link: Good explanation about what keeps shows on the air

[mystery_sock]

...and what fans can do about it. Note: We cannot get the show any more money.

Why Fan Efforts Won't Help Supernatural's Budget (from the Winchester Family Business) - Supernatural-centric, but there are lessons there that Heroes fans would do well to learn - and that give more than a glimmer of optimism for chances of renewal, just in business

Comments

[takhallus]

There are a couple of reasons why I think that Heroes has a good chance of being renewed, which this article kind of backs up.

1. The DVD sales are fantastic and as NBC Universal is both the network and the DVD distributor they get all of the money.
2. Heroes covers its production costs in advertising and product placement, and has come in on budget this season, so hasn't cost NBC money.
3. The show is so close to syndication that NBC will get a huge payback from their investment if it makes it there.

I've been doing the maths with help from someone who works in DVD sales for a major broadcast network in the US and I am quietly hopeful

[mystery_sock]

I concur with all of those ideas (though it's a terrible show to put into syndication, since all the episodes hew to such a lengthy story structure that individual episodes make little to no sense).

It's interesting to consider. There is a tremendous amount of outright hate towards the show; then again, there's a lot of outright hate towards Jay Leno, too, and he's not going anywhere.

I wonder sometimes if I really am a bad person for loving the show. Oh well; so be it.

[takhallus]

I don't know that it's a terrible show to put into syndication, the main reason for the 100 episode goal is that a show with over 100 eps can be strip syndicated, ie one episode a night for five nights. If you look at a show like The Wire, it had absolutely no stand alone episodes but still sold well in syndication despite not making it to 100 eps - the BBC ran episodes every week night with two week breaks between the seasons.

I'm still hopeful, I think Heroes in syndication would be one of those shows, like the Star Treks and the X Files, which would get a whole new audience after syndication.

[mystery_sock]

It does indeed seem custom-made for reruns on Syfy, which would probably be the only network that would touch it with its current reputation. "Critically acclaimed" has never really been that important of a consideration for that network. :)

I would, of course, love to see it.