC just announced that there will be no Lost until 2007. Apparently, ABC exec listened to fans who hate the current schedule of showing 6 episodes in the Fall, then going on hiatus, then picking up again in the Spring. Most fans wanted a straight, uninterrupted stretch for the season.
Well, now I'm not counting on a fourth season of Lost. It's been my experience that when a network starts this much shuffling--especially when they cite the fact they're doing it because they "listened to the audience"--they're trying to kill a show.
I figure the show's just too popular and the plans the producers have laid out for the future would cost the network too much. Not to mention how much popular TV stars tend to start getting per episode. You can't just up and can the show, so instead you bounce it around a bit, still paying it lip service the entire time, but hoping that people will just forget to tune in. And then, after those first ratings returns, you can throw your arms up in the air and say with all the vehemence you want: "See! People don't like the show! They're not tuning in, therefore we have to cancel it!"
It's kind of what they did with Threshold. It was just starting to eek out a niche when they preempted it and then bounced it to a different night with no warning (and just as little promo as they had been giving the show since before it aired).
It is the job of the producers/writers/creators/etc. to craft a show worth watching.
It is the job of the network to give it a chance by letting people know when to tune in.
NBC Repurposes Rookies
In an effort to maximize its reach, NBC is expected to blitz its cable siblings with five of its six new shows this fall.
According to NBC scheduling chief Mitch Metcalf, exact plans have not been finalized, but the broadcast network expects to repurpose the premieres of five shows on its sister cable networks at least once the week they premiere.
It most certainly looks like NBC will be the juggernaut in the new season. I know that right now it looks like it's got the highest number of new shows I'll be watching of the normal networks. It only makes sense that they're going to try to spread that wealth out to their other networks in their stable.
This way, if someone misses Studio 60 the first time it airs, they can catch it on the other NBC-owned channel the next day--effectively dissuading those not completely comfortable with the online free or pay alternatives from exploring them further. It also saves them the money of producing new content for those other stations.
Bottom line is, this is a short term solution to the long term problem all the networks are going to be facing. That problem is that more and more people aren't happy being told when they can watch the shows they like. And we won't even talk about the growing number of people who hate the interruptions of commercials and pre-empted episodes so much that they've forsaken regular TV viewing all together and just wait for the (overpriced) DVD season sets.
ABC just announced that there will be no Lost until 2007. Apparently, ABC exec listened to fans who hate the current schedule of showing 6 episodes in the Fall, then going on hiatus, then picking up again in the Spring. Most fans wanted a straight, uninterrupted stretch for the season.
Well, now I'm not counting on a fourth season of Lost. It's been my experience that when a network starts this much shuffling--especially when they cite the fact they're doing it because they "listened to the audience"--they're trying to kill a show.
I figure the show's just too popular and the plans the producers have laid out for the future would cost the network too much. Not to mention how much popular TV stars tend to start getting per episode. You can't just up and can the show, so instead you bounce it around a bit, still paying it lip service the entire time, but hoping that people will just forget to tune in. And then, after those first ratings returns, you can throw your arms up in the air and say with all the vehemence you want: "See! People don't like the show! They're not tuning in, therefore we have to cancel it!"
It's kind of what they did with Threshold. It was just starting to eek out a niche when they preempted it and then bounced it to a different night with no warning (and just as little promo as they had been giving the show since before it aired).
It is the job of the producers/writers/creators/etc. to craft a show worth watching.
It is the job of the network to give it a chance by letting people know when to tune in.
NBC Repurposes Rookies
In an effort to maximize its reach, NBC is expected to blitz its cable siblings with five of its six new shows this fall.
According to NBC scheduling chief Mitch Metcalf, exact plans have not been finalized, but the broadcast network expects to repurpose the premieres of five shows on its sister cable networks at least once the week they premiere.
It most certainly looks like NBC will be the juggernaut in the new season. I know that right now it looks like it's got the highest number of new shows I'll be watching of the normal networks. It only makes sense that they're going to try to spread that wealth out to their other networks in their stable.
This way, if someone misses Studio 60 the first time it airs, they can catch it on the other NBC-owned channel the next day--effectively dissuading those not completely comfortable with the online free or pay alternatives from exploring them further. It also saves them the money of producing new content for those other stations.
Bottom line is, this is a short term solution to the long term problem all the networks are going to be facing. That problem is that more and more people aren't happy being told when they can watch the shows they like. And we won't even talk about the growing number of people who hate the interruptions of commercials and pre-empted episodes so much that they've forsaken regular TV viewing all together and just wait for the (overpriced) DVD season sets.