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Alan Wurtzel of NBC, left, and Lee Bartlett of Fox
Strike is Over, But Viewers May be Over TV
May 13, 2008 04:12 PM
by
Rachel Balik
As television networks prepare to screen the fall lineup for advertisers, they grapple with a significant ratings drop.
30-Second Summary
This week television networks are screening their fall line-ups for advertisers while battling a serious plummet in ratings: for April and May, viewers were down 9 percent from the same period last year. Some blame the writers’ strike for causing viewers to lose interest in TV in general.
In fact, networks have a variety of possible explanations for the drop in ratings. If it’s not the writers’ strike, it could be that daylight saving came earlier in the season this year, and people are spending more time outdoors. Or, it could be that people are watching more shows on demand, on DVR or on the Web.
Regardless of the reason, the fall in ratings is hurting advertising, and networks must find ways to reach viewers again. NBC researcher chief Alan Wurtzel explained, “if we continue to do business assuming people will watch television as they always have … it’s a dead-end game.”
In fact, networks have a variety of possible explanations for the drop in ratings. If it’s not the writers’ strike, it could be that daylight saving came earlier in the season this year, and people are spending more time outdoors. Or, it could be that people are watching more shows on demand, on DVR or on the Web.
Regardless of the reason, the fall in ratings is hurting advertising, and networks must find ways to reach viewers again. NBC researcher chief Alan Wurtzel explained, “if we continue to do business assuming people will watch television as they always have … it’s a dead-end game.”
Headline Link: ‘TV Viewers Still Down After Strike’
TV shows have not recovered from the damage inflicted by the writers’ strike; the number of viewers for the major networks in April and May decreased almost 9 percent from last year. Shows with a continuing plotline like “Grey’s Anatomy” have suffered the most; comedies have proved to be more resilient. Networks were actually losing viewers before the strike, so there may be a variety of factors at work and the strike’s influence on ratings may be insignificant. “There’s no question that it could have been a lot worse,” said CBS researcher David Poltrack. However, the strike has limited the number of pilots for next year, and shows will go into development based on simple presentations rather than full-fledged trial episodes.
Source: Fox News (AP)
Opinion and Analysis: Advertisers respond to falling ratings
There are several reasons why ratings might be dropping, and major factors may be increased use of the DVR and purchase of TV shows from iTunes. When viewers watch shows that they’ve recorded, it doesn’t get factored into ratings. Similarly, rating numbers don’t include the number of people who watch the shows on iTunes. But advertisers are only interested in how many people will be watching while commercials are aired, and if networks can’t come up with a solution to the decline in viewers, they’re likely to lose money.
Source: CNBC
Background: The writers’ strike
When the writers made it clear they were in the strike for the long haul, networks compensated for their lack of material by filling time with reality TV shows. At the time, pundits predicted that viewers would also turn to Web-based shows for entertainment.
Source: findingDulcinea
Related Topics: The poststrike industry and the fall 2008 schedule
The strike has had other lingering negative effects. At the end of April, findingDulcinea reported that many TV and film production workers were still unemployed, thanks to strike-shortened production schedules and cancellations.
Source: findingDulcinea
The networks are focusing their attention on the fall lineup, hoping that when the season starts again, the viewers who wandered away during the strike will return. The Futon Critic has a schedule grid of the fall 2008 lineup.
Source: The Futon Critic
© 2009 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
