John's Television Blog

People who watch “Mad Men” are rich.

jccurtis — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 22:14:18 +0000

49% of adults 25-49 who tuned into Mad Men’s season finale on AMC have a household income of more than $100,000 according to statistics released by The Hollywood Reporter. This is the highest concentration of upscale viewers of that demographic for any scripted show on basic cable. In addition to attracting a wealthy audience, Mad Men simply attracted more people in general with this season’s finale. 2.9 million people watched the program over three viewings on Sunday October 26th, almost 2 million more than season one’s finale. The series also saw a jump in viewership over the course of the entire season. For a show that has been called the best series no one is watching, it seems like people are slowly warming up to it.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

World [Expletive] Champions!

jccurtis — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 01:03:34 +0000

Will the FCC crack down on Chase Utley and the local networks for his latest public gaffe? Those of you at the parade/watching on TV already know what I’m talking about, but if not, check it out here (Language not appropriate for children/work): http://crashburnalley.com/?p=240

Phillies fans might remember this is the second time he has been caught dropping the F-bomb on camera. Upon being booed at the All Star game in July at Yankee Stadium, Utley jokingly said to Dan Uggla “Boo? [Expletive] You!” while the cameras and audio were still rolling. Unfortunately all the videos of this on the internet have been stomped out by Major League Baseball. As far as I know, neither Utley nor ESPN were fined and Utley apologized for the incident (even though it was ESPN’s fault for airing it). Well see how this incident plays out.

TV makes kids eat unhealthy foods

jccurtis — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 22:37:44 +0000

A study done in Canada released today shows that many of the food ads shown during children’s programming are for junk food. Brian Cook of Toronto Public Health analyzed ads on two Canadian kids TV networks over a period of four days and found that food ads made up 37% of all the commercial spots shown. 95% of these food ads were for unhealthy foods, such as cereals high in sugar but low in fiber. I’m sure this doesn’t come as a shock to most of us since most kids want to eat junk anyway, so why not cater to their cravings and maybe kids will coax their parents into buying these things, bringing in more money for the companies buying these ads. However with childhood obesity becoming a larger problem, perhaps a closer look does need to be taken at this trend. For example, in Canada several companies have banded together to create the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative. This initiative created “a voluntary code to promote healthier dietary choices and lifestyles to children under the age of 12.” Under the code, the companies promise to devote 50% of their ad time to products that represent healthier food choices. This seems to be a fair compromise since they still get to air the same amount ads for their products but they are willingly mixing in some of their healthier products. This move perhaps prevented government intervention, though perhaps in Canada their Parliament is not so quick to jump in and regulate as our Congress is here in the US. I think it would be interesting to see if these ad statistics are similar in the United States, where we constantly here about childhood obesity. However I was unable to locate any data with a quick Google search.

Source: Calgary Herald

Obama delays World Series Game 6

jccurtis — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 03:14:34 +0000

The Obama campaign is buying half hour spots from 8-8:30pm on October 29th on all the major networks (though ABC has yet to sell him the time). While this would normally just be another campaign story, this timeslot is of particular interest to the Philadelphia area. Game 6 (if necessary) of the World Series is scheduled for that night with the first pitch to be thrown at 8:22, however Major League Baseball has agreed to push the time back so Fox can sell the timeslot to Barack Obama. Sure it will most likely only be pushed back till shortly after 8:30, but this is quite a big deal for other reasons. The only other time a national sporting event has been delayed for political reasons was a speech by George W. Bush shortly after 9/11. The event was only a preseason NHL game though, not a championship game of “America’s Pastime.”

Obama is buying the same timeslot across all the networks in an effort to create a “roadblock” for viewers, meaning if they switch channels they are still seeing the same program. Fox has also said it is willing to sell McCain equal time, though as a previous entry of mine stated he most likely can not afford to do something of this scale. The Republican National Committee was also quick to criticise Obama for putting politics “before our national pastime.”

Source: LA Times

Obama outspending McCain in TV advertising

jccurtis — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 18:31:21 +0000

Barack Obama and the Democratic National Committee are outspending John McCain by vast amounts across the nation. In Indiana, a state largely ignored by both parties in 2004 due to the assumption it would go to the Republicans, Obama is outspending McCain by a margin of 20 to 1. Obama can afford to do things like this because of his massive fundraising efforts. While McCain chose to accept public financing, limiting his campaign spending to $84 million dollars from September up until election day, Obama rejected public money and is continuing to set fund raising records. Evan Tracey, COO of Campaign Media Analysis Group, predicts that Obama might spend that amount on television advertising alone.

In North Carolina, a traditionally Republican state, Obama has spent $5 million dollars while McCain has spent only $790,000. This demonstrates not only how tightly this election is being contested but also how deep Obama’s pockets are since he is willing to pour so much money into what is traditionally a Republican haven. Additionally, while McCain has to pick and choose where to allocate his funds, Obama seems to have the wealth to spread his message at will. “Every day and every dollar that McCain and the RNC spend in Indiana is a day and a dollar they can’t spend in Ohio and Pennsylvania,” says Evan Tracey. This makes free airtime such as tonight’s debate all the more important to the McCain campaign.

Source: NPR

Is Thursday night the most crowded night on TV?

jccurtis — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 18:39:32 +0000

Typically on Thursday evenings I watch “The Office” and starting this season I began watching “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” However this past Thursday there was more watchable TV on then I could handle. Due to the Phillies being in the playoffs, I had already planned on catching “The Office” online (which I still need to do). However, at commercial breaks I found myself wondering around and caught a few minutes of “Life On Mars,” which I was instantly hooked on. Despite only catching about 10-15 minutes of the episode due to baseball, I definitely want to see more. While playoff baseball eventually ends, this could leave a very crowded Thursday night. The Office is a must watch every week, and I think Life on Mars is a show I can get into. Fortunately FX repeats “Sunny” an hour after it airs, so that could help alleviate a scheduling conflict. This is the first TV season in a long time where I might actually follow more than one or two programs. Last year the only shows I watched with any regularity were The Office and Family Guy. Are networks finally breaking out of their reality slump and airing quality programming? Or am I just noticing now that there is still good stuff on TV?

BBC America: The Birthplace of American Television

jccurtis — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 18:54:28 +0000

BBC America is currently running an ad campaign about how they are “The Birthplace of American Television.” (Website can be seen here) While you might instantly laugh this off, you should take a closer look. ABC began airing the US version of “Life On Mars” this Thursday at 10pm while CBS used the same timeslot to air the American version of “Eleventh Hour.” While in previous years America has imported its shows across the globe, it seems like it is now America’s turn to import. Cartoon Network has imported anime from Japan for years, while recently G4 has been importing Japanese game shows. ABC is currently facing a lawsuit over the show “Wipeout” due to its similarity to the Japanese show “MXC.” (Source) NBC’s adaptation of “The Office” has been a huge hit for the network. NBC failed in the past however, attempting to adapt the British sitcom “Coupling” to no effect.

There now seems to be a seachange in American broadcasting. While in the early days of TV up until even recently, US programs were exported across the globe. Now countries such as Japan and the UK seem to have found a friendly market to export their programs too.

Economic troubles cause networks to bend the rules

jccurtis — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 02:43:38 +0000

For years national newscasts such as NBC’s Nightly News have banned political commercials during their broadcast times. However with the recent economic downturn, networks are finding it hard to turn down these lucrative deals. Candidates also views these timeslots as extremely attractive buys since it allows them to get their message out to viewers who are more likely to vote. While some people believe running political ads during what are supposed to be unbiased broadcasts is wrong, the networks say their viewers know they are not endorsing a particular candidate.

Local television stations also reap the benefits during the election cycle. Stations in battleground states benefit the most due to candidates hoping to sway voters to their cause. However with many states being closely contested this election season, both parties see national ads as an easy way to get their message out to as many battleground states as possible for the smallest cost.

Source: Yahoo News

Google expands its TV advertising

jccurtis — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:18:44 +0000

In a previous post I discussed how Google was jumping into the television ad market. Following their deal with NBC Universal, Google has now inked a deal with Bloomberg TV. While Bloomberg might not have the exposure of networks such as NBC and ABC, its viewers have the highest average household income, average individual income, and value of home owned of any network. This will give advertisers who use Google’s TV ads program access to an incredibly wealthy audience. Bloomberg has 50 million subscribers in the United States and by partnering with Google they can feature ads targeted specificially for their viewers. Google is also rumored to be working with Canoe Ventures, a partnership created by Comcast, Cox and Time Warner Cable which also places targeted ads on TV. Canoe has access to 60 million US homes and a deal with them would significantly increase Google’s market saturation. Neither party has commented whether a deal is in the works at this time. However, this new deal with Bloomberg, coupled with past deals with Dish Network and NBC Universal, may be signs that television networks are becoming more willing to work with the internet giant.

Source: LA Times

My thoughts on the LA Times’ “Show Tracker” blog

jccurtis — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 02:26:31 +0000

Similar to “On the Air”, this blog is also run by a major publication, the Los Angeles Times. Instead of one author though, it has many contributors. Each writer has a short blurb on the sidebar of the front page about themselves to establish their credentials to the readers. While some are LA Times staff writers, there are several freelance contributors, which could lead some to question their credibility.

Many articles in this blog focus on TV ratings. How programs are performing in the ratings share are a big part of the content of the site. Additionally, some blogger focus on individual TV shows, such as Project Runway and Dancing with the Stars. This week The Late Show with David Letterman has been heavily featured due to the feud between Letterman and Presidential Candidate John McCain.

The writers of this blog also host chats to talk about their favorite shows with the readers of the site. This is an interesting way to get feedback and share a discussion with people who also enjoy the same programs. It seems that easier for a blog such as this to hold such chat sessions since their are a large number of contributors, where as someone like Cynthia Littleton might struggle to schedule such sessions since she is the only one running that site. This blog also features catagories for the shows and people covered by the blog so you can quickly jump to your favorite topic. Once again, many articles feature images to break up the monotony of large amounts of text and keep the reader interested.

I found this to be an informative and trustworthy blog. The ratings articles cite where they got their statistics from. They also credit photos if they took them from another site. If you are looking for ratings information and analysis relating to that data, this is a good place to start. It’s content on other topics is thin, but it is there for a change of pace if you tire of simply reading about the current ratings darling.

Link to Show Tracker