LOL! American TV is so advertising based it's ridiculous. And the advertisers determine which tv shows to purchase air time during based solely on Neilsen Ratings, which are collected during a "sweeps period" - which usually is in Sept, November, February and May. So they air the big or note worthy episodes sure to get the most viewers during "sweeps", and filler episodes or weaker ones during the months in between. (ie. the lead gets kidnapped or is put in peril during Sweeps! ex: Innocence from Buffy S2 aired on the WB during February Sweeps.)
It's always driven me crazy that a tv show I'm invested in will only survive based on how many people with Neilsen boxes randomly selected in each area have watched that show. It doesn't matter if I've watched it, if you watched it, if any of my friends watched it - all that matters is that enough people with these frigging boxes have - because the advertisers based their decisions on how much ad time on that. Also the rates for ad time during a tv show is based on the Neilsen rating - how many people watched it and in particular demographic. In short, why bother getting invested? You don't matter to whomever is producing the series and airing it.
Premium Cable is more favorable because that's based on subscribers and well how many subscribers are watching and asking for it. But it is also ratings based.
Cable channels such as AMC which does Mad Men - shows survive longer on - because they do not require the same level of viewership, and they don't really follow the network sweeps period. Mad Men as a result follows the UK model of about 13-20 episodes then hiatus. You might have a two week break in between here and there, but it's usually during a holiday and not the same as a month or two. Although Syfy is weird - they aired BSG in junks of 13 episodes. Often dividing the series in awkward and frustrating places. What they did with Caprica destroyed the show - they showed about 7 episodes in Jan-April last year, then waited until Oct to show about four or five more, then announced it was cancelled (after a cliff-hanger episode) and that they might air the rest sometime next year. WTF? Granted Moffat ended Sherlock on a cliff-hanger - but that was deliberate. This was not deliberate.
I want to see whole story in order, and within a reasonable time period - apparently that's asking too much. This airing half of it, then not the rest, or the rest sometime six months later or wait not at all because not enough people are watching the thing so we're just going to end it willy-nilly, we don't care that 1 million or however many people would like to know what happened or know how the story ended.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2010-11-14 01:04 am (UTC)And the advertisers determine which tv shows to purchase air time during based solely on Neilsen Ratings, which are collected during a "sweeps period" - which usually is in Sept, November, February and May. So they air the big or note worthy episodes sure to get the most viewers during "sweeps", and filler episodes or weaker ones during the months in between. (ie. the lead gets kidnapped or is put in peril during Sweeps! ex: Innocence from Buffy S2 aired on the WB during February Sweeps.)
It's always driven me crazy that a tv show I'm invested in will only survive based on how many people with Neilsen boxes randomly selected in each area have watched that show. It doesn't matter if I've watched it, if you watched it, if any of my friends watched it - all that matters is that enough people with these frigging boxes have - because the advertisers based their decisions on how much ad time on that. Also the rates for ad time during a tv show is based on the Neilsen rating - how many people watched it and in particular demographic. In short, why bother getting invested? You don't matter to whomever is producing the series and airing it.
Premium Cable is more favorable because that's based on subscribers and well how many subscribers are watching and asking for it. But it is also ratings based.
Cable channels such as AMC which does Mad Men - shows survive longer on - because they do not require the same level of viewership, and they don't really follow the network sweeps period. Mad Men as a result follows the UK model of about 13-20 episodes then hiatus. You might have a two week break in between here and there, but it's usually during a holiday and not the same as a month or two. Although Syfy is weird - they aired BSG in junks of 13 episodes. Often dividing the series in awkward and frustrating places. What they did with Caprica destroyed the show - they showed about 7 episodes in Jan-April last year, then waited until Oct to show about four or five more, then announced it was cancelled (after a cliff-hanger episode) and that they might air the rest sometime next year. WTF? Granted Moffat ended Sherlock on a cliff-hanger - but that was deliberate. This was not deliberate.
I want to see whole story in order, and within a reasonable time period - apparently that's asking too much. This airing half of it, then not the rest, or the rest sometime six months later or wait not at all because not enough people are watching the thing so we're just going to end it willy-nilly, we don't care that 1 million or however many people would like to know what happened or know how the story ended.
Sigh.