I was thinking about the ABC series, EYES. The ratings aren't spectacular, yet it's gotten very high praise from the critics. It airs on Wednesday nights and has a lead in of Lost and Alias. That seems great for a brand new show...BUT, it's up against Law and Order on NBC and CSI:NY on CBS. That's trouble for any show, especially a brand new series that hasn't been around but a month or so.
Now...NO series that ABC puts on will beat NBC or CBS in this timeslot on Wednesday nights, because too many viewers are going to stick to their favorites- one of the two series that have been around longer. Lost could do ABC's best numbers, but in the distorted mind of the TV executive, the best numbers would only be good enough if the timeslot would beat out CBS and NBC. It's probably already beating out Fox's Wed 9 PM slot anyway. No series ABC puts in this slot will likely beat either long running show (or longer running, at least), because viewers already have their slots set for the shows they have been watching for a while now. People aren't going to suddenly leave their favorite shows in droves no matter ABC puts on. Well, there's ALMOST nothing they could put on that would change things. The chance that any show would change things is obscenely tiny.
So...ABC will probably NEVER get 1st place up against Law and Order and CSI. BUT...in their ever shrinking wisdom- ABC will likely cancel Eyes and replace it with yet another show that will coms in 3rd place. It's like a dog chasing its tail. The likelihood of ABC finding a show that can beat two big brands like CSI and Law and Order is so tiny, they should probably just stick to a critically acclaimed show like Eyes, because? They would start to build a brand with Eyes...this sort of thing takes time. The current idea in TV is to give most shows 5 or 6 episodes, and if they aren't dominating the other networks in the same timeslot, cancel them. Of course, that idea makes no sense, because one network ALWAYS has to come in last place each slot. NO network is going to win every single time slot, every single night...it's just not possible. Even with the best shows you have ever seen, no network will dominate in any significant way really. Sure, CBS does so much better than the others sometimes and the same for NBC (ABC is just a loser network in general when it comes to overall ratings and competing against the others).
So...we know that any show that replaces Eyes will either. A. get the same numbers. or B. get lower numbers. This does nothing to help ABC, they neglect to build any type of brand loyalty with the viewers, and they piss off viewers who keep losing their favorite shows all the time. Ad rates cannot fluctuate THAT much for it to make THAT much of a difference to the network's overall profit margin. It's just not possible in general. Sure, some shows have higher rates than others, but guess what? Every show will have sponsorship, and that sponorship will always bring in millions for the network, no matter what crappy show they air. Why? There are SO many American TV viewers, that even a bad show will garner millions of viewers half the time. The numbers for Eyes...I think I saw that they had 6 million viewers one night. That's not high in the scope of things, but not everyone is going to stay over from Lost and Alias, and ABC is silly to think they will. The only thing that would keep all 20 million+ viewers from Lost and Alias is if ABC started airing the 'porno hour' with all nude babes. Don't hold your breath.
So, we're left with a number of networks that refuse to build loyalty with so many possibly brands. They'll continually switch things around, adding this show and dropping that one, pissing off this set of viewers and pleasing this set over here. The business model just does't make sense, and their brand ultimately has to suffer. Even if it suffers from JUST the viewers of one particular show...you're still talking about tens of millions of Americans who will eventually get to the point where they have no more patience for the mindgame the networks are playing with them. Why isn't my favorite show on this week? Why is it preempted for some special that I've no interest in? Why is it suddenly on a different night? Why is it not airing anymore, yet the network doesn't bother to tell me that it won't be airing anymore?
None of it makes sense, and the only logical conclusion is-- TV networks are run by monkeys sitting at computers and big fancy desks. Detached from what viewers actually want and WAY too obsessed over ratings numbers, which cannot be anywhere near accurate.
Speaking of ratings- I've never understood the concept of- hey, we have so and so million people participating in this ratings program, and therefore we say that this show got 20 million viewers! This entire theory is bogus. The ratings cannot be close to reality. Why? The ratings households don't all use boxes that show what they're watching. Some use personal TV diaries, which can easily be faked...people fake them all the time just to get the cash that the ratings people will send you for doing the diaries. Also- ratings can't possibly take into account what people have Tivo'ed at any given time. Face it, a series could get a rating that claims a mere 3 million viewers, but in fact- 20 million others might Tivo it and watch it later. I don't watch ANY show live, because I record all my shows to DVD and you can't fast forward thru commercials when you watch it live, plus it's easier to take the commercials out when you can forward thru them all. So, Neilsen ratings are bogus- they have to be...which is what the business model is based on, an obsession with the ratings for each show. Too many factors are neglected in the counting of these so-called ratings numbers, and too many unknowns exist for us to ever know how many people ever watch any show. If a TV is tuned to NBC all night, yet no one is home- does that count? If a TV is set to CBS all night, yet the person has the sound off, does that count? If a TV is set to ABC all night, but the viewer skips every commercial...doesn't that defeat the purpose of ratings and ad rates that are set based on those ratings?
The networks need to join the 21st century with the rest of us. Their business models are too flawed to survive in any meaningful way. Which is why cable series have come about and they're HUGE now. Cable gets it better- by reairing shows at different times, giving more shows a better chance of survival, etc. You just have to wonder what goes on in the mind of the average TV executive, and you have to wonder if they know all of this themselves, or if they're still as clueless as they seem to be...
Thank you for putting eveything I feel down in writing!! Question is, is anyone reading?
Eyes reminds me of Moonlighting which became a cult favorite. The characters are fresh and it is fun to get to know more about each character with each episode. Eyes is a much better show than Gray's Anatomy. Lets hope ABC gives Eyes a chance.
the writing is very smart with this show...and youre right, each week we learn more and more about each character. i find it quite annoying that networks do what they do for 'sweeps.' here ya go, heres a great show you love...well end the episode with a tease of big drama from the next episode (the guy telling harlan how the mole is naomi for example)...BUT, were going to stop airing it for a month or maybe two so we can air super nanny. super nanny?!! what on earth? lets put on a "reality" show special. great ideas, geniuses. ugh.
with eyes, all the critics love it, its VERY smart and VERY polished looking- its something that any network SHOULD love to have (if only to say, look- the critics love us.) i dont get it...