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Posts tagged as “ABC”

Fight to the ratings

First, some general TV/Movie news:

Samantha Bee and Jason Jones, from this show called “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” (what the hell is that show anyway?), are signed to co-create and write a CBS sitcom (yes, you read that right) about the cooking world, Jones being a celeb chef and Bee one of the two women running his cooking empire (So like Bree’s Andrew?).

Also, Jonathan Prince (creator of A&E’s The Cleaner) has inked a first-look 2-year contract with CBS Paramount TV where a first series is already planned, centered around “bright and self-confident 22-year-old college grads who enroll in a medical school with an unusual program that forgoes years of book study to throw the youngsters into the trenches at a teaching hospital where they’re faced with life-and-death situations”.
I may jump out on a limb here, but isn’t that like Grey’s Anatomy without the “steamy” romance?

And what the hell is this news about Don Cheadle replacing Terrence Howard in Iron Man 2?

Now down to business.

I have been known to talk on occasion about ratings and how they might relate to, you know, the survival of a show.
THR put up today a couple of article around ratings, cable and DVRs.

The first is this one, a basic comparison between cable and broadcast ratings.


As the article says:

The cable networks are making their biggest push yet into fall with original scripted programming, but whether they can hold their own against the broadcasters remains to be seen.

I tend to agree with what Kimberly Nordyke notes.
That cable networks can win over the Summer is now obvious. After all, the Big Five are just starting to realize that original content works, even during hiatus, and they are now trying to put that content on air, during “hiatus season” for instance. As I pointed out in an earlier post, the idea of round-year original TV content is happening, whether the major networks want it to happen, or not.
Now, the main question is whether or not cable can keep its momentum going during fall and perhaps even winter. They could even take the sweeps in the (very) long run…But probably not.
Still, although the fact that the Big Five’s ratings are declining is undeniable (due to various circumstances -read “technology and cable”-), I’m not sure of a viable scenario where cable would outperform either CBS, NBC, FOX or ABC (they wouldn’t have a problem with The CW) when fall season is in its full swing.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see…On our DVRs.

Speaking of DVRs, the other THR article I was talking about is this one (technically a blog post). It’s all about DVRs boosting premiere ratings…although not by much it seems.

TV is being revolutionized.

In other, totally unrelated, news, I think I found the coolest website of the week.

World-change is the new black

Looks like the current crisis is giving some execs development ideas.
2009 will be all around world-changing and/or cataclysmic events. In movies (with a lot of remakes/adaptations such as TDTESS, Blindness, World War Z) and especially on TV.
Indeed, in the last few days 3 new shows have been ordered and they seem to be quite timely, to say the least.

First up, The Return, by Greg Berlanti (creator of Everwood and Eli Stone) and René Echevarria (creator of The 4400), which, as the name may or may not imply, will delve into the “return” of aliens on Earth and the effects it has on the world.

Second, we have Flash Forward. No, this is not a Lost spin-off, although it will most likely be televised right after the Island-show. David S. Goyer (writer of the Blade trilogy as well as Batman Begins and TDK’s story) and Brannon Braga (creator of Star Trek Enterprise) co-wrote the script based on Robert J. Sawyer’s novel. The show will tell the story of the world blacking out for two minutes as they are collectively having a horrifying vision of what is coming in 20 years (Paris Hilton President?) due to scientific experiments gone terribly wrong. Braga and Goyer tried to take the show to HBO, which liked the concept but passed on it. Then there was this bidding war between ABC and FOX where the former won.

Last but not least we have Americatown. And guess what, the show will revolve around the exodus of the American populace around the world 20-25 years from now when a terrible financial crisis plunges the U.S. into decline. The writer behind this is Bradford Winters with lots of big names behind, like Tom Fontana, Barry Levinson, Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy.

Two other TV news:

Huge congrats to Jane for finally getting her own show (picked up last week – 11 hours including the 2h pilot – for a July premiere)!


There’s also a set date for “The U.S. of Tara” premiere: Jan. 18.
Mark your calendars.

I, for one, am looking forward to next year’s shows.

Nine ideas to save Television – Part One

Nine ideas to save Television – Part One

The Big Five (CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, The CW) are in mortal danger.
TiVo, YouTube, Cable, Illegal Downloading and the Interweb are among the many threats against the networks’ current existence.
Their future might be unknown, but here are 9 ideas for them to catch up with today’s world and slow down the television crisis.

The first four ideas are coming up right now:

1. Shows all year long
Summer equals reality shows, network season is from September to May, and no one is watching TV on Christmas Eve.
True, but also false.
The web of scripted television is growing more and more each year. It first began on a “diversity” level. 3 networks became 4 and then 5 and then basic and premium cable changed the way TV was made, and viewed.
Now, cable has allowed another change to take place. A change in the season schedule. Or rather, seasons.
Summer reruns are (almost) a thing of the past. Make way for all-new summer episodes on every major cable network. From SciFi to AMC, USA or Lifetime, everyone is breaking boundaries where there is no need for them.
Even the main networks are now following the trend.
FOX is pushing its fall shows a month ahead of the competition, almost putting them during the summer. Last year, NBC wanted to be there at Christmas with The Office and Heroes. CBS has Flashpoint and next year NBC will have The Listener. And some mid-season shows are premiering around March instead of January.
Everyone can watch everything everywhere whenever. Seasons are obsolete.
And this brings us to…

2. VOD
Illegal downloading has been around for a while now and somewhat of a solution has been found.
Meet Video On Demand.
First ABC, now NBC, FOX, CBS, The CW and even Showtime. You name your network, you’ll have your online download/streaming service. And there’s also this little thing called Hulu.
ABC.com’s player (launched in 2006) attracted over 9 millions users last April.
DVDs will soon become a thing of the past, and so will Blu-Ray, real fast.
The future of distribution is online, and it is immaterial.
Missed an episode?
You can go to the network’s site, go to iTunes, go on HBO/Sho On Demand, or go to your friend’s house. You know, the one with TiVo.
There’s also Veoh, which has made a deal with ABC.
There’s money to be made (and is made) on the Internet. Ads are the only way we can get things for free.
Speaking of money…

3. Fewer ads
Ever felt the urge during your TV watching to switch channels?
Yeah, that’s what ads are for.
One of the many reasons people are looking towards other means of watching TV rather than actually watching it is because of the 17 minutes of ads per hour.
Fewer ads during a TV show means less channel-switching and viewers will stay on the channel. That’s damage control for you.
Fox is actively thinking about it with Fringe and Dollhouse which have about 55 minutes of actual content with minute-long commercial breaks.
Less ad also helps the creative process by giving a show space to expand rather than artificially cutting it in 6 little pieces.
Is less more?

4. Shorter seasons
The strike may have had other positive unforeseen side-effects.
Remember Dirty Sexy Money? Probably not, because it only had 13 episodes last season.
But that’s okay.
Less is definitely more when it comes to shows like Lost. A radically shorter season definitely helped the show to condense its mythology and get on with the answers instead of waiting around for 5 other episodes.
It might not be that good for the Big Five in terms of cash but in a qualitative way, it’s certainly a game-changer.

Now, combine shorter seasons with 55-minute long shows around the year available for free whenever wherever on VOD.
Boom.
Welcome to the new world, Networks.

More (crazy) ideas tomorrow!