By Nina Berry May 5, 2006, 19:30 GMT
Did you know that new network shows are picked based solely on what advertisers think? Welcome to the world of television. ITunes and other revenue models are still small potatoes, so TV remains the advertisers’ playground. They control what you see.
May is the month when television shows on the bubble hold their breath to see if they will be picked up for the next season. The networks announce their fall schedules at a big extravaganza in New York called the Up Fronts. Here’s how the decisions get made.
By now, the pilots for new shows have been shot and edited together. Head writers for those pilots considered “hot” are interviewing potential writing staff even as I type, just in case their show gets picked up. The suspense in the writing world is palpable, since fortunes rise or fall based on decisions the advertisers make.
Next week, the networks will screen their pilots for their biggest advertisers, companies like Procter & Gamble and Honda. These advertisers then decide which shows they want to buy ad time on. Pilots favored by these advertisers are the ones that get picked up for series. It’s as simple as that. Ford Motors and Johnson & Johnson try to figure out which shows their customers watch, and they buy time on them. Occasionally, a network will have a show it really believes in and pick it up despite lack of interest from advertisers. But those shows are few and far between.
With their fall slate picked, the networks convene in New York for a gathering called the Up Fronts, which takes place this year from May 15-19. Here they announce their line ups for the fall to the smaller advertisers, who then bid to buy time on these shows.
Cable networks don’t conform to this model, but their most of their revenue doesn’t come from advertisers. And their ratings continue to pale in comparison to the big five networks.
Below are the shows on the bubble I really hope get to come back for another season. And just for fun, I’ve also listed the turkeys I think should be canned. Of course, my opinion means nothing. It’s what advertisers think their customers want that matters. Scary thought, isn’t it?
Shows that better come back:
Veronica Mars, Gilmore Girls, and EverwoodCome on CW, pick up the best of the WB and UPN. Here’s your chance to start your new network off with quality.
Prison Break and The OfficeProbably will get picked up, thank goodness
New Adventures of Old ChristineA smart, funny woman in a sitcom at last.
Shows that should go away:
What About Brian, The OC, Bedford Diaries, and One Tree HillWealthy white young people whining about their sex lives. Boooring!
Bones and Ghost WhispererUnlikeable female leads that give anthropology (in Bones) and boobs (Ghost) a bad name.
ERTime to lay this once-great show to rest.
The ApprenticeAre people watching this just to laugh at Donald Trump’s hair? The draw can’t be the venal, annoying, desperate capitalist pigs competing for his favor, that’s for sure.
Proof there is no justice – Las Vegas returns next fall, while The West Wing rests in peace.
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