Ratings, ratings, ratings

So I've been watching a lot of The Wire lately, having recently purchased the entire series on DVD. It got me to thinking about how over the last 4-5 years, all good television is appearing on cable on channels like HBO, and network series are going down the hole. At first I thought it might have to do with the fact that HBO can show nudity and can swear, but it is much more than that. I think of Arrested Development and feel that it would still be on if it aired on basic cable or HBO. On the other side a show like Mad Men would have already been cancelled if it were on network television, even though it is the best drama on basic cable. The reason is obviously money, but more importantly is time.

Network tv relies on instant results with tv ratings, which directly relates to how much they can charge for commercials. If a show starts off the blocks slow, it is immedietely cancelled. I think of Arrested Development and to a lesser extent Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (I watched) and Pushing Daisies (never watched). Both shows were critically acclaimed and had viewers who loved the show, however they didn't have many viewers. Due to the high cost of those shows with their large casts and elaborate storylines, they needed immediete results. More recently I look at Heroes. Heroes is NBC highest rated scripted program (sadly Biggest Loser is their highest rated show) but there is always a question of it will be renewed. They look critically at the viewership of EVERY episode (Pushing Daisies and Studio 60 were cancelled half way through the season when they still had filmed episodes that never aired). If a show has a 2-3 episode funct, they will be cancelled. So theses shows on network tv don't have the luxury of time to develop a sound stoyline and characters like they do on cable. They have to get right into the action and show results. Many people complained that Season 2 of Heroes (and Lost) were too "slow." Season 3 for both shows were then deemed "too fast." No time given to just develop into something.

Now on the other side we have HBO which gets its money just by people having the network and watching it. They don't care if you watch the network at 3 in the morning or in primetime at 7 at night. They can have "weaker" episodes of a show because you are still there watching something on the network. HBO can still take chances on shows no one else will and can keep shows on the air longer, because they still have people watching the network, and the money coming in.

The same is somewhat true for basic cable. They do rely on commercial revenue (which is based on viewers) but they also get a good hunk of their money from cable deals when cable providers like Time Warner Cable pay them to have their channels provided through them. So basic cable channels need money from commercials but can still take risks because they still have revenue coming in. Also, most basic cable channels are owned by a parent company which owns a bunch of cable channels. So, if one does poorly, the others can pick up the slack.

Now, heres to the solution to save network television TV series. network tv should sell commercial space as a whole, not for a specific show and time. A business (Budweiser for example) goes to NBC and buys 10 commercial spots for primetime Monday through Friday. These 10 spots will air randomly throughout the week, they cannot specifiy that they air during Biggest Loser or Law and Order. This way NBC just brings in money, and it doesn't matter which program has the highest ratings. As long as they provide overall quality programming, businesses will buy spots on their networks. Businesses will still buy ads, knowing that some will air during Crusoe (or whatever s**t they play) and some will air during Biggest Loser. Obla dee obla dah.