TAKE THAT CBS!!!
Looks like the campaigns worked and JERICHO is back next year after all (albeit only for an 8 episode mid season arch). But hell, I'll take it!
Here's a link to a VARIETY article on the hoo-hah created by Jericho fans to save the show (including sending tons of nuts to CBS executives...you had to watch the show to get that). Pay close attention to THIS part of the article, as I think it's going to foreshadow things to come.
"I really think that what has been learned here is that networks are going to have to look at numbers and who is watching their show and who is downloading their show in a different way from here on out," Barbee said. "I think they have to understand that the Nielsens are not telling the story anymore and that the 18-49 demographic they're all so keen on is online and that's how increasingly they are getting their news and entertainment."
I couldn't agree more- and here's the link:
Has the "old way" of gauging fan interest in television shows, nay, perhaps even the method of even CREATING and delivering those shows, changed for good? Discuss at will.
10 comments:
The Nielsons haven't accurately gauged viewership numbers for years. Once video and certainly Tivo entered the picture, the way of calculating who was watching what,when changed irrevocably.
And the delivery systems and the way they are changing viewing habits has had the industry scared and uncertain for years. I know this because we dealt with it a lot when I was on the Board of Directors for the WGA.
None of the producers or artistic unions were quite certain how the various new technologies were going to affect the marketplace. Both sides were scrambling to come up with arcane formulas that would not screw them out of revenue streams. As far as I know (having pretty much taken myself out of the craziness of guild activism...and my issue was always creative rights more than the financial aspects of things. Now all I really care about is that health and pension doesn't get rolled back), they still haven't resolved a lot of this.
But the basic thing will be: Producers won't want to give any sort of residual and royalty for work appearing through new technology and the unions will try to get their fair share...if the producers are profiting; we want our cut.
Personally, I can think of nothing more boring than watching a feature film on the inch screen of a cell phone or i-pod.
I amazed by people's need to be constantly connected and entertained and to haul their amusements with them wherever they go. We are amusing ourselves to death.
As for Network TV shows, I don't watch any of them.
I agree with the "inch screen" idea Chuck, as that baffles me as well. BUT- I also have taken advantage of watching shows online (perhaps a I missed a show, or two things I like both come on at the same time, etc.) and I kind of enjoy the freedom that affords me (i.e. to watch when I choose). And the Neilsons certainly don't guage true viewership, but that hasn't stopped the Networks from using them in that capacity. From what I understand, the Neilsons don't count anything tivo'ed or online, as (YOU GUESSED IT) the sponsors don't get their commercials watched that way!
X,I do take advantage of media online. I have a radio station up in Cincinnati that plays standards and big band music that I've been listening to for years. And right now I'm listening to the cabaret station on accu-radio. My favourite are all my BBC radio shows that I can listen to anytime, especially the comedy and quizzes on Radio 4 and 7.
I even slip a judicious toe into the YouTube waters, recently watching some clips of one of my favourite British comedians, Al Murray the Pub Landlord.
And I caught a great Peter Hall interview on the National Theater Site that was one of their platforms discussions that they regularly hold over there.
So, yes, the internet can be a wonderful tool.
Damn, Chuck...what are you, the Omega Man???
WHERE THE HELL IS EVERYBODY???
I'm here, but I just don't watch a lot of t.v., we do know though that video killed the radio star.
Concering the ratings issue.... Pretty soon Big Brother is moving in anyway so finding out who is watching what and when is going to be much easier to decipher.
Paranoia will destroy ya,
O. Stone
Tim,did you piss everyone off or what?
Hell if I know...I think everyone is just busy...or something. No one's really posting over at the yahoo site either the last few days.
Could be the topics, though I thought they were interesting. Maybe you need to do a blog on Tony picks.
Yes X, I'm in NYC doing an intensive. I don't have a whole lot of free time . Speaking of Tony picks, I saw Journey's End last night. What a powerful show. I hope it wins for something. The acting was excellent. The set and lighting were superb. And as revivals go it was a reviva of a show I had never even heard of. I hope it wins for revival.
Peace,
D$
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