Viewers Not Rushing Back to Favorite TV Programs
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James Joyner @ Gone Hollywood | Friday, April 18, 2008 |
The writer’s strike is long over but its impact continues, as viewers have been slow to return to their old viewing habits.
Just because your favorite dramas and comedies are back on the air after the writers strike doesn’t mean you’re necessarily watching them. A preliminary look at ratings of returning programs on the big broadcast networks reveals that the “majority of original programming has failed to return to its pre-strike levels among key demos,” according to Havas media-buying shop MPG. The firm found that audiences are “coming back to some of the shows, but not most of them,” said Nina Kanter, VP-director of communications analysis at MPG.
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There are legitimate reasons for the ratings declines. Some shows have seen their competition alter as networks rearrange their schedules. CBS’s “NCIS” and “Criminal Minds” now face Fox’s “American Idol,” for instance. Because most networks put the bulk of their marketing spending into promos that run on their own air, it’s quite possible that TV audiences, turned off by repeats and strike-replacement programming, didn’t get those messages, according to MPG’s analysis.
Some returning shows are doing well. NBC’s “The Office” and “Scrubs” have demonstrated improved post-strike ratings, MPG said, though both have aired without regular competitor “Grey’s Anatomy” on the air. CBS’s “How I Met Your Mother” also posted ratings gains compared to its pre-strike performance, but the sitcom may also have benefited from a guest appearance by singer Britney Spears.
It may just be that the traditional model has been overtaken by events, with the strike-forced hiatus helping push trends along.
With the exception of sporting events, I seldom watch television shows “live” anymore, instead watching the handful of shows that we TiVo. And, increasingly, my wife and I are mega-time shifting our viewing, simply waiting until the shows are available on DVD. The ability to watch the entire run of a series at one’s own pace and without commercial interruption makes it very difficult to go back to episodic viewing.
Photo credit: Making the Modern World
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Comments are Closed
Studio honchos don’t realize you might plan your schedule around watching your favorite show–and then they change the air date. Thinking, this is a hot time slot. No, it was hot because of the show you were watching. Example, “X-Files”, we never made plans on that night. Then it got changed to another night–half the time we missed it because we had other things planned regularly. It was a joke in a season finale of Boston Legal–they hoped it would stay on Tuesdays. Sometimes, you simply forget about the time change. Right now they are planning to change “Bones” one of my favorites. They may be ass out if it comes on with something else I like better. I have a DVD recorder [they track what's tivo'd]–but sometimes your favorite show is discussed before you get to watch it–so I usually try to watch it the day it airs. I can be online for hours checking e-mails, writing, etc., but I can’t sit still for an hour to watch a re-broadcast of a show online.