Future of Commercial TV

Quote: Fleastiff

So who owns a show if the network cancels it prior to a sufficient number of episodes for syndication?

The rules changed over the years. Prior to 1970 the Big Three owned nearly everything. In 1970 the fin-syn rules, were a set of rules imposed by the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC sought to prevent the Big Three television networks from monopolizing the broadcast landscape by preventing them from owning any of the programming that they aired in primetime. The rules also prohibited networks from airing syndicated programming they had a financial stake in.

These rules were abolished in 1993 because of Fox and cable. Today, each of the five major networks has an affiliated syndication company.

But the production company would still own the rights to a show. For instance Mutant Enemy Productions is the production company created in 1996 to make Buffy the Vampire Slayer. They would own the rights to Firefly, which only had 14 episodes. The show is clearly too short to syndicate, but it's popularity means they probably get an above average price at Netflix.

An NBC Production company owned the right to Ironside remake. They made 8 episodes and only aired 4 before it was cancelled due to horrific reviews and extremely low ratings. I don't know what they do with the old episodes. They put the show on the website where you can watch the 4 episodes (with commercials), but it clearly is a money loser.

Old episodes usually sit in some vault somewhere and show up from time to time. All kinds of shows show up in vaults. "The Hollywood Squares" from the 1970s was once found. CBS supposedly was going to destroy old episodes of "Amos and Andy" until the execs were told it not to do so because it was a historically significant show even if a portion of the population finds it "racist." (FWIW I do not see what is racist about it as any number of white shows and actors act just as silly and dumb.)

Quote: AZDuffman

Old episodes usually sit in some vault somewhere and show up from time to time.

Yes, but you are talking about shows that are well established. The network is so desperate that these 19 straight sitcoms have only been on the air for very short periods of time. Three of them for less than a month, and all but two for less than a year.

Sitcoms were once one of the staples of broadcast television. Sitcoms on NBC from only 5-20 years ago are bringing in BILLIONS of dollars in syndication (Friends, Seinfeld, 30 Rock, The Office , My Name is Earl, Will and Grace...).

To have 19 sitcoms fail in a row, and the majority of them with less than a full year, means the business model is collapsing.


NBC Sitcoms after Sep 2009
Months - Show
0.3 The Paul Reiser Show 
0.5 Bent 
0.5 Welcome to the Family
1.1 100 Questions 
1.1 Friends with Benefits 
1.9 Best Friends Forever 
2.4 Animal Practice 
2.5 Perfect Couples 
2.5 Are You There, Chelsea? 
3.3 1600 Penn 
3.7 Sean Saves The World
3.9 The Michael J. Fox Show
4.1 Free Agents 
5.6 Guys With Kids 
6.7 The New Normal 
7.6 Outsourced 
8.1 Go On 
15.0 Up All Night 
18.1 Whitney 


Successful sitcoms that aired on NBC in past

1. 30 Rock 2006
2. The Office 2005
3. My Name Is Earl 2005
4. Scrubs 2001
5. Will & Grace 1998
6. Just Shoot Me! 1997
7. 3rd Rock from the Sun 1996
8. Suddenly Susan 1996
9. Caroline in the City 1995
10. NewsRadio 1995
11. Friends 1994
12. Frasier 1993
13. Mad About You 1992
14. Wings 1990
15. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air 1990
16. Seinfeld 1989
17. Empty Nest 1988
18. Dear John 1988
19. A Different World 1987
20. Amen 1986
21. ALF 1986
22. The Hogan Family 1986
23. The Golden Girls 1985
24. 227 1985
25. The Cosby Show 1984
26. Night Court 1984
27. Cheers 1982
28. Family Ties 1982
29. Silver Spoons 1982
30. Gimme a Break! 1981
31. The Facts of Life 1979
32. Diff'rent Strokes 1978
33. Chico and the Man 1974
34. Sanford and Son 1972
35. I Dream of Jeannie 1965
36. Get Smart 1965
37. Hazel 1961
    =====
38. Hang Time 1995
39. Saved by the Bell: The New Class 1993
40. California Dreams 1992
41. Blossom 1991
42. Saved by the Bell 1989

Quote: Pacomartin

Yes, but you are talking about shows that are well established. The network is so desperate that these 19 straight sitcoms have only been on the air for very short periods of time. Three of them for less than a month, and all but two for less than a year.

I agree with you on the difference, I just think they save them for some period of time. Maybe only 10-20 years, but with digital storage I feel they keep them all somewhere.

Quote: AZDuffman

...with digital storage I feel they keep them all somewhere.

They will probably be retained, as they may have some commercial value somewhere. Perhaps you will eventually be able to go to a website and see a copy of every obscure episode of every TV show ever broadcast (with commercials).

But how valuable will these properties be in some time? A show like "Dear John" which aired 90 episodes and ended 22 years ago, was aired for four years. It went into syndication for 12 years, and has not been seen on TV for a decade.

Other shows like "Caroline in the City" can only be syndicated to TVGuide.

Consider, all these sitcoms that have been cancelled for over 4 years, that only were broadcast for a few months. While you can show them on your website, their commercial value is nearly zero.

NBC is profitable primarily because of Sunday Night Football, the Olympics, and The Voice. They have one hit drama series (The Blacklist) and a few more dramas that they can keep on the air.

Quote: Pacomartin

They will probably be retained, as they may have some commercial value somewhere. Perhaps you will eventually be able to go to a website and see a copy of every obscure episode of every TV show ever broadcast (with commercials).

Netflix is already an outlet. So if I want to watch "The Duck Factrory" (I don't) and the owner gets a few cents what is the difference, it is all marginal revenue at this point.

NBC was a powerhouse 1983-2000 or so. After "Seinfeld" and "Friends" went away they nor any other network has created a water-cooler show. Maybe "24." But no sitcoms. Perhaps all the plots have been done so many times more and more viewers are saying "seen it" to even new shows. I know I do. I've added so many Roku channels and podcasts I don't have time to even look at what is on.

Watching Winter Olympics because I like seeing sports you do not often see. But not likely I will watch anything they put on the bumper ads.

Quote: AZDuffman

NBC was a powerhouse 1983-2000 or so. After "Seinfeld" and "Friends" went away they nor any other network has created a water-cooler show. Maybe "24." But no sitcoms.

Since NBCUniversal was formed in August 2004, they have managed to create 5 sitcoms that lasted, out of 33 attempts. None of them qualify as "water-cooler" like Seinfeld.
The Office
My Name Is Earl 
30 Rock 
Parks and Recreation
Community

I am saying that the system is breaking down to the point where the business might not even be viable. Someone who specializes in valuing companies described NBC Network as negative net worth a few years ago.

In 1992-93, seven out of the top ten shows were sitcoms.
60 Minutes CBS
Roseanne ABC
Murphy Brown CBS
Cheers NBC
Home Improvement ABC
Designing Women CBS
Coach ABC
Full House ABC
Murder, She Wrote CBS
Unsolved Mysteries NBC


Speaking of "water-cooler"
In late 1992 a co-worker, individual defendant Patricia Best, lodged a complaint of sexual harassment against Mackenzie based upon Mackenzie's discussion of an episode of "Seinfeld" at the office. In the episode, Jerry Seinfeld could not remember the name of a woman he was dating, but did recall that her name rhymed with a female body part. Apparently, when Best did not understand the reference to the female body part, Mackenzie copied the dictionary definition and showed it to Best.

Mackenzie claimed that Best was not, in reality, offended by the conversation, but subsequently complained in order to have him fired, improving her own position in the company.

Quote: Pacomartin

Since NBCUniversal was formed in August 2004, they have managed to create 5 sitcoms that lasted, out of 33 attempts. None of them qualify as "water-cooler" like Seinfeld.
The Office
My Name Is Earl 
30 Rock 
Parks and Recreation
Community

I am saying that the system is breaking down to the point where the business might not even be viable. Someone who specializes in valuing companies described NBC Network as negative net worth a few years ago.

"Seinfeld" ended in 1998 but started about 1989. It didn't hit "water cooler" status (actually I prefer "coffee machine" status) until about 1995. "Cheers" was an older show but far more popular until the very last episode. "Seinfeld" took the spot in the line-up much as a promising rookie just out of AAA eplaces a retiring veteran.

But something happened. Over its run, TV changed. People were watching "Seinfeld" because they were used to watching it. The same people who watched Cosby/Family Ties/Cheers/Night Court were watching Friends/Seinfeld because that is what you did on Thursday nights. NBC Thursdays always managed to not have all the shows at the same life-cycle point. So one new one in the line-up you gave it a chance while you relaxed almost-end-of-work-week but stayed home because the next day you had to work.

When "Seinfeld" went away all that was left was a "Friends" at the end of its life cycle. So people said, "meh, nothing I liked is on anymore. What is this "The History Channel" thing? The fragmentation had been there, but now more people noticed. NBC clearly never recovered in the creative department.

Quote:

Speaking of "water-cooler"

In late 1992 a co-worker, individual defendant Patricia Best, lodged a complaint of sexual harassment against Mackenzie based upon Mackenzie's discussion of an episode of "Seinfeld" at the office. In the episode, Jerry Seinfeld could not remember the name of a woman he was dating, but did recall that her name rhymed with a female body part. Apparently, when Best did not understand the reference to the female body part, Mackenzie copied the dictionary definition and showed it to Best.

Mackenzie claimed that Best was not, in reality, offended by the conversation, but subsequently complained in order to have him fired, improving her own position in the company.

IIRC this was a major case in that the guy was fired what with all men guilty until proven innocent in sexual harassment cases. HE later sued and won. I remember because later several female employees said a guy, one of my best employees, said some inappropriate things. My boss wanted to just fire him outright, I said "WHOA" and mentioned the case. Yes, my watching "Seinfeld" along with reading the WSJ saved a guy's job. The women were amazed the seriousness of what they did when we investigated and somewhat recanted.

Quote: AZDuffman

When "Seinfeld" went away all that was left was a "Friends" at the end of its life cycle. So people said, "meh, nothing I liked is on anymore. What is this "The History Channel" thing? The fragmentation had been there, but now more people noticed. NBC clearly never recovered in the creative department.

The idea behind the Leno show at 10:00 was that the ratings were not expected to be superlative, but because the show was relatively cheap to produce the profits would go up. The affiliates complained that the ratings for the local news were dropping because of a poor lead-in.


Before NBC began airing the hit show, "The Blacklist" on Monday night at 10pm, their 10:00 ratings for scripted shows had dropped to as low as when Leno's show was scheduled for 10pm. Maybe they should go back to the Jay Leno show at 10pm (five years later)

The Voice-The Blacklist (monday night)

Move their dramatic lineup to 9PM
Chicago Fire
Chicago PD
Law & Order: SVU
Grimm

And fill the 8 pm Tuesday-Friday
Parks & Recreation
Bill Cosby
Biggest Loser
Dateline NBC
Voice wrap up show


Basically, they should just stick with drama and forget about sitcoms.

Not sure what the cost of most shows are:
Lilyhammer on Netflix cost $700K, $1.25M, $2.50M per episode for the first three seasons
House of Cards on Netflix cost $4M per episode
Game of Thrones on HBO costs $6M per episode (most expensive)

I assume that these fledgling sitcoms are pretty cheap. Possibly NBC is making more money showing crap and cancelling it every year, than pushing for a hit.

Quote: Pacomartin

Yes, but you are talking about shows that are well established. The network is so desperate that these 19 straight sitcoms have only been on the air for very short periods of time. Three of them for less than a month, and all but two for less than a year.

Sitcoms were once one of the staples of broadcast television. Sitcoms on NBC from only 5-20 years ago are bringing in BILLIONS of dollars in syndication (Friends, Seinfeld, 30 Rock, The Office , My Name is Earl, Will and Grace...).

To have 19 sitcoms fail in a row, and the majority of them with less than a full year, means the business model is collapsing.

It actually means the NBC sucks. Parks and Recreation is still on the air, but for people to get to watch a new show, you have to attach it to something that's already well established and promote the hell out of it. The show I think about is CBS's show with Robin Williams on it, which is promoted heavily.

ABC still has modern family, and CBS still has Big Bang Theory, but stickiness is the issue: the ability for a show to win viewers in a heavily competitive environment.

For example, I watch nothing live (including the Olympics and therefore don't see any promotions) and therefore, I am stuck on word-of-mouth or old shows, where as the traditional method would be to air promotions during commercials. That is why networks now will will stick a promo in the show content itself and place its promotions right next to the return of the show, hoping that some of us with a DVR will rewind it enough to catch a peek).