tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post7528266886324659839..comments2023-11-03T06:02:02.128-07:00Comments on By Ken Levine: The survey that should scare the shit out of anyone in TVBy Ken Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comBlogger83125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-42803290842136240892017-04-13T21:17:24.496-07:002017-04-13T21:17:24.496-07:00Pretty astounding statistics. I have now lived ove...Pretty astounding statistics. I have now lived overseas for two years and even though I knew the names of all those shows mentioned, many I haven't seen given the relative availability of this programming here in the western Pacific of Asia. And here...while there is cable and such tv available here, it's usually more international, Australian or British, with little USA stuff available.<br /><br />I am able to keep up a bit with shows I enjoyed through the ubiquity of the..shall we say...questionable provenance of DVDs available for sale here on every street corner. There is, as well, varied torrent sites one could utilize were they inclined as well, but I have found since having retired...95% of stuff available 'for free' online through pirate or struggling creators giving away their efforts is simply not worth the time...particularly at download speeds of less than 3mbps on average. <br /><br />I read a helluva lot more, now.Chris Juricichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12113808574022011127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-36180041507964176762017-01-19T05:56:31.150-08:002017-01-19T05:56:31.150-08:00Growing up I had, what, six channels - three major...Growing up I had, what, six channels - three majors and three locals, in Atlanta to watch! When cable came in it got a lot better. Then the 21st Century hit and now we have so much content that no one person can keep up.<br /><br />We are at the beginning of the next generation of media consumption. Consumers will flock to their own media-hub (Netflix, Hulu, ABC.Com, HBO Online, etc... ) where an algorithm will direct their attention to what they like based on what they've been watching in the past and based on what similar people watch.<br /><br />The problem is the algorithm isn't mature. Older adults will miss the "new, hip show" that is directed at a younger audience. But the algorithm will get better over time.<br /><br />It will be interesting to see how the democratization of media distribution will go!Herschelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07135343841713180540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-54051793329540256512017-01-16T09:59:13.317-08:002017-01-16T09:59:13.317-08:00Do these comments have a cap at 80 entries? I coul...Do these comments have a cap at 80 entries? I could've sworn I posted a lengthy comment that offered some non-controversial valid points in regards to this blog entry. Maybe the perspective of someone with over ten years in the television business (both on the creative side and business side) is not in step with what some of the other commenters (or author?) is wanting re-affirmed. I always thought diversity in perspective was a good thing.... Apparently not. :(Alan Smitheynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-45852375017811874942017-01-15T20:01:59.547-08:002017-01-15T20:01:59.547-08:00I noted last years that the Best Actor/Actress for...I noted last years that the Best Actor/Actress for Drama awards went to Rami Malek and Tatiana Maslany, and if 1% of the general population knows either of those names I'd be floored.DonBoynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-71536463256507326182017-01-15T04:54:23.005-08:002017-01-15T04:54:23.005-08:00I just want to quickly write about TRANSPARENT: I ...I just want to quickly write about TRANSPARENT: I love the show, but I don't like anyone but the father, and don't think it's funny. It's a melancholy drama about a dysfunctional family where the only decent one trying to hold them together is the one that society is most likely to vilify. The children are written as selfish and self-absorbed, it's not by accident, but they're also all suffering in their own ways. Johnny Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13302545167970532080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-34407437054870519292017-01-14T08:31:08.084-08:002017-01-14T08:31:08.084-08:00There used to be a TV Guide awards where they gave...There used to be a TV Guide awards where they gave top prizes to shows like Everybody Loves Raymond and Marshal Law.MikeNnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-89147109313440594292017-01-13T16:54:07.590-08:002017-01-13T16:54:07.590-08:00The other issue is that the award shows, especiall...The other issue is that the award shows, especially the Golden Globes, seems to like to give awards to TV shows that are relatively new and different. Brooklyn 99 won for Best TV Comedy show 2-3 years ago and I dont think it has even been nominated since. I enjoy the show, but even I didnt think that it was the Best Comedy The Emmy award seems to get stuck on the same people or shows (like VP and Transparent) What is worse is that most of these shows are watched by no one and typical have very short seasons. While popularity of a show shouldnt determine what is the best show or actor, it does make watching the award shows boring when my favorite shows are ignored and only 5 people have ever watched the winner. I would also assume it is going to be easier to make quality shows when you only have to make 13 compared to when you have to make 22 of them. I would also imagine its easier to make an extremely quality show or movie when you know no one is going to watch it. I remember watching Living Las Vegas with Nicholas Cage. I thought he and Elizabeth Shue were wonderful in it. However I hated the movie, everyone I know hated the movie and to me the movie was an exercise in acting. Great acting with Cage getting an Oscar for it. While I was the first to say that his acting was great in the movie, I still didnt like itAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07121942843108969212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-6775376383733704612017-01-12T22:04:43.204-08:002017-01-12T22:04:43.204-08:00I've heard of most of these new shows, but I l...I've heard of most of these new shows, but I like to read about television. I don't particularly enjoy watching television though. It takes a lot of time and effort to get into a new show, so if there doesn't seem to be an obvious payoff, I go do something else. I think this is why a lot of people binge watch. Once they decide to watch the whole show, they are willing to make that up front investment. Then they have a sunk cost, so they watch the rest of it.<br /><br />I'm probably not the best demographic though. I don't remember ever knowing anyone who had watched more than an episode or two of Seinfeld. I saw ten minutes of it once and decided to clip my toenails.<br /><br />Some years back I read an NHANES report on what Americans were doing with their time. Back in the 1950s, leisure time was spent with one's friends. By the 1960s, people stopped killing time with their friends and watched television instead. I wonder how much of that change was because suburban life made it harder to spend time with one's friends as opposed to the sheer wonder of television. Now people have social networks and multiplayer games, which for many people provides a way to spend time with their friends if only remotely. I'm wondering if social networking and gaming have been replacing television viewing time as a reversion to older patterns rather than as something really new.Kaleberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05283840743310507878noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-72569395880543420072017-01-12T17:34:25.860-08:002017-01-12T17:34:25.860-08:00I gave up on TV long ago because the commercials b...I gave up on TV long ago because the commercials began to last so long I forgot what I was watching. And forget subscribing to premium services for just a few of the things I would watch. And finally, it's all fiction, and reality is much more relevant to me these days. Why watch fantasy shows for entertainment, when we've got politicians for that?Frederic Aldenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16092073035980930082noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-82103382675904670262017-01-12T14:00:06.478-08:002017-01-12T14:00:06.478-08:00If you think these numbers are low, I'd hate t...If you think these numbers are low, I'd hate to see the numbers for the likely Oscar Best Picture nominees: I'd bet Lion, La La Land, Manchester By the Sea, Fences and Silences would collectively be recognized by 10% of the average uS population, and less that 1% surveyed would have seen <i>any</i> of those films, less than 4% would plan to see any of them.<br /><br />And they wonder why Oscar ratings drop year after year.RockGolfnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-61521359696356503372017-01-12T13:56:19.275-08:002017-01-12T13:56:19.275-08:00As a regular reader of your blog and other enterta...As a regular reader of your blog and other entertainment sites you'd think I would have heard of all these shows. I have NOT heard of This Is Us, Blackish, Stranger Things, Atlanta or Mozart In the Jungle. I've heard of Game of Thrones and have HBO but the show looks too violent, dark and, well, just icky. Same reason I never watched Breaking Bad. I think Veep (HBO) and The Crown (Netflix) are superb. I have Amazon Prime but never figured out the video part and just use it for free shipping. I guess our entire society is fragmented today, and we see the results everywhere, including politics.Alan Lighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09664998795778771121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-250776560761828472017-01-12T08:14:18.201-08:002017-01-12T08:14:18.201-08:00This sounds like the old library debate we had bac...This sounds like the old library debate we had back in the 60's - do you stock your shelves with Harlequin romances and Zane Grey because that's what people actually read or do you stock your shelves with Jane Austen and Walter Scott because that's good for them.Frustratedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11717936824417581391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-10046475942266370812017-01-12T08:00:32.208-08:002017-01-12T08:00:32.208-08:00I'm not sure the nature of your complaint. The...I'm not sure the nature of your complaint. There are hits since you just mentioned two--The Big Bang Theory and Grey's Anatomy--at the end of your piece. Are you upset that those shows are ignored by the Emmys and critics? Or is it the other way around, that you wish Veep and Transparent were as popular and are upset that they're not?Kirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02155991693956178030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-26309158469431347222017-01-12T07:43:16.188-08:002017-01-12T07:43:16.188-08:00On the subject of TV demographics, the NY Times re...On the subject of TV demographics, the NY Times recently ran a piece claiming that one of the most accurate ways to predict if someone was a Trump voters vs a Hillary voter is their TV viewing habits. They looked at three various groups of Americans (urban vs rural vs the "black belt") and found that each group is watching completely different shows from the other two, with almost no overlap. Link with maps here: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/26/upshot/duck-dynasty-vs-modern-family-television-maps.htmlCedricstudiohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06281239965682009232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-66592367254901036382017-01-12T06:41:26.089-08:002017-01-12T06:41:26.089-08:0054 million people are on Amazon Prime, but I bet o...54 million people are on Amazon Prime, but I bet only a fraction of those know how to access the streaming video benefits that come along with it. Most people -- some of my friends and family included -- use it only for the free shipping! We use the heck out of it, for free Kindle books to video streaming to printing photos and having them shipped FREE to our house. If people would just google it, they'd learn more about what they're paying for and would have access to all these great TV shows and movies! My four kids (ages 5-14) even know how to access Amazon content on our TVs. Love. Also loving the podcast BTW. Just about to finish episode 1, and after reading all these years, it's great to finally hear your voice. LOL'd that in the first minute, you referred to it as a "blog." Freudian slip. ;-)Katherine @ Grass Stainshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01258123193553569060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-63306656740619419672017-01-12T06:40:35.417-08:002017-01-12T06:40:35.417-08:00I think Seinfeld got it right:
George: The story...I think Seinfeld got it right:<br /><br /><br />George: The story is the foundation of all entertainment. You must have a good story, otherwise it's just masturbation.<br /><br />Russel: And people really have to care about the characters.<br /><br />George: Care? Forget about care. Love. They have to love the characters. Otherwise, why would they keep tuning in?<br /><br />Jerry: Wouldn't tune in.<br /><br />George: Would they tune in?<br /><br />Jerry: No tune.Andrewnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-16581533535396631592017-01-12T06:17:46.082-08:002017-01-12T06:17:46.082-08:00MikeN is actually on to something. Liberal shows ...MikeN is actually on to something. Liberal shows are offputting to more moderate or conservative people (Democrat or Republican). Meanwhile, even the ones that MikeN mentioned aren't "conservative", but centrists<br />Politics matter. <br />Entertainers don't realize (I'm guessing) that people don't want to buy a product from people who they vehemently disagree with politically. <br />So, Meryl Streep and George Clooney come off very dislikeable to a vast amount of people.<br />Or Mel Gibson. <br /><br />The Bumble Bee Pendanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11782074071758250824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-1603761294212417332017-01-12T06:02:56.481-08:002017-01-12T06:02:56.481-08:00Media critics have fallen into the same category a...Media critics have fallen into the same category as political pundits. A huge majority of Americans no longer pay attention to , or even read their opinions. Critical raves of movies and TV shows no longer cause people to check them out. But mostly it's just that there's so much out there, and most of it is lousy. Give this deluge of content, there are no longer have "water cooler" shows like there were back when the three networks dominated. The two things that still seem to be water cooler fodder are major sporting events (at least for men) and politics. You can be reasonably sure that most everyone knows about the Cubs, the Super Bowl, or Trump. It's not surprising to me that so few watch the shows listed. What does surprise me is how few have even heard of them. I guess another factor is that younger people spend a lot of their screen time on YouTube of playing video games. The latter are bigger than most movies. BobinVThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06659467295097024979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-87017768826666514692017-01-12T03:20:19.589-08:002017-01-12T03:20:19.589-08:00This is interesting to me. I remember you wrote on...This is interesting to me. I remember you wrote once about how "Girls" was getting so much press, but less than one million people actually watched it. <br />Where is the survey that tells us what we ARE watching? Is Neilson still considered the standard? <br />Edhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272016833588872866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-35681753715464158752017-01-12T03:11:46.121-08:002017-01-12T03:11:46.121-08:00Back in the Mesozoic, the EMMY awards expected nom...Back in the Mesozoic, the EMMY awards expected nominees to be able to reach 50% of viewers. Maybe there needs to be some sort of ratings minimum again.<br /><br />Charles H. Bryannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-51160739945928051972017-01-12T01:51:35.878-08:002017-01-12T01:51:35.878-08:00I guess on one level it must be disheartening to c...I guess on one level it must be disheartening to create a really good show and so few people know or watch what you do. On the other hand so many interesting personal creative ventures probably aren't getting made right now if Hulu,Netflix,Amazon and cable companies weren't in their own arm race for original content. Currently we are at about peak levels for amount of original scripted programming(400+ in 2015,2016) and eventually this bubble will burst.In the meantime I guess everyone should be happy so many performers are getting work and that what feels like an infinite amount of content is being made for consumers. The optimist in me says eventually the best shows will still find more viewers over time.Charlie Salsanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-28431080890209706572017-01-12T01:37:18.936-08:002017-01-12T01:37:18.936-08:00The survey of course is taken at a point in time, ...The survey of course is taken at a point in time, but that point in time is in some ways increasingly less and less relevant. <br /><br />In 1967, I remember watching the summer replacement series "Coronet Blue" and missing the last episode, and literally never having a chance to see it again.<br /><br />Now, I'm pretty sure that if I feel like binge watching "Game of Thrones", I can do it literally any time in my life going forward, and so I don't feel any great rush to do so now. Breadbakernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-4256289045485245602017-01-11T23:08:57.656-08:002017-01-11T23:08:57.656-08:00What's depressing to me is that I watch a crap...What's depressing to me is that I watch a crapload of TV--more than I should--but the shows I watch are never nominated for anything. Granted, most of them are network and basic cable, but still, I'm not exactly part of the Duck Dynasty crowd. Where is the disconnect?cadavranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-69352128360145091992017-01-11T23:07:32.393-08:002017-01-11T23:07:32.393-08:00The answer for TV execs is to make shows that appe...The answer for TV execs is to make shows that appeal to Republicans. There was a survey about five years ago, with the top shows seen by each party. None of the top Democratic shows had Republican viewers. Even good ones like Mad Men and Breaking Bad, Republicans weren't watching. The other shows in the Dems top 10 were things like Kardashians.<br /><br />On the other hand the Republican top shows, were almost all getting good ratings from Democrats as well. NCIS, The Closer, etc. <br /><br />Although this means that I am recommending making shows to appeal to Republicans after pointing out that Democrats watch more TV.MikeNnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-40450128912315190432017-01-11T21:21:23.785-08:002017-01-11T21:21:23.785-08:00What also has me a little concerned is that ,for t...What also has me a little concerned is that ,for the first time, last year's Top 20 Box Office Hits contained not one film based on true events. Are the theaters doomed to be taken over by teenagers who only seem to fancy PG-13 rated violence and/or fantasy? Granted, there were the usual two or three animated crowd pleasers but there wasn't even anything based on a novel or a play. "Sully" at No. 22 was as close as it came. Will there be another Neil Simon or Sidney Lumet who somehow can connect with a wider audience or are we just too fragmented (as another voice suggested)? DARON72https://www.blogger.com/profile/01726705799261360259noreply@blogger.com