NBC's 'Do No Harm' = Biggest Flop in Network TV History!

[jayceee]

Wonder if broadcast networks will end up becoming a wasteland of reality shows and live events as prime time television.

(ie. Stuff which doesn't view very well after it is over, and/or has very little to no rewatch value).

[The Borgified Corpse]

Christopher wrote:

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Temis, I don't understand your insistence on the stereotype that CBS caters only to really old people. [...] So nearly 60% of their audience is under 45, or at least it was five years ago.

This is true. However, haven't almost all studies shown that the median audience for CBS is older than that of any other major network? IIRC; CBS is in the 40s; ABC & NBC are in the 30s; and the CW, FOX, & MTV are all in the 20s.

[Guy Gardener]

Rebellion is cyclical.

Maybe the next batch of asshole children will go back to television?

[Christopher]

The Borgified Corpse wrote:

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This is true. However, haven't almost all studies shown that the median audience for CBS is older than that of any other major network? IIRC; CBS is in the 40s; ABC & NBC are in the 30s; and the CW, FOX, & MTV are all in the 20s.

Older in a relative sense, yes, but it's not like it's all a bunch of senior citizens, which is the way Temis seems to talk about it.

[The Borgified Corpse]

I think 40s counts as senior citizens as far as advertisers are concerned.

[HaventGotALife]

Whatever the case, I think advertising is better on the internet anyway. As far as hitting a target audience. For instance, I log in using my Google account for Chrome. I see advertisements that appeal to me over what I have clicked. It does the same thing with Youtube videos. It's a little freaky, but I'm more apt to do that then see a commercial for face cream during a 60-minute television show. The advertisers have their day during the Super Bowl and have to deal with generalities the rest of the time. "Our audience is usually 20-35, female. So let's put up the face cream ad." It means that advertisements are not as widely seen, but the person is more likely to buy the product. If I have bought face cream in the past, then it gives me a deal on face cream. That's better advertising.

[Christopher]

I don't think much of the "targeted" advertising online, though. A couple of days ago I got a new landline phone at Staples -- and when I was browsing that evening, a Staples ad appeared on io9 offering to sell me the exact phone I'd just bought. How useless is that?

[jayceee]

The Borgified Corpse wrote:

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I think 40s counts as senior citizens as far as advertisers are concerned.

I wouldn't be surprised.

I'm sure advertisers know that it is almost next to impossible to change the minds of people older than age 40.

Perhaps that's why advertisers are willing to pay more to reach a larger teenager -> young adult demographic, than for older people. (ie. Many young people's minds are not made up yet).

[Dream]

jayceee wrote:

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Wonder if broadcast networks will end up becoming a wasteland of reality shows and live events as prime time television.

The problem with reality shows is that they get terrible ratings whenever they are rerun and people have no interest buying them on dvd.

Good dramas and comedy will always make money and will be always be around. Being rerun in syndication is a big reason for that.

[jayceee]

Dream wrote:

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The problem with reality shows is that they get terrible ratings whenever they are rerun and people have no interest buying them on dvd.

Seems that way.

There is perhaps one big exception. The only reality show I can think of offhand which seems to have regular reruns, is COPS.

[Temis the Vorta]

The Borgified Corpse wrote:

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This is true. However, haven't almost all studies shown that the median audience for CBS is older than that of any other major network? IIRC; CBS is in the 40s; ABC & NBC are in the 30s; and the CW, FOX, & MTV are all in the 20s.

CBS skews the oldest and it's been that way for a while. They make up for it on volume. But that strategy is doomed over the long haul.

Advertisers only care about 18-49. I thought everyone knew that by now. So skewing old becomes a real problem when the average age is starting to edge out of that demo.

Whether or not brand preferences are really locked in at 49 is a different issue. As long as advertisers think that way, they will continue to act on that belief, even if it is stupid and wrong.

Christopher wrote:

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I don't think much of the "targeted" advertising online, though. A couple of days ago I got a new landline phone at Staples -- and when I was browsing that evening, a Staples ad appeared on io9 offering to sell me the exact phone I'd just bought. How useless is that?

Or just look at this place, with that idiotic vertical banner in the wrong location! Somebody hit the wrong button. And before that, there were ads for Buzz Lightyear toys and underage Asian girls being served on the same page. What target market is that, exactly? Whoever it is, I don't want to meet them. It creeps me out to think they're here.

Even the vaunted Netflix is screwing up. I get both streaming and DVDs. I didn't start getting House of Cards advertising on my envelopes until after I'd started watching that show. Shouldn't that have been the other way around?

The nice thing about online advertising is that it's easier to tell when somebody is messing up. If they know everything about us, there's no excuse for mis-targetted ads.

[TheMasterOfOrion]

bigdaddy wrote:

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Yes Smash was a flop last year, and it's worse this year. At least Parenthood will get a 5th season.

Do No Harm = 2.2 mil/0.7

That's CW levels.

the ads looked terrible

[DeepSpaceWine]

NBC should not be deterred by Do No Harm (to the Network's Ratings... Please!). They can make a surefire Biggest Loser if they combine Do No Harm, Supertrain, Manimal, My Mother the Car, and The Jay Leno Show. Imagine the possibilities!

Or how about a 3rd Rock from the Sun, 30 Rock, Rock Center mash-up? What 3- Rock show does NBC have planned for 2016? (Every 10 years... 3rd Rock in 1996, 30 Rock in 2006)

Or how about they get Dawn Ostroff to design their schedule? She can put a third notch in her lipstick case or tv remote or something. She deep sixed UPN (though it was already on the decline), CW; she can work her magic on the NBC peacock! Maybe she can hone her laser-focus down even further, focusing not just on teenage girls but teenage girls who are precisely 17, of a certain hair color and which have two vowels (no more, no less) in their first name.

[Pavonis]

jayceee wrote:

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I wouldn't be surprised.

I'm sure advertisers know that it is almost next to impossible to change the minds of people older than age 40.

Perhaps that's why advertisers are willing to pay more to reach a larger teenager -> young adult demographic, than for older people. (ie. Many young people's minds are not made up yet).

I thought it was because teens and young adults had the most disposable income.

[jayceee]

Pavonis wrote:

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I thought it was because teens and young adults had the most disposable income.

Perhaps a combination of both mental malleability and disposable income.