As a person who has been in ...
Question: As a person who has been in and around the TV industry as long as you have, I am hoping that you might be able to shed some light on the issue of what drives a network to renew shows that aren't huge hits but smaller cult and/or critical favorites, such as
Friday Night Lights,
Supernatural,
Veronica Mars and
The Class. Is it really just ratings and demographics, or do other factors such as merchandise and future marketability go into the thought process as well? Also, do you foresee a change in the current (and in my opinion, antiquated) ratings system in light of the onslaught of TiVos and other DVR systems?
Answer: Wow, you make me sound like a graybeard. (Maybe if I grow one, I'll be one.) I'll duck the larger ratings question. I really can't say where audience measurement is heading, but for now, we seem stuck with this system. On the renewal issue, when a network takes a chance on a marginal performer, it often says more about the network than it does the show. For the CW, shows like
Supernatural and
Veronica are very targeted for special audiences on specific nights, and their overall numbers can be misleading. (The fact that
Supernatural goes up against two of the biggest hits of recent years cannot be lost on CW executives.) For NBC to take a risk with
Friday Night Lights is in keeping with the rebuilding of a network that wants to be able to use quality as one of its yardsticks. It worked with
The Office and might yet with
30 Rock as well. Without the acclaim, these shows would already be dead.
The Class is in a much more tenuous situation. It got decent reviews but little real buzz. Its numbers were neither great nor terrible. Its fate really depends on what else CBS has on its comedy bench for next season, and whether the network sees more upside in it than in
The New Adventures of Old Christine, which is also struggling in its earlier time slot (no thanks to landing there just as Daylight Savings began its early onset). The fact that
The Class is much less likely to be a contender at the Emmys (where Julia Louis-Dreyfus has already won) probably won't help. Neither will the success of
Rules of Engagement, which is a slam-dunk for renewal at this point.
