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CBS announced its finale dates today, and the last of them are on May 17, a full week before the end of the broadcast season and the end of the May sweeps. This is not the first time the network has done this — it similarly wrapped things up on the series side a week early the last couple of years. With sweep months losing their importance in the era of People Meters, the networks are being more strategic about scheduling their series. “You have a limited number of original episodes for the season, and they’re worth more in November, December, January, February or even March then they are in May when HUT levels are lower,” one observer said. Airing originals in earlier months of the season provides “more bang for your buck” and helps maximize the ratings for each original episode, the observer said.
It feels like, with a marathon eight-month-long broadcast season, viewers’ interest eventually starts to wane, especially after the introduction of the daylight savings time. We are in Week 2 after the switch, and HUT levels, measuring the number of hourseholds watching television, are still depressed from 8-10 PM. Somewhat surprisingly, a whopping seven new broadcast series are being launched in the current lower-trafficked period: ABC’s Missing, which debuted last Thursday; NBC’s Bent, which premiered on Tuesday; Fox’s Touch, which premiered tonight; and the upcoming BFF (NBC), Betty White’s Off Their Rockers (NBC), NYC 22 (CBS) and Don’t Trust The B—- In Apt. 23 (ABC). As for CBS, it is expected to air original programming, mostly specials, in the final week of the season, including a new Jesse Stone movie. But its decision to end its series earlier season after season begs the question: Is the broadcast season in its current form too long?
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Daylight Saving Time needs to be restricted to the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day, when the kids are out of school. DST kills business at restaurants, movies, nightclubs and retail locations, throws farm schedules into disarray and most important has proven to result in zero energy savings.
Yes, let’s make sure people get less time to enjoy daylight, because it’s bad for business. Wouldn’t want them to spend more time outside rather than consume the latest Hollywood schlock or scarf down 3000 calories at Applebee’s.
Better idea, just do DST year round. I never quite understood why we give back that hour of daylight. Because nothing is better than watching the sun set at 4PM.
You know, Arizona is the only US state not to use DST. Considering their record on almost everything else, I’m glad that I don’t do ANYTHING like Arizona.
In the case of CBS, I’d say the broadcast season is about eight months too long.
The problem is, each series gets 22 episodes a year, which is 5 1/2 months worth of episodes spread out over 8 months. It’s not that people get tired of watching come May…it’s that people get tired of “one week on, three weeks off, two weeks on, five weeks off”. I only have to look so far as “The Good Wife”, which I think aired ONCE in February because of all of the awards shows…and worse, “Revenge”, which aired twice in February…and then is taken off until April!!! Network television needs a new revolution…they need to follow the cable nets’ way of airing shows: all at once, in 13 week cycles. Not only would people be more ready to commit to such a truncated amount of episodes, but ratings would soar, because no each show can have 13 hours of great, compelling television hours…and no filler episodes! (Or at least, VERY few). This also eliminates pulling new shows for weeks at a time after building up an audience, just so they can come back soft after people got tired of waiting for them to come back. (*cough* “The New Girl”)
And I still don’t understand all of these articles about “daylight savings time murdering ratings”. I don’t get that thinking pattern. One less hour didn’t throw me off of TV watching…especially two weeks in, now that people have adjusted. People just can’t find their shows because of all of the repeats that keep airing! And they definitely won’t find new shows like “Bent” because they don’t have any new episodes of their other, favorite shows, to watch to even see promos for it!
Sorry for the long rant…I’m just over this ridiculous “scheduling” the networks do to us…
But wouldn’t that mean the networks would have to produce twice as many series?As an example, say Fox currently airs 15 scripted series and they each air 22 episodes over the course of an 8 month season.Now, if they cut the episode order to 13 and air every episode without any breaks, that series would be done in 3 months.
So then Fox would have to actually produce another 15 series with 13 episodes each to fill up the rest of the season.And then that’s only 6 and a half months of programming.Are they going to just show reruns for 5 and a half months until a new season starts?
It works for cable because they only air about 3 or 4 series at a time and use syndicated series and films to fill there schedule.The networks have original programming 6 nights a week.I honestly can’t see them being able to make a lot of series be 12/13 episodes long.
Yes…that would be the point of the 13 episode cycles…network television can then start creating year round programming, instead of taking summers off/burning crappy shows off in the summer. Think about all of the mega popular shows on that people will watch until they are cancelled…and new shows go up against them, and may never get sampled. This way (let’s take CBS as an example), they can take CSI and 2 1/2 Men and How I Met Your Mother…air them in the fall with some new shows. Then the winter cycle could be Big Bang Theory, Mike and Molly, and Criminal Minds. Then a summer cycle with whatever else they have that’s hugely popular that they can pair with newbies. People will come for their favorite show, no matter what time of year they air. It would take the pressure off of the networks to only pick a handful of shows to add to the schedule, and potentially lead to more breakout hits in a less crowded “season”.
People and networks want more than 13 episodes; more than 20 in fact. And viewers couldn’t wait six months for their fave shows to return.
Networks just need to get rid of their sporadic breaks and take big gaps instead of little gaps.
Well, make all the seasons 24 eps. Start in late September or October and run through to about a week or two before Christmas (12 straight weeks). Start up again the second week of January or so and go straight through to early April (another 12 straight weeks). The rest of the time in between is used for summer shows (such as Wipeout and So You Think You can Dance) and launching new shows. Or just shows that will only run for about 13 eps.
And networks could do a combo – some shows during “regular” season are still only 13. So they would need another 13 ep show on the other part of the season. Some go for the entire season.
Here is another gripe I have. That when the networks do have reruns, it always seems to be the same 4 eps. So you end up seeing a couple of episodes 6 times and others only the once (I am looking at you, Modern Family).
But there are 52 weeks in a year. If they aired 2 24-episode series (with no reruns), they’d still have 4 weeks for specials, award shows.
Besides, the Brits already do well with seasons for some of their best shows lasting only 6-8 episodes. And, still, they start sucking by year 8 or 10. So, seeing what HBO and AMC (to name two) do with 13-episode seasons, I don’t see what the downside is.
I have to agree with you. The broadcast networks are way behind the curve in trying to keep an audience’s attention. For the popular shows which everyone seems to tune into no matter what they can probably schedule as they are doing. But for some -especially new shows they need to do it in longer blocks so we get invested in the show. This half month off -show an episode or two -then another hiatus is just not working. The networks need to make their shows appointment television again. The Walking Dead is a really good example for appointment television and that show only did 13 episodes. The networks should be able to do better with 22 episodes.
Excellent point!! If shows aren’t appointment TV to the programmers, how can they expect them to be appointment TV to the viewers??
My first thought, Mike, was the issue with programming. I would much rather have a shorter season with consecutive showing of new episodes rather than the constant interruptions. It makes it difficult to build up any steam or interest. I’ve been looking at ratings for some of my favorite shows and when they are shown 4-5 weeks in a row, those ratings almost always rise. There’s a reason people buy season DVDs and have marathon viewing sections: a viewer can begin to see the continuity of the plotting for season arcs when they are watched together. Cable channels do this — run last season’s episodes as a marathon before the beginning of the next season and I’ve found myself caught up in watching them to catch up. Give us the show as it was meant to be seen: in order, in a run of new episodes that build excitement for the finale.
I would like to see the “season” broken up into two sections. One 15 week series in the spring and one 15 week series in the fall, with 15 weeks of trash summer programming. with repeats aired in the weeks in between. I think that would allow a lot of flexibility in programming and shows that aren’t ratings darling (Community, Parks & Rec, Cougar Town) could have some pressure taken off because there would be twice as many slots to fill. I think networks SHOULD start looking into adopting more of a cable attitude toward their scheduling (shorter seasons, few if any reruns). I feel like an unusual number of shows are premiering in March and April this year anyway.
Yes, thank you, Mike!
The networks have adapted three habits that turn off all but the most die-hard viewers:
1. Promos that pop-up during episodes and distract you from the show you’re watching. Why get invested in a scene if you’re only going to have it ruined?
2. Enormously long commercial breaks. Why get invested in a plot if it’s merely a series of short scenes with long interruptions?
3. Erratic season scheduling. Why get invested in a series if you’re going to have to keep chasing it down?
If you’re passionate about a show from the first episode, you’ll put up with this crap. But it’s far too annoying for mild interest to develop into loyal viewing.
Limited run series is the way to go creatively: homeland, walking dead. CBS is killing good wife on Sundays because of the sports coverage running late and you never know when the show will start. Move it to Monday
Mike has it right and cindercity reflects the old way of looking at things. 13 episode patterns keep writers fresh, allow interesting talent to commit because they can do other things in the year, it keeps audiences enthused, it allows for just as much amortization as a longer pattern, it is neutral on ad dollars spent because on air promos are more effective when audiences consistently turn up and most importantly it allows a network to take more shots at doing different ideas, under different financing modls, with new talent and not the same EP’s over and over again . In truth, scheduling gets more creative both in terms of top to bottom, but also because shows won’t air for so long that they have to be interrupted for sports or politics or the antiquated Sweeps periods. Even advertisers will be invigorated by the diversity that emerges simply because of the inertia associated with fres ideas. And lately it will prevent interesting shows from getting beaten down by the process of notes, notes and more notes that come from mostly unprepared Current execs at both the Stuio and the Networks who often by sheer stupidity, drive the creative vision of a show into the ground. This is an idea long in coming.
You only have to look at the Odd Couple to get a sense of what it was like during the old days when the season was shorter. The season would end in early March. The show would be canceled, but during the reruns in March and April, the ratings picked up so that the network would order another season. This allowed the show to make another season without affecting its production schedule. The show was canceled at the end of each season and still made it to five seasons before they called it quits for real. You can’t do this if your show gets yanked at the end of May.
if it would mean the end of one week on- three weeks off-one week on- 2 months off- I say shorten the season. it just seems like s season of reruns to most people.Everyone I know is complaining about it.For some reason this year seems worse than ever.I’m pissed that Revenge is off for so damn long. If you don’t want to make shows don’t. But you can’t keep shows off for long periods of time and than expect us to come back. we may not
No one would mind shorter seasons, if the shows were good. I think the viewing habits of the American public have changed a lot in the last ten years. People are enthusiastic about the BBC’s new rendition of Sherlock Holmes, even though they only make three at a time.
Its not too long TOO MANY BREAKS in between episodes. A straight run of 23 episodes no breaks would be watched. The breaks are what kill an episode. Like bones watch a new episode than I have to wait three weeks for a new one yeah my attention will wane. That’s true for any show figure out a way to run repeat free no break episodes even if u have to film a season ahead to do it people will watch. It’s dumb to blame the length of episodes per season it makes more sense to blame all the BS delays.
Maybe the networks need to bite the bullet and expand prime-time scripted series from 22-to-26 episodes a year to about 32 episodes a year.
With a 32-episode season, a scripted prime-time series can start in mid-to-late September, and with the exception of a couple of pre-emptions for each series each season for specials and a couple of weeks around the Holidays for repeat episodes for each series, we wouldn’t (apart from a couple of repeats in late December/early January) see reruns until the end of the TV season in May.
I think broadcast network ratings might be much higher for viewers would know that they’d see a first-run episode almost every week from September until May.
When you are talking about 1 hour dramas you have to remember it takes time to film these shows. Filming starts on July 1st and ends around April 30th with only a short break at Christmas (for 24 episodes) For the cast and particularly the crew this is a rugged schedule and they simply cannot produce shows fast enough to run them non-stop. (Usually includes a table read, 8 days of filming and then post filming editing)
Why don’t the networks go back to the model of the 70′s & 80′s when they produced up to (and sometimes more than) 30 episodes per season for their hit shows.
That minimised viewer erosion as we didn’t become bored and disgruntled trying to find our favourite show or watching endless re-runs of episodes.
They also produced more dramas and sitcoms each season, so that there was far more variety to watch and far less repeats.
Look at Dallas, during its peak years it produced 30+ episodes per season which were all high quality, highly engaging and moved the story along nicely. I don’t recall there being any issues with the cast of Dallas not being able to complete the season order.
This is why the CW is a disaster. Who really wants to watch 1 new episode of Gossip Girl for every 3 repeats of the show????
Sadly, it’s all about money, money, money these days. The networks just don’t care about their viewers anymore. All they care about is money and the best way to get that is to produce as little original scripted content as possible by producing the smallest amount of episodes possible each season, with the shortest possible running time per episode (we are nearly watching as much as advertising time per half hour sitcom now as we are the sitcom itself, remember when sitcoms ran for 25 minutes or so, with only 5 minutes of advertising?)
Yeah because Hunger Games is really hurting.
The broadcast season should end just before the upfronts in May and then there would be more time devoted in making the episodes of these new shows while promoting some summer fare which is NOT reality that people can actually watch once again. The schedule is just too drawn out right now.