Note to NBC- maybe if you had all the episodes available online, to anyone with a computer (not just those with a Viiv chipset) - or available through the iTunes store- maybe your viewership would go up. I wrote about this earlier: How not to tie TV to the Internet.
It’s hard to interest people in these very intense serial dramas if they don’t know what’s going on- sort of like walking into a movie halfway in- and going, hmmmmm?
High income viewers don’t want to have to struggle to watch a show- they have better things to do. They are least likely to go on BitTorrent etc. to get the show (although their kids know how).
NBC is making good on its promise to stand by lackluster performer “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” making a full-season pickup order for the Aaron Sorkin drama.
The network has ordered an additional nine episodes of the series, which has been struggling in its Monday night, 10 p.m. time slot. “Studio 60” is averaging a 4.0 rating in adults 18-49 and 9.8 million viewers overall, according to Nielsen Media Research.
“I am pleased to show our support for this outstanding and ambitious effort,” said Kevin Reilly, president, NBC Entertainment. “From the start, they have delivered the superb show that we wanted. The critical support has been rock-solid and there is a passionate core audience. We can’t wait for what’s going to come in the remainder of the season.”
Mr. Reilly has said he supports “Studio 60” despite its low viewership because the show is fits NBC’s brand and attracts affluent, educated viewers.
I’ve enjoyed Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip- via TiVo, as always, Aaron Sorkin dialog requires frequent instant replays. The good thing about both TiVo and online viewing- is they both give real numbers- as opposed to Nielsen’s extrapolated data.
The future of television isn’t in ratings, it’s in the ability to target real people. If NBC changed it’s net strategy, the show might be able to deliver numbers that standard ratings won’t.
NOTE: 14 NOV 2006- Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is now available on iTunes at $1.99 per show. Note- 30 Rock is available for free. NBC brass must be reading this site.
ABC gets it, CBS gets it, NBC doesn’t.
I admit it, I didn’t put my season pass on my TiVo for Studio 60 on the Sunset strip in until after the premier. That means I’ve got shows 2 and 3 sitting on my TiVo- but no number 1. No problem, I’ll spend $2 and download it from iTunes. Can’t. NBC doesn’t have their shows on iTunes.
So I’ll go to NBC.com and watch streaming video, no problem. Wrong again. No “Viiv technology”- not only am I on a Mac- but, my PC’s aren’t new and fast enough. Way to go NBC (and Microsoft) I’ll just run out and spend $800 on a new PC to watch your pilot, with the advertising- Not.
Which makes you wonder- is NBC even trying to deliver the largest audience for their advertisers, or are they trying to sell new PC’s and Microsofts DRM software that I had to install only to be told my hardware isn’t up to speed.
And the networks wonder why people are turning to file sharing technology like bit-torrent? If I was an advertiser in Studio 60 I’d be fuming at NBC for this gaff. However, the NBC site has such a bad interface that the advertisers probably wouldn’t know where to click in the first place.
If you wonder why NBC is slipping in the ratings pool, this is only one of the reasons. If you don’t allow your community to build around a show, and give your audience a chance to steer their friends to your new programming, you are only hurting yourself.
The future of television will be on demand, over IP and the content is most likely going to come straight from the producers- for this very reason- the networks aren’t doing their job of distribution adequately.
Too bad, ‘cause Studio 60 looks like a winner.
Mark Cuban- the guy who owns the Dallas Mavericks and HD Net- uses his blog to make him money. Not that he’s lacking it- he’s got enough to buy half of Dayton- and then some.
While offering jobs seems to be the thing for billionaires to do (Donald Trump and the Apprentice, Richard Branson and “The rebel billionaire” and Mark Cuban with “The benefactor”- c’mon- try to be more original) Cuban poses a very real question: How to market movies for less and drive people to the theaters.
Answer the question- and get a job.
So far- 568 applicants (give or take)- including The Next Wave.
His question is very much related to the topic “thoughts on TV” on this site- and how to get eyeballs in a Video On Demand (VOD) universe. It’s also why Amazon sells more than just books- since over time Nicholas Negroponte’s “Bits not Atoms” axiom will take effect.
Negroponte (head of the MIT Media lab, author of “Being Digital” and former back page writer for Wired magazine) said that converting digital bits to atoms- like newspapers, DVD’s and the like- doesn’t make sense- whatever is digital- should remain digital. So, the only thing movie theaters can do is take a lesson from Bookstores which have transformed themselves into social gathering places to survive. You may be interested in Hollywood Blvd. Cinema, Bar and Eatery in Woodridge IL- which seems to have mastered this (although their website needs a web 2.0 makeover).
We doubt we’ll hear from Cuban- but if you are facing marketing challenges in a changing world- consider giving us a call.
The idea of the 500 channel world should be long purged from anyone’s vocabulary at this point- there will be content to watch until the world goes into self-cleaning oven mode- or freezes over like a hockey rink- but, there may not be many humans in the actual show. Take a look at Animusic videos of music making machines- or go rent the movie “Final fantasy” or start looking into virtual worlds like “Second life” and you realize- we can do much cooler things in a virtual world. By taking scenes from video games to illustrate stories, Machinima, anyone with a creative bone in their body will be able to create stories with a look equivalent to a Hollywood movie.
The big question will remain- what to watch? This is where the power of crowds and agents of influence will come into play. The best advertising agencies will be the ones who can guide the masses into unwittingly being their agents of mass propaganda. Strike the right nerve- and the reaction is exponential compared to the force of the first strike.
The key to the future will be how will these provocateurs be paid- in the free wheeling virtual world? Agencies have relied on the idiotic media commission system for too long. Will it come down to some kind of pay-per-click (or the 2.0 version- commission on sale)- or some other formula?
Crispin Porter + Bogusky in Miami has started to take equity positions in companies they work with- which should make people in corporate marketing positions start wondering how long they will be able to hang on to their cushy “C” level jobs where they just play General to the mercenary agencies that are hired to do the job or be the scapegoats.
Big changes are coming- all thanks to the shift in power from the ones with the most money- to those with the best ideas- and tools that put the power in everyone’s hands.
I admit it- I’m a sucker for Rockstar Supernova (and Rockstar INXS before that). Now that we’ve gotten that embarrassing part out of the way- let’s look at why it’s absolutely necessary to have your show available for download at the same time it’s being broadcast- that is if you want to keep your audience.
Last night was only the second week of the elimination program- had it been the final there might have been mayhem, because, viewers in Dayton OH and Southwest OH, had the show at first interrupted- then preempted by a tornado. WHIO-TV, Channel 7, the CBS affiliate in Dayton, in their haste to be “The Leader” had their “Newscenter 7 team” showing off their latest Doppler radar- for over 50 minutes of the show. This guaranteed that the viewers wouldn’t be able to see the performances – or vote- or be a part of the “Rockstar” community- which is what makes these shows so popular and successful.
Tonight’s elimination show will mean nothing to the viewers here- and some may not come back next week, because once disenfranchised- it’s easy to find something else that holds your interest.
If the show was available over IP- viewers who weren’t in the danger zone- wouldn’t have been lost- and or driven to something like Bit Torrent to get the content. Unfortunately, Mark Burnett productions is tied in with MSN- and the site Rockstar.msn.com is biased to Windows- and Windows media player- leaving us Mac users having to suffer through poor streaming video downloads- and no access to the forums (where they claim to support the latest version of Firefox- but not on the Mac). I have also just found that when using flip4mac to view WMV – that I only have access to Magni’s performance off the site- once again, a developer who ignores all 508 standards (tagging and navigation for the blind).
When this show began last year- they had a 3-episode week on Network, which quickly shifted to 2 network, 1 cable, and this year- it’s 2 network and one download. The question to ask Mr. Burnett- with running the risks of local preemption- and having to fit into the networks time slots- why not try a complete online, on demand program? Your ability to build community, individually target ad messages to your viewers- and offer interactive sales opportunities for the music, clothing, and products that are showcased on the program could be huge.
I’m sure I’m not the only viewer in Dayton that’s ticked, or the only Mac user that’s left out- but, more importantly- I’m an advertising target who just got totally missed.
Yep, you read it right, Nielsen, the people who deliver the ratings for TV shows now are now going to offer ratings on commercials. This is so the networks can say- “sorry, we delivered an audience- they just thought your commercial sucked.”
Which brings me back to the monster sitting in the room- who is rating the audience? While Nielsen offers all kinds of demographic info- it’s still broad swipe data- which is so passe.
All these attempts to improvise a way to avoid the inevitable- a unique data set about each viewer- with all the likes and dislikes - and preferences- that allows advertisers to absolutely nail down who is seeing what ad- and when- and then getting feedback- think Amazon.com with it’s suggestions, it’s reviews - all on steroids- but not quite as bad as the ACLU pizza scenario. You would actually receive credit for viewing and interacting with commercials in the form of discounts on the programming you wish to watch.
The real future of TV advertising is more like a website- and as the two merge, you will be hard pressed to tell the difference. Commercials will have stats packages much like websites- telling marketers exactly what they need to know about the buyer- so they can either continue marketing to them, change their message, or abandon all hope.
And Nielsen, should abandon all hope of this service offering meaningful data.
