T
Tom_Desmond
Guest
Interesting article in the coming week's "Broadcasting & Cable" magazine regarding the success of old TV shows on local TV stations. It can be found at the magazine's website <www.broadcastingcable.com> but unfortunately that is a subscription-only site. For those interested, here are some excerpts:
> Oldies and Goodies
Evergreen shows can be money trees
By Allison Romano -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/2/2006
> In nearly every local market, station managers struggle with counter-programming Oprah Winfrey's juggernaut. Competitors throw court shows or talk shows against her. But in Knoxville, Tenn., WVLT is enjoying success with a down-home approach: reruns of The Andy Griffith Show. It rarely beats Oprah but routinely pulls in a 4 household rating and sometimes even spikes to a 7 rating.
> In more than a dozen Southern markets, including Greensboro and Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and Macon, Ga., stations are running the 1960s hit and enjoying similar success. Other evergreens have the same magic.
> “Andy has almost a cult following in the South,” says WVLT General Manager Chris Baker.
> Little House on the Prairie, I Love Lucy and Matlock are also strong performers at some stations nationwide.
> In Raleigh, on UPN affiliate WRDC, Good Times averaged a 2.7 household rating at 11 p.m. in November, beating reruns of Friends and Seinfeld. [...]
My comment here: Can you imagine how much more those Friends & Seinfeld reruns cost compared to Good Times? Talk about a deal for WRDC...
> On the local level, loading up on evergreen product works for non-traditional affiliates, which have more programming hours to fill. LIN Television's WNDY Indianapolis, a UPN affiliate, packs its afternoons with classics and gets impressive numbers. A 12:30 p.m. ET run of I Love Lucy posted a 2.1 rating in November sweeps, better than Jerry Springer and Millionaire. Similarly, Matlock beats The Tyra Banks Show and Cops.
[...]
> Some independent stations devote the bulk of their schedule to the genre. In Chicago, Weigel Broadcasting relaunched its low-power outlet WWME as “Me-TV” and stocked up The Honeymooners, I Love Lucy, Bewitched and The Partridge Family. In Las Vegas, a town not usually associated with family values, independent KEEN sprinkles old shows between religious broadcasts. In the afternoon, it airs Little House on the Prairie, Flipper, Hazel and Green Acres.
> Going forward, as local TV stations launch new digital broadcast channels, viewers may have even more opportunity to watch old-time favorites. In Roanoke, Va., CBS affiliate WDBJ has created a general entertainment channel on one of its digital slots and offers classics like Little House and Andy Griffith. [...]
My comments again: Like many folks on this particular board, I believe that the classic TV strategy could be successful for more stations if they gave it a shot. In particular, I believe that these programs could be successful if given better promotion and good time slots. As an example, how many of us live in markets where three stations (typically, the Fox, UPN, and WB affiliates) are all running similar types of recent sitcom reruns in the early evening hours? Usually, the bottom station is attempting to compete against "The Simpsons" and "Friends" with second-tier product like "Yes Dear" or "Becker" -- and getting its butt kicked in the process. How much better might these stations do slotting in "Bewitched" or "Andy Griffith" instead?<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Tom Desmond on 12/31/05 09:25 PM.</FONT></P>
> Oldies and Goodies
Evergreen shows can be money trees
By Allison Romano -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/2/2006
> In nearly every local market, station managers struggle with counter-programming Oprah Winfrey's juggernaut. Competitors throw court shows or talk shows against her. But in Knoxville, Tenn., WVLT is enjoying success with a down-home approach: reruns of The Andy Griffith Show. It rarely beats Oprah but routinely pulls in a 4 household rating and sometimes even spikes to a 7 rating.
> In more than a dozen Southern markets, including Greensboro and Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and Macon, Ga., stations are running the 1960s hit and enjoying similar success. Other evergreens have the same magic.
> “Andy has almost a cult following in the South,” says WVLT General Manager Chris Baker.
> Little House on the Prairie, I Love Lucy and Matlock are also strong performers at some stations nationwide.
> In Raleigh, on UPN affiliate WRDC, Good Times averaged a 2.7 household rating at 11 p.m. in November, beating reruns of Friends and Seinfeld. [...]
My comment here: Can you imagine how much more those Friends & Seinfeld reruns cost compared to Good Times? Talk about a deal for WRDC...
> On the local level, loading up on evergreen product works for non-traditional affiliates, which have more programming hours to fill. LIN Television's WNDY Indianapolis, a UPN affiliate, packs its afternoons with classics and gets impressive numbers. A 12:30 p.m. ET run of I Love Lucy posted a 2.1 rating in November sweeps, better than Jerry Springer and Millionaire. Similarly, Matlock beats The Tyra Banks Show and Cops.
[...]
> Some independent stations devote the bulk of their schedule to the genre. In Chicago, Weigel Broadcasting relaunched its low-power outlet WWME as “Me-TV” and stocked up The Honeymooners, I Love Lucy, Bewitched and The Partridge Family. In Las Vegas, a town not usually associated with family values, independent KEEN sprinkles old shows between religious broadcasts. In the afternoon, it airs Little House on the Prairie, Flipper, Hazel and Green Acres.
> Going forward, as local TV stations launch new digital broadcast channels, viewers may have even more opportunity to watch old-time favorites. In Roanoke, Va., CBS affiliate WDBJ has created a general entertainment channel on one of its digital slots and offers classics like Little House and Andy Griffith. [...]
My comments again: Like many folks on this particular board, I believe that the classic TV strategy could be successful for more stations if they gave it a shot. In particular, I believe that these programs could be successful if given better promotion and good time slots. As an example, how many of us live in markets where three stations (typically, the Fox, UPN, and WB affiliates) are all running similar types of recent sitcom reruns in the early evening hours? Usually, the bottom station is attempting to compete against "The Simpsons" and "Friends" with second-tier product like "Yes Dear" or "Becker" -- and getting its butt kicked in the process. How much better might these stations do slotting in "Bewitched" or "Andy Griffith" instead?<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Tom Desmond on 12/31/05 09:25 PM.</FONT></P>
