Given the historic ratings it got for The Hatfields & McCoys, it looks like History will average around 6 million viewers for the week. I think CBS will average slightly less than that to be #2. Will this be the first time a cable network has ever beaten all the broadcast nets, or did ESPN do that at least once?
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America's Most-watched Network: The History Channel?
- Thread starter arnoldevns
- Start date
It seems pretty meaningless when a first-run cable channel program is up against nothing but summer re-runs on the broadcast networks.
A comment on the subject.
History is neither the most-watched "network" (over time) - that would be CBS - nor is it a network in the traditional sense.
And a comment on the program.
I hope "Hatfield's & McCoy's" doesn't set a new low standard for violence and bad language. I would have loved to watch this program with my kids as an educational opportunity but that isn't going to happen.
A comment on the subject.
History is neither the most-watched "network" (over time) - that would be CBS - nor is it a network in the traditional sense.
And a comment on the program.
I hope "Hatfield's & McCoy's" doesn't set a new low standard for violence and bad language. I would have loved to watch this program with my kids as an educational opportunity but that isn't going to happen.
So what if it's repeats? I am not sure it has ever happened before, regardless of the time of year.
History's performance is impressive even without H&M (although that was huge). Although I don't agree with a lot of the "rugged" direction they're going in (Ax Men, Mountain Men, Swamp People, Ice Road Truckers, et al), Pawn Stars and American Pickers are smash hits for them, as are Swamp People and the new Mountain Men.
carolinaradio said:
History Channel was the one service that was keeping me on cable until it began switching from genuine history programming to junk programs as you have listed. Some of those shows, like Ice Road Truckers, would have been good as a one-time documentary type shows but they are repetitive and boring as series. At least H&M has something to do with history (although you could argue exactly what purpose it serves).
Speaking of Pawn Stars...for the last year now, they've been outrating WWE Raw on Monday nights! That trend will likely continue even if Raw's going to three hours permanently later this month.
F
FreddyE1977
Guest
yeah, well, when it comes to ratings share, Hitler will only take ya so far...
landtuna said:
If you watched reruns of the show before 9pm some of the bad language was edited out.
I wish the History Channel would air some programs that actually deals with history.
Ice Road Truckers and Pawn Stars are shows that I do not consider historical under any circumstances.
Agreed that repeats of Schicklegruber can only go so far. However there were some excellent WWII movies and documentaries that would be great for the History Channel.
Examples include:
War and Remembrance
Downfall
The Bunker
The Valiant Years (Churchill)
World War 1 (Robert Ryan narrator)
Ice Road Truckers and Pawn Stars are shows that I do not consider historical under any circumstances.
Agreed that repeats of Schicklegruber can only go so far. However there were some excellent WWII movies and documentaries that would be great for the History Channel.
Examples include:
War and Remembrance
Downfall
The Bunker
The Valiant Years (Churchill)
World War 1 (Robert Ryan narrator)
landtuna said:
The broadcast networks may be into reruns, but the cable channels are not (yet). So competition for Hatfields & McCoys would include Mad Men (AMC), The Killing (AMC), Veep (HBO), Girls (HBO), and a few others. I don't know what night Hatfields premiered, but those other shows all premiere on Sunday night, reruns throughout the week.
landtuna said:
Tell that to the old school ad agencies who buy broadcast and not cable solely because broadcast is supposedly has "100% penetration" and cable networks do not. It's all about content and actual audience delivery, not potential reach.
B
Bob1370
Guest
History Channel has stretched the definition of historical programming quite a bit with shows like Ice Road Truckers and Ax Men; although as reality shows they're interesting programming I wouldn't call them "history."
Pawn Stars and American Pickers are closer to the mark--they do deal with tangible relics of the past, and give you some insight not only into collectibility and resale value but into the times in which the items were originally made and sold. So on that level there's historical content of some value amidst all the comic and dramatic carryings-on of the shows' principals.
If you want real history with a twist, a show like Brad Meltzer's Decoded is probably what you want.
But in the broadcast business you're not looking for purity of mission, you're looking for audience and on that level, the History Channel is probably playing in the same league with ABC, CBS, NBC and ESPN these days.
Pawn Stars and American Pickers are closer to the mark--they do deal with tangible relics of the past, and give you some insight not only into collectibility and resale value but into the times in which the items were originally made and sold. So on that level there's historical content of some value amidst all the comic and dramatic carryings-on of the shows' principals.
If you want real history with a twist, a show like Brad Meltzer's Decoded is probably what you want.
But in the broadcast business you're not looking for purity of mission, you're looking for audience and on that level, the History Channel is probably playing in the same league with ABC, CBS, NBC and ESPN these days.
Bob1370 said:
Eh, I'm not so sure about that. Maybe it's just me, but like I've mention before in another thread that show reminds me too much of the Coast to Coast AM radio program. Perhaps, it's best to take what they say and show with a grain of salt. After all, they are dealing with some heavy topics there.
D
desertv
Guest
landtuna said:
Which you will rarely find on BBC America, the Top Gear/Dr Who/F$#%!ng Gordon Ramsay Channel!
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