The Changing Face of Network TV
Business Week provides an interesting survey of the changes that have been coming to television over the past few years and some predictions for the future.
Let me know what you think of these predictions. No more soaps? No more 8-9 hour of programming? More niche programming?
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Tags: television
Uncategorized | Jennifer Roland | 
April 23, 2009 2:00 pm
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By December, April 23, 2009 @ 7:13 pm
I think the prediction of more product placement in the shows is spot on. I always FF over commercials (thank you DVR!) so now the only way to get me to see it is if its within the show.
Another trend I’ve noticed is shows like ‘the starter wife’ on Lifetime. a miniseries of sorts, but spread over the course of a few weeks. ITs interesting, and bite sized.
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By katie71483, April 24, 2009 @ 9:57 am
Product placement is not a thing of the future – it’s already here… Chevrolet on FNL, Toyota on Bones, DirecTV on Leverage, Subway on Chuck, etc. While mildly annoying, if I could watch a tv show with product placement instead of having to deal with commercials, that sounds great to me… as long as it doesn’t get out of hand, lol.
I’m not crazy about the idea of shorter seasons – would the first season Veronica Mars have been as amazing if it hadn’t had a full 22 episode season? – but if it allows good shows to stay on the air AND air uninterrupted, I’m willing to go with the flow. The writers can work around the shorter time frame if they know in advance. And, let’s face it, most shows seem to struggle with quality when they have to fill a full 22 episode order. Burn Notice on USA has been really successful and they seem to have a new season every six to eight months.
As to niche programming, I know a lot of that is already happening. This sounds funny, but I tend to think of NBC as tv for people who think. (Not entirely, of course, they have their fare share of crap!) With shows like Chuck, Life and Friday Night Lights, they seem to be catering to people who are interested in intelligent, thought provoking multi-episode story arcs. (I left Heroes of the list b/c it has become crap) Fox seems to rely to heavily on old standbys such as American Idol and House. CBS is King of the police procedural. How many cop shows does one network really need?
And ABC. I am so anti-abc right now that it is ridiculous. Cancelling Pushing Daisies, Eli Stone and Dirty, Sexy, Money? Really? WTF? If you are looking to cater to loyal niche audiences, I think you missed the boat, ABC.
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By katie71483, April 24, 2009 @ 9:59 am
at least, I thought of NBC that way until they put Leno on at 10 p.m. five nights a week. If I wanted to watch Jay, I’d stay up and watch the Tonight Show.
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