NBC Because they're demonstrably popular only in our elitist echo chamber?
Posted on 06/30/2014 10:28:18 AM PDT by ShadowAce
We live in a golden age of television. Never before have we had so much quality programming, or so many different ways to view it while sitting on the toilet. However, the things we like so much about the current state of television are actually strangling our favorite shows to death like Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds.
The business model that drives the creation of the shows we like is fairly straightforward: A network pays to make a show, and then we pay them back by watching the commercials attached to the show. It's basic, but it's an arrangement that's worked since your grandparents bought their first TV with the meager wages they earned after working impossible hours at the steel mill. So why do demonstrably popular shows like 30 Rock and Community struggle so hard?
NBC
Because they're demonstrably popular only in our elitist echo chamber?
It turns out that, although we may love a certain show and watch every episode, we aren't watching it quick enough. Whereas your grandparents had no choice but to watch a show right when it aired or else never see it ever again (keep in mind that reruns used to not be a thing), our DVR-spoiled asses are watching programs days or weeks after their original run. Ad revenues are only calculated from the first three days of views, so once that three-day period has passed, you might as well not even watch the show, as far as the networks are concerned.
Shows geared toward (comparatively) younger viewers like 30 Rock and Community eat up valuable prime-time real estate, and although they have a devoted core audience, that audience is most likely going to watch the episodes later on DVR or on the Internet through services like Hulu, where ad revenue is slashed. It's gotten so bad that NBC is now backing off of making quirky, narrow-interest comedies altogether and hedging their bets on bland, formulaic sitcoms with prerecorded laughter.
NBC
And these new, broader comedies have all been smashing successes.
CBS doesn't have that problem -- their average viewers are so old, they fart mummy dust as they happily watch their favorite shows (complete with commercials) the night they air. So we need to either learn to watch our favorite shows while they're actually on television or resign ourselves to an inevitable future of a Big Bang Theory/CSI mashup.
Five years ago, the Sci-Fi Channel took a gamble on the idea that Twitter and Facebook were going to convince young people to watch their terrible programming. They rebranded as Syfy and started feeding us films like Sharknado, which were specifically designed to be shared with ironic incredulity on social media. It seemed to work for a while, and since it was our best chance at eventually seeing Thrillosaurus Rex: Time-Traveling Dinosaur Detective, we embraced it.
Elenarts/iStock/Getty Images
"The best part is when he goes back 100 million years ... to the age of the other dinosaurs!"
However, making those joyously terrible movies is actually causing Syfy to implode. You see, even though movies like Sharknado and Ghost Shark draw a decent number of viewers and become trending topics across the Internet when they air, nobody is watching the channel in between those movies. Ever since Syfy rebranded itself and eschewed its traditional sci-fi programming, it began to hemorrhage all of the sci-fi fans who watched the network in the first place. Without those fans to keep the network afloat between releases of Crabquake and Testicular Rhino Dragon, Syfy is struggling to sustain itself.
AMC has spent a lot of time and money making HBO-quality adult-oriented programming. Breaking Bad, Mad Men, and The Walking Dead proved to be hits on a network that had previously been known for John Wayne movies and airing the Jaws sequels out of order. The problem is, those shows all have premium cable budgets, and while HBO and Netflix can afford to sink millions of dollars into Game of Thrones and House of Cards because of their subscription-based revenue model, AMC is still dependent on the "watch this episode the night it airs or else we're screwed" model that has torpedoed countless other equally popular but less expensive shows. Chasing the next Breaking Bad may end up being the meth-sculpted albatross that sinks them.
AMC
Leaving them enough cash for just one new show: Talking Talking Dead.
You see, making expensive shows is a huge gamble, with the potential to win big and lose just as massively. A few failed shows are all it takes to make the stock take a serious dump and throw the network into financial ruin. So when we stop watching The Walking Dead as much as we used to, or we don't bother tuning in to Halt and Catch Fire or The Turn at all (if you asked "What the hell are those shows?" you have proven this point exactly), AMC panics, because they can't afford to lose what they spent to make them. If none of their new season of shows takes off, AMC might be back to late-night airings of Revenge of the Nerds and Hackers by this time next year.
One of the main reasons DVR took off was because it allowed us to watch our shows whenever we wanted and skip over all those annoying commercial breaks. That attitude continued when networks began putting their shows on the Internet, because if the current generation believes in one principle above anything else, it's that no one should ever have to pay for anything and all forms of entertainment should be funded by good will and charity. And that attitude is destroying the entertainment industry, your favorite TV shows included.
Michael Buckner-Rommel Demano/Getty Entertainment-/Getty
Stop trying to Kickstart a My So Called Life revival.
You see, young people disproportionately watch their television online, which represents a substantial cut in ad revenue compared to what a traditional broadcast generates. Between 80 and 85 percent of online ads are skipped when the viewer is given the option, so the advertisers who are willing to support Internet broadcasts will only pay a fraction of what they would to put an ad on television. That said, even if we hit "Skip This Ad" after the first five seconds, we are still watching part of the ad, which is worth something to the advertisers. What's really killing content is when we refuse to watch the ads at all.
Most Internet viewers use some kind of ad-blocking software, which completely circumvents advertising -- Adblock Plus alone has 60 million users. Since the current generation is also watching much more of their TV online, this means that a huge number of people who regularly watch a specific show are essentially refusing to support it. This is sort of like watching a trombone-playing circus bear juggle unicycles for an hour and then refusing to take 30 seconds to toss him a fish.
NBC
Which would have been a scene in Community Season 6, but now it won't, and it's YOUR fault.
One-third of those 60 million Adblock Plus users are people age 20 to 29, which you may notice are the exact same people that start Internet petitions and social media campaigns when their favorite shows are in danger of cancellation and write protracted blog posts lamenting the lack of quality content on television. Do you really want to see a sixth season of Community? Quit writing petitions and start watching some Lexus ads.
In fact, we find ourselves watching more stuff on Roku.
Not a single show mentioned in the article was one I’ve seen or want to see.
In fact, I don't even have a TV server--pay or off-air antenna. I use Roku exclusively.
We bought a Roku in January. Best thing we ever did. We don’t watch much live tv anymore except for a few news shows on Fox News Channel.
If your business model doesn’t fit conditions change your model.
We don't have time to watch anything live.
Thanks, DVR.
“...because if the current generation believes in one principle above anything else, it’s that no one should ever have to pay for anything and all forms of entertainment should be funded by good will and charity.”
This attitude drives me nuts! People seem to think that TV shows are paid for through Twitter hashtags and DVD sales. Or that if everyone just becomes Hulu or Netflix, then it will all magically be fine.
Any form of advertisement is looked on like you are being assaulted. Those ads help pay the millions it costs to make these programs. If you dont have cash, then everything will have the look of a BBC teleplay from the 70s.
I watch anything of interest on-line exclusively....haven’t had TV in years. Have a nice size monitor and gives me all the visual I want.
Also have ad block and other blocks....works for me!
I find myself watching reruns of my favorite shows like Castle, The Office, Big Bang Theory, and Mr. Ed.
Blaming the viewers? Who wrote this, liberals?
How about shows that have less than 30 minutes of content in a hour?
How about shows that display popup advertising during the show including the continuous display of the name of the show and network name, a very annoying distraction?
How about showing 2 shows, repeats for 3 weeks, then back to maybe 1 show before repeats again?
How about showing 7 episodes then waiting 6 months before showing more, stringing users along to the point they simply lose interest in the show during those six months when it is off the air?
As a businessman I agree with the principle that one has to make money to stay in business.
However, I don’t sell crap. I respond to my client’s needs and wants with improved products. And I don’t insult, belittle and urinate all over those I expect to buy my goods.
See what I’m getting at?
Also, I don’t have a real problem with watching a commercial, except that they are all unwatchable and uninformative. Crappy production, horrible fast clip editing, often in very bad taste, and generally insulting to a moron’s intelligence. They offer me no reason to investigate the products advertised. Have you ever watched a commercial and afterward were somewhat in doubt what it was they were selling? Remember the live commercials on the George Burns Show? I never felt compelled to turn off the TV or leave the room when they were on.
Can I use Roku to access the internet?
I suppose I would have to buy a TV to help these poor poor networks. I haven’t owned one in 15 years.
I visted Germany as a teen, and one thing I remembered (besides boobs on broadcast TV), was that the commercials played in a block at the end/beginning of shows. Granted, this was almost 30 years ago, but they didn't interrupt the shows with commercials.
Why trash Sharknado. All you have to watch is the last 20 minutes. It’s Stupid on an epic scale. Tara Reid with the hedge trimmers is a masterpiece.
I use Plex Media Server.
Halt and Catch Fire is actually an interesting show about the beginning of the pc revolution. The main character is a very flawed man; but, with a great idea and a big enough ego to pursue it. Hubby and I are enjoying watching this program.
"The Turn" is not the name of that show. Turn is the name of that show and it is a great show about the founding of this country and the spy network that was set up to help Washington.
Networks and cable companies are going to have to start getting innovative about how to make money on their products, because this train has left the station and the old days are not coming back. I was just speaking to my youngest daughter about this. She is in Japan teaching English and she searches the web for "free tv" and is able to watch most of the shows she wants to watch. I think entities like HBO and such would make a lot more money if they would simply, after a certain period of time, allow people to buy individual episodes for a reasonable price, per ep instead of insisting you buy the service in it's entirety. I think they might actually end up making more money that way; but, they simply cannot let go of the old formula -- even though it is thoroughly outdated.
One thing people should have learned from the A&E fiasco is that people can and will reward advertisers of quality family-oriented programming.
Gayfests and programming that doesn’t meet societal norms has advertisers that are punished. Simple.
I don’t understand what roku does or why I need it. Could someone explain, please?
I have a smart tv (which we’ve yet to figure out) so can already watch Netflix on the tv and if I miss a show as it airs then I can usually watch it on the computer after a couple of days or some channels re-air shows a dozen times over the next week.
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