SWEEPS & SEASONS

[F.M.Hertz]

Yesterday (January 31) was the star of the February Sweeps for the 2012-13 TV season. Some questions to that end:

1. How did programmers come up with the idea of having sweeps periods for November, February and May?

2. What, historically, was the first big sweeps period in TV?

3. Why do TV seasons start in September or October? (I know it harkens back to radio when a lot of shows ran 39 weeks and the stars would take 13 weeks off in the Summer.) Did it have to do with schools across the country going back at that time? The changing season? Or, when harvest season would begin? (Just some theories I have.)

Would love to hear some thoughts on these topics.

Thanks.

 

[BD Sullivan]

Yesterday (January 31) was the star of the February Sweeps for the 2012-13 TV season. Some questions to that end:

1. How did programmers come up with the idea of having sweeps periods for November, February and May?

2. What, historically, was the first big sweeps period in TV?

3. Why do TV seasons start in September or October? (I know it harkens back to radio when a lot of shows ran 39 weeks and the stars would take 13 weeks off in the Summer.) Did it have to do with schools across the country going back at that time? The changing season? Or, when harvest season would begin? (Just some theories I have.)

Would love to hear some thoughts on these topics.

Thanks.

I don't recall the networks making a big deal about sweeps until the late 70's-early 80's. For example, the last show for both the Mary Tyler Moore Show (1977) and Bob Newhart Show (1978) were in March, as was the 1980 episode in which J.R. Ewing was shot on Dallas. During this era, networks were still simply running their 24-26 yearly episodes of shows straight until they ran out, and THEN showed reruns.

 

[Tim-In-Houston]

3. Why do TV seasons start in September or October? (I know it harkens back to radio when a lot of shows ran 39 weeks and the stars would take 13 weeks off in the Summer.) Did it have to do with schools across the country going back at that time? The changing season? Or, when harvest season would begin? (Just some theories I have.)

Would love to hear some thoughts on these topics.

Thanks.

I heard somewhere years ago that since Detroit was (and is) a huge advertiser, the start of the TV season was timed to coincide with the release of the latest model year automobiles, which typically came out in September.

 

[Markxxx]

The Sweeps started in 1954, when Nielsen would send seven day diaries out. They would "Sweep" the nation by starting on the east coast to the west coast.

For example Boston would get Nov 1st through Nov 2nd. New York would get Nov 2nd through Nov 8, Philly would get Nov 3 through Nov 9. And so on...westward. Later it was done by regions, with the NE getting one week, the mid atlantic getting another and so forth.

This made sense when data was collected by hand and crude computers (well crude compared to now). With each year after the measurement collection were changed in refined, from markets to areas. Now the larger markets are monitored constantly with additional months manually collected in those larger markets as well.

TV advertising has always been a weird thing. Desi Arnaz for instance use to tell Phillip Morris that their advertising was bad because despite outstanding rating for "I Love Lucy" no one was buying their cigarettes. It turned out the people that liked the show, were just not heavy smokers.

By the 70s the concept of total ratings was lost to segments of markets. With urban being more important than rural. Then it progressed to age demographics and then habits of sectors such as nationality, race, sexual orientation and it is getting more and more specifically targeted.

I can't find out why Nielsen uses those months, but I did find in old Billboard magazines from 1946 listed Hopper ratings in Dec (for the period ending the month prior) and in March (for the period ending the month prior). These were not national ratings but city ratings for major metro areas.

This seems to indicate Hooper (which measured radio audiences) was taking measures in November and February and publishing them in Dec and March. Since Nielsen bought out Hooper, my guess would be this was a hold over from radio, but why did Hooper use those months?

 

[onairb]

3. Why do TV seasons start in September or October? (I know it harkens back to radio when a lot of shows ran 39 weeks and the stars would take 13 weeks off in the Summer.) Did it have to do with schools across the country going back at that time? The changing season? Or, when harvest season would begin? (Just some theories I have.)

Would love to hear some thoughts on these topics.

Thanks.

I heard somewhere years ago that since Detroit was (and is) a huge advertiser, the start of the TV season was timed to coincide with the release of the latest model year automobiles, which typically came out in September.

Yes, and this was also (like the Hooper/Nie;sen ratings mentioned in another post) a holdover from the days of radio.
My question is, did the auto manufacturers roll out their new cars in the autumn even before the days of broadcasting? Which industry tailored its schedule to suit which?

 

[F.M.Hertz]

Mark brings up a great point about ratings being a little more important in the urban markets in the 70s. It reminds me of the move by CBS around 1971 where all "shows with trees" in them were cancelled: (Ex. "Mayberry RFD," "The Beverly Hillbillies," etc.). Shows in more urban settings were becoming the norm, in order to attract higer ratings in the big cities.

Another point made by BD reminded me of reruns. It seemed to be a summer-only occurence. I remember in 1985 that NBC ran a rerun of "The Cosby Show" in late October from the previous month. A radio talk show host I later ended up wortking with was commenting about that the morning after it aired. That also brings on another question: why so many fewer shows? In the early days of TV most schedules ran up to 30 weeks. Now, we're lucky to get a season of shows that last 24 episodes.

 

[LKellerIII]

Mark brings up a great point about ratings being a little more important in the urban markets in the 70s. It reminds me of the move by CBS around 1971 where all "shows with trees" in them were cancelled: (Ex. "Mayberry RFD," "The Beverly Hillbillies," etc.). Shows in more urban settings were becoming the norm, in order to attract higer ratings in the big cities.

Another point made by BD reminded me of reruns. It seemed to be a summer-only occurence. I remember in 1985 that NBC ran a rerun of "The Cosby Show" in late October from the previous month. A radio talk show host I later ended up wortking with was commenting about that the morning after it aired. That also brings on another question: why so many fewer shows? In the early days of TV most schedules ran up to 30 weeks. Now, we're lucky to get a season of shows that last 24 episodes.

I doubt the car makers care if the TV season is "new" when they premiere their new models, as long as it's underway by that time, so the maximum number of viewers are watching.

I always assumed the TV season started in September for the simple reason that kids were back in school, the weather was starting to cool down, so more people were spending time indoors.

 

[editthis]

And add to the fact that at some point the Networks may go the way of Cable and have two distinct seasons. A 13 episode series in the fall and then that slot gives birth to a different 13 episode series in the spring.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

Another point made by BD reminded me of reruns. It seemed to be a summer-only occurence. I remember in 1985 that NBC ran a rerun of "The Cosby Show" in late October from the previous month. A radio talk show host I later ended up wortking with was commenting about that the morning after it aired.

That Cosby rerun was likely due to the World Series, which in 1985 would have aired on ABC (Cardinals-Royals, Game 5 was played Thursday, Oct. 24--need I say more about what transpired in Game 6 two nights later).

 

[onairb]

Mark brings up a great point about ratings being a little more important in the urban markets in the 70s. It reminds me of the move by CBS around 1971 where all "shows with trees" in them were cancelled: (Ex. "Mayberry RFD," "The Beverly Hillbillies," etc.). Shows in more urban settings were becoming the norm, in order to attract higer ratings in the big cities.

Another point made by BD reminded me of reruns. It seemed to be a summer-only occurence. I remember in 1985 that NBC ran a rerun of "The Cosby Show" in late October from the previous month. A radio talk show host I later ended up wortking with was commenting about that the morning after it aired. That also brings on another question: why so many fewer shows? In the early days of TV most schedules ran up to 30 weeks. Now, we're lucky to get a season of shows that last 24 episodes.

For years, the season was said to be 39 weeks, from late September or early October well into June, or even early July. This gradually got cut to 36 weeks, 34, 32, 30, and 28. Here's a list of Gunsmoke episodes, showing how the episode totals gradually diminished over the years:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Gunsmoke_television_episodes

 

[Irishfl]

I always assumed the TV season started in September for the simple reason that kids were back in school, the weather was starting to cool down, so more people were spending time indoors.

Same here. TV viewership is lowest during the summer because the weather is nice, people are on vacation, kids aren't on a schedule because of no school, ect. So end of May & Late September when all of that has started/ended seems like a natural time to end & start a season.

 

[BD Sullivan]

And add to the fact that at some point the Networks may go the way of Cable and have two distinct seasons. A 13 episode series in the fall and then that slot gives birth to a different 13 episode series in the spring.

The past few years, the networks have incorporated the term "Fall finale" into the lexicon--primarily for the serialized programs they have to try and drag out until May. The problem is (especially for new shows) that these shows take sometimes a 2-3 month break, which causes many people to forget about such shows.

 

[cd637299]

NBC actually was able to have a World Series game delayed in 1986 by a half hour, because The Cosby Show was *that* big a deal.

cd

 

[nomadcowatbk]

Another point made by BD reminded me of reruns. It seemed to be a summer-only occurence. I remember in 1985 that NBC ran a rerun of "The Cosby Show" in late October from the previous month. A radio talk show host I later ended up wortking with was commenting about that the morning after it aired.

That Cosby rerun was likely due to the World Series, which in 1985 would have aired on ABC (Cardinals-Royals, Game 5 was played Thursday, Oct. 24--need I say more about what transpired in Game 6 two nights later).

and that Cosby rerun probably beat the big market team lacking World Series

 

[justpassingthough]

I always assumed the TV season started in September for the simple reason that kids were back in school, the weather was starting to cool down, so more people were spending time indoors.

Same here. TV viewership is lowest during the summer because the weather is nice, people are on vacation, kids aren't on a schedule because of no school, ect. So end of May & Late September when all of that has started/ended seems like a natural time to end & start a season.

And to add further, its still daylight in portions of the country until 9 or later in the summer, so people have another reason to not be inside watching television- so if there is any reason to take a break during the year, summer is that time.

 

[firepoint525]

The week between Christmas and New Year's is also a "dead" week, in which everything is in reruns. Don't know if it has always been that way, or not.

 

[F.M.Hertz]

True, Summer is one of the lowest viewing times of the year, and the networks historically used that time to burn shows off that were cancelled, move shows to a different day or time to see how they would work in that time slot in order to build an audience, or test shows out in terms of testing for a mid-season replacement.

Two cases in point; Tommy Smothers picked Glen Campbell to host a summer replacement show while he and Dick took the summer off. The result became "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour." When Dean Martin took the Summer of Love off, Dan Rowan and Dick Martin took over and were later tapped by NBC to help develop "Laugh-In." I believe that "Moonlighting" also benefitted from the summer reruns of 1985 and became a strong performer for ABC for a few seasons after that.

 

[justthenumbers]

Same here. TV viewership is lowest during the summer because the weather is nice, people are on vacation, kids aren't on a schedule because of no school, ect. So end of May & Late September when all of that has started/ended seems like a natural time to end & start a season.

And this is another great example of Phoenix breaking conventional logic -- weather is least desirable in summer; winter is when people spend more time outdoors. People going out of town for vacation aside, I would imagine that the drop in overall viewing levels during the summer is not as pronounced as other markets.

 

[BD Sullivan]

The week between Christmas and New Year's is also a "dead" week, in which everything is in reruns. Don't know if it has always been that way, or not.

In the 50's and into the 60's, the networks just broadcast during the holidays, regardless if the show would be seen ON the holiday.

 

[anotherguyTN]

Can anyone answer this: Why do some reality shows consider the runs they do in the Fall and the ones in the Spring two separate seasons? For example Survivor has been on close to 13 years, but they have 25 seasons?