Be ’shocked’ into more aggressive thinking
Cory Bergman May 21st, 2008
May sweeps is officially a disaster, and Variety has a follow-up: “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,” says the trade mag. The top five broadcast networks are down 10 percent in the 18-49 demographic. “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.”
Great quote. Great advice. Because this is most likely not a fluke.
6 Comments Add your own
1. GameLover | May 21st, 2008 at 11:31 am
TV execs are fooling themselves if they think this is an anomaly.
That demographic has far more entertaining options than slumping on the sofa every night to watch yet another sitcom or crime drama.
TV simply can’t compete with the entertainment value provided by the Xbox and Wii.
2. Anonymous | May 21st, 2008 at 12:10 pm
To be honest, I don’t watch TV on TV anymore. I catch my favorite shows online as full episodes, I watch some clips of other shows when people embed or link to them, I even catch up on classic TV that aired before my time (I’m 26). But averaged out, I watch less than an hour of video a day. That’s a tiny fraction of the TV I watched just three years ago, and I like it much better this way.
3. discreet_chaos | May 21st, 2008 at 3:02 pm
“No one knows what will happen with summer viewing and into the fall.”
Wha? Does he wonder if there’s an audience for something called “I Survived a Japanese Game Show”, along with another that appears based on Leno’s “You be the Judge”?
4. Anonymous | May 21st, 2008 at 5:55 pm
The other ANON meat says: I’m shocked! Can I have some Photoshop fun with this guys’ mugshot?
PS Still on topic, have you ever tried to UNDERSTAND a Japanese game show? The language is NOT the hindrance, lithium may be.
5. GM | May 22nd, 2008 at 8:16 am
General Motors sound familiar? Dinosaur CEO’s and VP’s about to pay the price….maybe this will finally wake them up..maybe not..
6. seth | May 28th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Viewers want ala carte programing & programming catering to their very specific interests.
There will always be room for creatively written dramas and sitcoms. But appointment viewing is dead. And if the programming is not good, don’t expect me to pay attention to it.
There are just too many other alternatives out there. YouTube, AppleTV, hell a good book is better than a lot of the sewage the networks keep passing off as entertainment.
It’s not like they weren’t warned about the coming changes.
TV execs largely ignored them. They’re too far behind now.
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