August 10, 2008 8:55 PM
Summer TV's Sizzles and Fizzles
Which New Shows Have Viewers Talking=97or Walking
By Josef Adalian and Jon Lafayette
There were plenty of hit shows on TV this summer. Problem is, most of
them launched a couple of years ago.
An aggressive push to add more original programs to summer schedules,
combined with increased competition from established successes, made
it harder than ever for new series to break out this year. Networks
that once counted on going up against repeats found significant first-
run competition in just about every time period.
The result: Overall TV viewer****p was actually up a bit, thanks to the
high volume of original shows. But, particularly on the broadcast
side, there were precious few new hits launched.
One network executive believes principles of supply and demand are now
governing the summertime TV marketplace. With more choices across the
spectrum, it=92s only logical that hits will be fewer, and smaller in
size.
Despite the difficulties so many new shows had in breaking out, ABC
Executive Vice President Jeff Bader said this summer proved that
networks are on the right track when it comes to ditching as many
repeats as possible in the summer.
=93Networks had more original programming, and that=92s why we=92ve
stopped
the erosion,=94 he said. =93There=92s an audience there.=94
But was it the right kind of programming?
Most of what the broadcasters served up this summer was reality fare.
CBS and NBC took some stabs at putting scripted shows on the air, but
to so-so results.
One advertising executive hopes broadcasters don=92t lose heart.
=93We were promised original shows in the summer=85. And it=92s happened,=
=94
said media buyer Sam Armando of Starcom. =93But I guess somewhere deep
inside in advertisers=92 minds you hope for a good mix of original
scripted fare as well as original unscripted, and you worry moving
forward that the trend will lend itself more to reality when you see a
lot of money and effort being put into original scripted shows that
are doing average at best, and half the ratings of things like =91Hell=92s
Kitchen=92 and =91America=92s Got Talent.=92=94
Another media buyer, Shari Anne Brill of Carat, implied that networks
might be using too high a yardstick to judge ratings for summertime
scripted shows.
=93I think if (CBS drama =91Swingtown=92) was on cable, if it had gotten
those ratings it would have been a huge hit,=94 she said.
Indeed, one of the toughest tasks programmers face these days is
trying to figure out just what qualifies a show as a hit or a miss.
In looking back at the small screen=92s summer of =9208, TelevisionWeek
decided that raw ratings alone don=92t tell the story of which new shows
worked (or didn=92t). Instead, we combined Nielsen numbers with blog
buzz, critical reaction and how a show did versus its competition to
come up with a list of 10 shows that managed to stand apart from the
summer m*****=97and five that seemed destined to disappear into the
dustbin of TV history.
(Ratings information includes adults 18-49 average (or another
demographic, if indicated) and total viewers through Aug. 3.)
SIZZLERS
=91Wipeout=92
(ABC; 3.8, 10.2 million viewers)
It=92s hard to call this the surprise hit of the summer, given ABC=92s
relentless pre-premiere promotion and the numerous industry pundits
who predicted this show might just pop. And yet, many experts were
just as convinced that viewers would flee after one or two weeks of
watching regular folks stumble across =93Wipeout=92s=94 wacky obstacle
course of slippery slopes and gigantic rubber balls.
Didn=92t happen. =93Wipeout=94 has remained a consistent performer across
the summer and gave
ABC some much-needed buzz during a season filled with multiple
disappointments. What=92s more, the show is particularly popular with
young men, one of the hardest age groups for networks to reach.
ABC officially renewed the show for a second season last week.
Executives at the network have said they want to keep the show a
summer event. Still, avoiding the temptation to air the show during
the regular season could prove as difficult a task as navigating the
=93Wipeout=94 obstacle course.
=91Swingtown=92
(CBS; 2.1, 6.15 million)
Why include a middling-rated hour that=92s a long shot to return on a
list of summer sizzlers? Because unlike most original scripted series
programmed by networks in recent years, =93Swingtown=94 actually turned
out to be more than a pop-culture afterthought. For example, magazines
like Entertainment Weekly and TV Guide eagerly served up lengthy
episode recaps=97something that couldn=92t be said of NBC=92s =93Fear
Itsel=
f=94
or CBS=92 =93Flashpoint.=94
And before the network moved the show to Friday nights, =93Swingtown=94
was doing OK in the ratings, particularly given its incompatible =93CSI=94
lead-in. CBS executives privately insist they want to find a way to
bring =93Swingtown=94 back=97though that=92s still considered unlikely to
happen.
By contrast, CBS=92 on-air promotions of =93Flashpoint=94 as the =93No. 1
n=
ew
drama of the summer=94 indicate that show is far more likely to return.
Starcom=92s Sam Armando, for one, doesn=92t get that logic. =93Swingtown,=
=94
he said, =93is doing OK, and it=92s a good show.=94 As for
=93Flashpoint=94=
?
=93It=92s not exactly sizzling,=94 he said.
=91She=92s Got the Look=92
(TV Land, 0.4 in adults 25-54, 633,000)
TV Land=92s efforts to expand beyond its retro TV brand got a big boost
from this reality competition, a sort of =93America=92s Next Top Model=94
for the over-35 crowd. There was something endearing about watching
women who break the normal TV definition of physical perfection (and
who have some real-life experience behind them) going all-out in
pursuit of their dreams.
Among viewers 25-54, the Allison Grodner-produced show improved on the
channel=92s total-day averages by more than 60%. No surprise that the
network has ordered a second season of =93Look=94 and has expanded its run
to eight episodes.
=91The Secret Life of the American Teenager=92
(ABC Family; 1.1, 3.3 million)
Viewer****p keeps growing for ABC Family=92s =93The Secret Life of the
American Teenager,=94 which was the most-watched cable program for the
second straight week with 4.1 million total viewers and 1.8 million
adults in the 18-49 demo.
Impressively, the show has grown from its debut, adding 500,000
viewers from the previous week. Some critics have noticed this show
about teens on cable has outdrawn any episodes of the more hyped
=93Gossip Girl.=94 OMFG, indeed.
=91Password=92
(CBS; 1.8, 9.03 million)
Regis Philbin has had more luck in past summers. But this new
incarnation of a TV classic managed to attract a strong (if old-
skewing) audience to Sunday nights, and proved that game shows don=92t
have to be tawdry (=93The Moment of Truth=94) or simplistic (=93Deal or No
Deal=94) to work in prime time. While it=92s not likely to turn into a
monster hit, CBS has found itself a nice utility player to add to its
bench. NBC could have similar luck with its revival of =93Family Feud,=94
which did respectable numbers in a tough
8 p.m. time slot.
=91In Plain Sight=92
(USA Network; 3.4, 5.2 million)
=93In Plain Sight=94 helped USA Network maintain its top slot in the
ratings among cable operators. The series, about a woman marshal
overseeing people in witness protection, last week drew 1.63 million
viewers in the 18-49 demographic, which beat ABC during the time
period.
=93In Plain Sight=94 joined a lineup that shows USA knows how to program
during the summer, with originals of =93Burn Notice,=94 =93Monk,=94
=93Psyc=
h=94
and =93Law & Order: Criminal Intent=94 also luring audiences.
=91I Love Money=92
(VH1; 1.5, 2.2 million)
=93I Love Money,=94 another entry in a string of reality shows on VH1,
clicked with viewers in the 18- to 49-year-old demographic, averaging
1.4 million of the younger viewers in its first three airings. The
network brought back 15 cast members from previous reality shows to
spark interest in =93Love.=94 This time, though, the contestants are
looking for cold hard cash instead of the warm embraces of Bret
Michaels, Flavor Flav or Tiffany =93New York=94 Pollard.
=91The Gong Show=92
(Comedy Central; 0.8, 1.1 million)
Comedy Central brought back =93The Gong Show,=94 and the loud ringing
sound you heard was 1.1 million people tuning in for the first
episode. With comedian Dave Attell filling in for the inimitable Chuck
Barris, =93Gong Show=94 has been far outdrawing its Comedy Central
companion =93Reality Bites,=94 a reality spoof with a cast of comics. Last
week, =93Gong Show=92s=94 audience remained above 1 million total viewers
and its rating in the 18-49 demo was only slightly lower than =93The
Daily Show With Jon Stewart.=94
=91Generation Kill=92
(HBO; 0.6, 985,000)
Outside of =93Mad Men,=94 no TV show probably got more serious attention
than HBO=92s =93Generation Kill.=94 The program was notable because of
both
its subject matter=97the war in Iraq=97and its creator, David Simon of
=93The Wire,=94 a show few watched but some critics called one of the best
in the history of the medium.
=93Generation Kill=94 hasn=92t been sending up ratings rockets, but HBO
feels it has been pulling in a steady if unspectacular audience
averaging just under 1 million viewers on Sunday night at 9 p.m. That
reaches a weekly ***ulative total of about 3.5 million subscribers.
=91The Baby Borrowers=92
(NBC; 2.6, 6.5 million)
NBC promoted a ton of new shows as part of its =93All-American Summer.=94
But it was =93Baby=94=97the series that got the least amount of
hype=97that
ended up with the most heat. Indeed, of all of NBC=92s summer shows,
only =93America=92s Got Talent=94 scored higher demo ratings. And among
all
new shows, =93Baby=94 was No. 3 overall in the demo.
In retrospect, it makes sense this show stood out. The concept of
unmarried teens living together and taking care of someone else=92s kids
guaranteed at least a bit of controversy. And unlike so many summer
reality shows, =93Baby=94 did not feature a panel of three judges or any
cash prizes.
On the down side, after a strong start, the show=92s Nielsen numbers
slid in later weeks. A town hall reunion special barely registered in
the ratings.
FIZZLERS
=91High School Musical: Get in the Picture=92
(ABC; 1.0, 3.4 million)
A great brand, good producers and relentless promotion: This show had
everything going for it. So why did it tank? Maybe because at its
heart, the show was just another version of NBC=92s failed =93Grease=94
reality show, which itself was just a failed clone of =93American Idol.=94
That, and not enough Zac Efron.
=91Celebrity Circus=92
(NBC; 2.0, 5.68 million)
NBC ordered up this show about the same time it found out ABC was
reviving =93Circus of the Stars.=94 ABC eventually dropped its plan. Given
the modest ratings and critical scorn for =93Celebrity=94=97after a decent
start, it finished with a weak 1.6/5 demo rating=97NBC may wish it had
followed suit. On the plus side, the show actually won its time slot
most weeks (albeit against repeats) and lasted much longer than CBS=92
one-episode wonder =93Secret Talents of the Stars.=94
=91The Singing Office=92
(TLC; 0.2, 484,000)
=93The Singing Office=94 helped play the exit music that sent former TLC
President and General Manager Angela Shapiro-Mathes packing last
month. The last two times the series appeared in prime time, it drew
barely 400,000 viewers, about half the number of people watching its
lead-in program, prompting TLC to bump it to Sunday afternoons.
Network insiders said the series was a cute idea that might have been
doomed by audience fatigue from too many other singing competition
shows, which no amount of TLC could overcome.
=91The Factory=92
(Spike; 0.4, 586,000)
Heralded as a comedy for guys on male-targeted cable network Spike,
=93The Factory=94 got some favorable notices when it came out. Tom Shales
of the Wa****ngton Post called it =93one of the few pleasant surprises of
the summer.=94 But it pretty much failed to manufacture much buzz or
viewer****p. Apparently guys prefer violence. On Aug. 3, Spike=92s
=93Ultimate Fighter Unleashed=94 drew a 0.7 rating among adults 18-49.
Spike=92s audience shriveled to a 0.3 when =93Factory=94 appeared. That
rating is about half the network=92s prime-time average of 0.6 in July.
=91Greatest American Dog=92
(CBS, 1.8/6, 7.22 million)
A classic example of a show that would have worked great on cable,
=93Dog=94 was by no means a disaster. It got some decent tune-in for its
premiere, and it was skillfully produced, doggone it. But reha****ng a
host of reality cliches=97fighting contestants, communal living quarters
and *****y judges (sorry)=97is no longer enough to get audiences already
gorging on a steady diet of reality shows to stick with your effort.
While CBS may have been barking up the wrong tree, Animal Planet ought
to fetch this show in a second.
_____________________________________________
http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/alexanderludwig/
|
