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All I'm Sayin'
August 7, 2012
Summertime and the livin' is easy
...hush little baby, don't you cry (with apologies to the George Gershwin estate). It wasn't that long ago when the livin' wasn't so easy for broadcast television during the summer months...you know, the time between the spring finales and the fall premieres? I'm talking, maybe, 10 years ago at the most. There have been the Summer Olympics for as long as I can remember, but once every 4 years doesn't exactly reek of consistency. The reason for a 3 - 4 month hiatus of quality television? Well, prior to the DVR generation it was deemed family vacation time which meant fewer viewers would be sitting in front of their screens. After all, who wants to commit to these titles - I Cloned My Pet, Devil's Ride, and (cue the gasp) Pregnant in Heels...? Not exactly Dancing with the Stars, Wipeout, or, American Idol...waitaminute...why are those shows being mentioned? Because, they began as summer programs and turned into small screen blockbusters for ABC and Fox. In the summer of 2005, a little competition/reality show which was the American-ized version of the British hit Strictly Come Dancing hit the airwaves. Now, going into its 15th season and chock full of "All Stars" (winners and popular celebrity contestants from seasons past), DWTS has changed very little since it debuted in the season where TV programming goes to die. At least that used to be the case...
Mostly thanks to our friends in cable, that statement doesn't ring as true as it once did. (see, I can give credit to something other than our 2 stations) This summer alone, other than the Olympics, we've seen some shows with very respectable ratings - The Closer, Rizzoli & Isles, True Blood, Burn Notice, Storage Wars, Dance Moms, and Dallas just to name a few. But this isn't the first year that cable has jumped upon this wagon train...this began a while back. So what is one to surmise from this? Well, first off, cable has a lower benchmark for success than does broadcast. 5 million viewers for a show on ABC isn't nearly as defining as the same amount on FX. On FX, that's considered so successful that a sure renewal is looming...on ABC, more than likely, it's one and done. At the recent TCA press tour the programs that ABC touted were The Glass House and Duets, neither of which achieved anywhere near enough ratings to warrant a second season despite tens millions of dollars of promotion and, in the case of The Glass House, a ton of controversy. Why the failure? A few of the reasons that were stated included "they just weren't that good" and "reality is no longer new" and "there was no buzz factor associated with them". Whether it be reality programming or scripted fare, summer audiences CAN be found as was witnessed by more than 200 million people that tuned into the Olympics over the past few weeks. It's simply up to the broadcast AND cable executives to offer the 3E package - Enticing Enthralling Entertainment. It's no longer a September - May television calendar. It's time to invest time, effort, and dollars into all 12 months...actually it's beyond time. After all, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? (summer 1999)
We Are...Marshall...and we couldn't be more pleased about it. In case you haven't Herd, we are the new home of Marshall University sports. We will be carrying 2 football games (at Rice on 9/22 and at UAB on 11/10) 4 basketball games (TBA), and 26 Coach's Shows. The games will be seen on WCHS and the shows on WVAH. Our esteemed Sports Director Mark Martin, who was sideline reporter for The Herd for almost 20 years and radio color analyst going into his 3rd year, will be the host for the Doc Holliday Show and the Tom Herrion Show. Mark will bring a wealth of experience and a very unique perspective to the program which will air Sunday mornings at 11:30 leading into the NFL Today. We certainly hope you join Mark, Coach Holliday, and Coach Herrion at that time. We Are...Marshall...I just can't help myself.
Welcome to the WCHS family this fall - Ricki Lake from 3-4 weekday afternoons and Steve Harvey from 10-11 weekday mornings. Steve's other show, The Family Feud, jumps to one hour from 5-6 weekday afternoons on WVAH. Other programming changes next month include Maury Povich from 9-10, General Hospital one hour earlier at 2:00, and Anderson Live (formerly Anderson) on WCHS and on WVAH there is newcomer Trisha Goddard at 10:00 and Steve Wilkos moves to 2:00.
New Girl quote: (season premiere Tuesday 9/25 on Fox)
Winston: You were denied a cell phone because you have the credit score of a homeless ghost!
For periodic TV and ratings talk, follow me on Twitter @paulneace.
...is All I'm Sayin'
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