Television executives have been out in force this week, touting the new fall season as success based on the strong debuts of several shows, including “Flash Forward” and “The Vampire Diaries.”
In most cases, most networks have seen dramatic improvement in time slots for new series over how veteran series were performing there at this time last year. The biggest gains are to CBS for its spin-off “NCIS: Los Angeles” and the CW for “Diaries.”
“We’re very confident of what we see so far,” says CBS research chief David Poltrack. “The biggest challenge in network TV is getting your shows sampled.” Now the big questions are “what viewers’ reactions to the shows are, whether they’ll be back for Week 2, and will (producers) be able to keep up the quality throughout the season,” he says.
Getting channel surfers to come back is key: A 15% falloff is typical in a show’s second week, while anything more is a warning sign.
All networks are reporting gains in viewership, but those stats may be misleading. According to TV by the Numbers, the CW has seen a growth in ratings but at the expense of cutting original programming on Sunday evenings. The CW also has the distinction of being the first network to pull a series. It canceled “Beautiful Life” after two airings due to low ratings.
NBC is also facing some difficulties. After a strong debut for “The Jay Leno Show,” when faced with real competition, the show has not fared well ratings wise. Also, NBC has seen several returning series see a sharp drop-off, the biggest culprit being “Heroes.”
Also, there isn’t yet enough information to tell how many of the viewers are sampling new shows and will stick around. Time will tell in the coming weeks.
The only new series that excites me is Glee.
The only new shows I’m watching this season are “Stargate Universe” and “V”, and then in the winter – “Human Target” and “Caprica”. Apparently, “Day One” has been reduced down to the mini-series, but I’ll still watch that too.
I’m checking out FlashForward, looks interesting. Stargate Universe, of course. Defying Gravity is ok, too much Grey’s Anatomy/Drama, but enough of a sci-fi mystery to keep me interested.
Looking forward to checking out V, Human Target, Caprica and Day One. The rest new shows, I’m not watching. Maybe NCIS: LA, but keeping expectations low.
Still following the returning shows like Big Bang Theory, Bones, NCIS, Eureka, Sanctuary, The Mentalist (in place of Eleventh Hour) and Dollhouse (in place of Terminator), Better Off Ted and Warehouse 13.
The most shows I’m watching are on SYFY.