Posted on 05/21/2008 2:22:52 PM PDT by abb
A dominant Fox is set to be crowned the winner of the 2007-08 television season, one that the broadcast biz -- and perhaps even Fox -- would just as soon forget.
The writers strike, along with the rising popularity of DVRs and the increased availability of programming on multiple platforms, conspired to make this season the lowest-rated on record for the broadcasters. There was also a dearth of breakout hits, with no new show emerging as the biz's savior.
Of course, the broadcasters have been losing audience share to cable for years -- but this season saw the most troubling year-to-year declines yet.
In a season when overall television usage among young adults was up slightly, the top five English-language broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and CW) will finish down 10% in adults 18-49 rating (14.1 vs. 15.6). And their overall audience average (41.5 million viewers) is off 7% from the 2006-07 campaign (44.8 million), according to Nielsen.
By comparison, ad-supported cable saw a 9% increase in 18-49 rating (17.4 vs. 15.9) and 7% in total viewers (51.6 million vs. 48.1 million).
"The strike made this year an anomaly," said Fox Entertainment chairman Peter Liguori. "But we all should look at what happened to those viewership levels and be shocked into being more aggressive about our thinking. No one knows what will happen with summer viewing and into the fall."
With just three days to be counted in the season (which ends tonight), Fox led all networks with a 4.2 rating/11 share in adults 18-49, followed by ABC and CBS (tied at 3.0/8), NBC (2.8/8), Spanish-language Univision (1.5/4) and CW (1.1/3).
Fox, which benefited from airing the Super Bowl this season, is up 5% vs. last season -- it's the only network showing gains. CBS, which had aired the Super Bowl a year ago, is down the most (19%), while ABC and CW are off 14% and NBC 10%.
For the first time, Fox will also finish the season as the most-watched network overall, with its 11.1 million viewers beating out traditional leader CBS (10.5 million). The Eye, which has won most weeks down the stretch, likely would have captured its sixth straight total-viewers crown if not for the writers strike.
Working from a smaller base, MyNetwork made some strides in its second season, rising 33% in 18-49 (0.4 vs. 0.3) and 36% in total viewers (1.13 million vs. 835,000).
The biggest story of the season, of course, was the three-month writers strike, which sapped any momentum the nets were building in the fall. Auds were also reluctant to return to hit shows in the spring, with virtually every top hit posting ratings declines.
The rise in DVR playback was another big story, with the residents of one in four homes now with the ability to watch programs on their own timetables.
One result is that hits in crowded timeslots like Thursday at 9 -- where "Grey's Anatomy," "CSI" and "The Office" all toil -- typically see their "live-plus 7" rating (all DVR playback within a week) shoot up by about 20% vs. their averages reported in the next-day Nielsens.
For Fox, the 2007-08 season reps its fourth consecutive victory in the advertiser-friendly demo of adults 18-49. The net has been remarkably consistent in recent years, with this year's 4.2 rating a tick above the 4.1 rating it had maintained the previous three years.
It has also seen its overall primetime audience grow now with each of the last four seasons.
"I feel proud of a group out there, from scheduling and planning to marketing and programming, that did a solid job keeping the network vibrant and robust amidst the strike," Liguori said. "You strip the Super Bowl away and 'American Idol' away, and the network is still No. 1 by a good margin. That shows the strength of our network across seven nights a week."
The performance and results editions of Fox's "American Idol" remained the top-rated programs in both adults 18-49 and total viewers, even though the show at long last began to show mortal-like signs of ratings erosion.
Fox's "House" is running neck and neck with ABC's "Desperate Housewives" as the season's top-rated scripted program in 18-49.
It's also worth noting that the net prevailed for the season even without its traditional second-half Monday anchor, "24" -- a casualty of the writers strike.
Though Fox had its share of first-year bombs, it ended the season with the two top-rated new programs in lie-detector reality show "Moment of Truth" and sci-fi drama "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles."
ABC had a winning fall, thanks in part to some promising newcomers, but the writers strike and the arrival of Fox's "American Idol" sapped much of its momentum.
Despite ratings declines, the net's core vets, "Grey's Anatomy," "Desperate Housewives," "Lost" and "Dancing With the Stars," remain top-10 fixtures. ABC is returning all three of its frosh Wednesday hours in the fall ("Pushing Daisies," "Private Practice" and "Dirty Sexy Money") as well as top new comedy "Samantha Who."
At CBS, crime dramas and reality vet "Survivor" continue to gradually lose ratings steam, but the net was buoyed by the strong performance of its Monday comedy block.
"Two and a Half Men," which once again stands as TV's top-rated half-hour, was up slightly vs. its year-ago average. Also contributing were solid laffers "How I Met Your Mother" and "Rules of Engagement" as well as newbie "The Big Bang Theory."
"Big Bang" is the only Eye rookie to return next fall. Vampire drama "Moonlight," which generated more buzz than most new shows, was canceled after so-so numbers in its run on Fridays.
NBC finished in fourth place for a fourth straight season, although it finished within striking distance of both ABC and CBS. Top shows included "Heroes," "The Office" and "Law & Order: SVU," while its best rookie success came with Monday's light drama "Chuck," a show that was kept off the sked in the second half of the season by the writers strike.
"The Office" was up slightly year to year despite moving to a tougher timeslot.
One of the Peacock's quieter weapons was weight-loss skein "The Biggest Loser," which delivered hefty ratings -- even when it opposed "American Idol" for the first time.
CW had a rough sophomore season, with its year-to-year comps decimated by the loss of vets "Gilmore Girls" and "Reba."
Net seemed to stabilize as the season went on, though, and ended well with its Monday combo of rookie "Gossip Girl" and vet "One Tree Hill." In addition to "Gossip Girl," the net also added another credible piece in comedic drama "Reaper," but it continues to struggle in comedy, cutting "Aliens in America" after its low-rated inaugural season.
* * *
Looking at the final full week of the season, Fox won for the 19th consecutive week in adults 18-49 (3.5 rating/10 share), as "American Idol" had a strong week. CBS won in total viewers for a fourth straight week (10.3 million).
Even during a frame that included season finales on other nets, "Idol" ruled easily as its Wednesday results show (9.2/22 in 18-49, 24.86m) and Tuesday performance show (9.0/25, 24.77m) were the top-rated programs.
Rounding out the top five in 18-49 were the season finale of ABC's "Desperate Housewives" (6.2/16, 16.84m) and the penultimate segs of the season for ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" (6.1/15, 15.55m) and Fox's "House" (5.9/14, 15.02m).
Also of note, CBS saw some year-to-year gains for the 43rd "Academy of Country Music Awards" (2.9/8 in 18-49, 11.73m), which benefited by shifting from Tuesday (where it faced "American Idol" a year ago) to its new night, Sunday.
NBC's "The Office" had a strong finale (4.2/10 in 18-49, 8.21m), up 7% in 18-49 vs. last year's season-ender.
And on cable, MTV's "The Hills" had a strong finish to its season (2.3/6, 3.78m), racking up a big 5.6/14 in women 18-34.
"Network evening newscasts will go dark after the '08 elections and their news divisions disbanded."
ping
http://www.reuters.com/article/Technology08/idUSN2017452720080520
Hulu lands new partners as usages rises
Tue May 20, 2008 5:53pm EDT
By Kenneth Li
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hulu, the video website owned by News Corp and NBC Universal, said on Tuesday its service will be distributed on seven new sites, making its archive of popular television shows more widely available.
The deals come as usage on Hulu and its partner sites exceeded all U.S. television network websites — including those owned by its founders — in its first month since launching publicly, Hulu said, citing Nielsen’s VideoCensus data.
Hulu videos will now be distributed on entertainment and social network sites TV.com, TVGuide.com, BuddyTV.com, Flixster.com, MyYearbook.com, Break.com and Zap2it.com, said Hulu Chief Executive Jason Kilar at the Reuters Global Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit.
Hulu, which hosts free episodes of current shows such as “The Simpsons” and “The Office” as well as past hits like “WKRP In Cincinnati,” is showing early signs of success in a market dominated by Google Inc’s YouTube.
snip
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB121133269674008457.html
CBS Adds Free Shows on Web
By REBECCA DANA
May 21, 2008; Page B6
CBS Corp.’s CBS substantially increased the number of archived television shows streamed free on the Web, the latest salvo in the battle among traditional broadcasters to capture viewers online.
CBS will add episodes of “The Love Boat” and “Twin Peaks,” among other shows, to its new and vintage Web offerings. The programs are broadcast on the CBS Audience Network, a collection of online distribution partners, including CBS.com, Last.fm, Bebo and CNET Networks, which CBS Corp. last week said it plans to acquire.
Recently, television companies have turned to old episodes of popular shows as an easy way of eking out a few more Web advertising dollars. In April, Time Warner Inc. started TheWB.com and KidsWB.com, online hubs for programs from the Warner Bros. library, including “Friends” and “Gilmore Girls.” News Corp., owner of the Fox network and 20th Century Fox, and NBC Universal contribute classic shows to their Hulu.com joint venture, which was introduced last fall. News Corp. also owns Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal.
Any advertising money reaped from reruns of these shows is pure profit for the network or studio that owns them. But in deciding to put more vintage content online, television companies must weigh the possible impact on sales of DVDs and reruns of old shows.
Write to Rebecca Dana at rebecca.dana@wsj.com
At least there is SOME good TV, unlike the newspapers and the movies where there seems to be little to no justification for them to continue in business except that some older people still patronize them out of habit.
All premium cable is about to be cut by me. Don’t need it any more, don’t want it any more. I heff vays to get vaht I vant auf der net.
“All premium cable is about to be cut by me. Don’t need it any more, don’t want it any more. I heff vays to get vaht I vant auf der net”.
...I’m with you. Getting rid of all of it. I can flip around to the 400 channels for an hour and come up with something mildly interesting. Not worth it anymore.
To paraphrase, the battle for print publishing is over, the battle for media itself has begun…
A Virtual Broadcast Network?
The Television has been a widely used telecommunication medium for broadcasting. The word television is derived from mixed Latin and Greek roots, meaning "far sight": Greek tele, far, and Latin vision, sight (from video, vis- to see, or to view in the first person).
Commercially available since the late 1930s, the television set has become a common household communications device in homes and institutions, particularly as a source of entertainment and news. From the 1930's through the 1990's Television was the primary source for people to receive broadcast. Then a shift began to take place.
Where have all the viewers gone?
Ellen Gray writes in Philadelphia Daily News: "I wouldn't want to be a TV executive this week, as broadcasters meet with advertisers in New York to talk about the fall season, make the case that network television's still the place to put their ads and try to explain, yet again, where all those missing viewers have gone."
Primetime TV viewing on the Web has gained considerably in the past year, according to a Solutions Research Group... The survey said 80 million Americans watched a TV show online last year. This number accounts for 43% of the online population, up from 25% who said they watched a TV show on the Web last year. Additionally, 20% of respondents said they watch TV on the Web on a weekly basis.
Are We Witnessing an Era of The Virtual Broadcast Network?
Enabled by advancing social technologies people of all ages are discovering "broadcasting" as the new medium of self expression in a virtual world of consumers following other consumers. YouTube was the beginning of user generated broadcasting. Integrated into social networks video is quickly becoming the new median of self expression and most analysts agreed that it is the next wave of social computing. Convergence of new technologies is making user generated broadcast easy, viral, line and on demand and most of all "free".
Enter The Virtual Broadcasting Network
Armed with advancing technologies individuals and businesses alike can now produce their own broadcasting network with multiple channels that can be distributed virtually and not tethered to any particular web site or browser. Marshall Kirkpatrick writes in ReadWriteWeb: Next Gen Apps Won't Be Pushed Around By the Browser, From taking control of the browser to connecting to the web outside of it, there are a number of new strategies being implemented by startups these days.
We recently experienced a new application called GoYoDeo produced by The Floating Web Company. GoYoDeo enables users to generate broadcast on the fly, organize them in channels and distribute them through any social network or embed them into blogs or web pages. GoYoDeo has plans to launch additional features including the integration of blogs, social connections, mirco-blogging, rss feeds, search and a host of other features all into one application that floats throughout the web.
People are experimenting with the application and have found it user friendly and lots of fun. We've just begun using it to greet everyone we connect with (experience it here) and are making plans to launch "Socialutions: News & Commentary Broadcast Show" shortly. The market movements, user data and overall appetite for user generated news and entertainment via broadcasting points clearly to the emergence of a Virtual Broadcast Network or VBN.
ONLINE VIDEO TOOL & RESOURCES 120+
Online video is a huge trend - so huge that it's proving hard to keep track. From video sharing sites to video mixers, mashups and converters, we've brought together more than 150 of our favorite sites in this category. Enjoy.Live Video Communications
Stickam - The best site for live video communications with multiple people. There is no major competition for Stickam just yet.
Blogtv - Blogtv is a recent discovery to the public. It allows you to do a live video show, and you can stream it live, as well as archive it for later use.
ooVoo - This allows you to carry on video conversations with live video through a Skype-like program.
Mogulus - This site is basically an all in one broadcast solution for video. You can create, edit, and add things similar to broadcast companies could add.
Ustream - Allows you to stream live video and you can also embed the player in to your own website.
HeyCosmo - A downloadable application that allows you to connect with other people in many ways, even play games and more.
Operator11 - Go live with your camera and create your own channels. You can also send video comments and remix your videos.
(excerpt)
The truth will set you free. - Jesus Christ
Christ must be the final Lord and not society and not Caesar. Francis Schaeffer
Coral Ridge Ministries: Proclaiming truths that transform the world.
Check out Netflix’s latest:
http://www.roku.com/netflixplayer/
Interesting concept.
I’m seriously thinking about it. I already have the router set up, etc. All I would need is the netflixplayer and Netflix subscription.
bump
I already have Netflix and it is very cool! Standing in line at Blockbuster is BS. This “roku” looks great...Thanks for letting me know!
Ever see a program title on the on-screen guide and think 'Hmm that might be mildly educational or interesting' only to flip over and get an instant overdose of liberal claptrap and revisionism? All the Discovery networks are as red as a beet on this point.
The one thing I couldn't tell from the website is whether the Netflix player can buffer a movie. My DSL isn't fast enough to make it worth my trouble trying to watch it stream a movie, but if I could tell it before hand (maybe even an hour) that I want to watch a movie later it should be able to start downloading it then.
I love Hulu
I watching old school Swat episode OTHER NIGHT LOL!
IIRC, netflixplayer recommends 1.5-mbps minimum and 4-mbps recommended.
It would depend on your DSL speed and Internet/ISP reliability.
There is a growing list of websites that stream old movies and tv programs. Many are duplicate offerings, but each seems to have some unique titles, as well:
http://hulu.com
http://fancast.com
http://veoh.com
AOL’s n2tv http://television.aol.com/in2tv
Frankly, IMO, with or without writers, TV is pretty crappy. Haven’t seen any difference either before the strike or after.
Wake me when it can show HD movies.
Well, that keeps me from getting it. I'm in the last 100 feet of squirrel chewed wire that Alexander Graham Bell bought as bargain basement surplus. I can get 800 kbps. If I want more I'll have to switch to cable, and who knows whether they will just happen to "lose" Netflix's packets and offer to sell me their pay per view movies.
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