SWEEPS & SEASONS

[nomadcowatbk]

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.

March and April are also slow periods

 

[nomadcowatbk]

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.

but school is still out and its cooler in the evenings during Phoenix summers

 

[justthenumbers]

but school is still out and its cooler in the evenings during Phoenix summers

"Cooler" is most definitely a relative term. There are many nights where it's still 100 degrees (or more) even at 10pm. There may have been a time where it was 110+ during the day and in the mid-70's at night, but (outside of the increasingly rare nights where a monsoon storm hits) that no longer happens.

School is indeed out (and this applies to every market), but the major networks (which are most guilty of sleepwalking through the summer) generally do not seem to target those who are under the age of 25 anyway.

Cable networks were brilliant to counterprogram broadcast TV by airing entire seasons of high-profile originals during the summer. They gained the attention and respect of the available viewing audience, and are now able to comfortably program first-run series year-round.

 

[jwk1979]

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?

I do believe the reason for that is because shows like Survivor, the Amazing Race, the Voice, et al. will have a winner named after 10 to 13 episodes, depending on the show. So if Survivor: Madagasgar names a winner a few weeks before Christmas and Survivor: Philipines names a winner in Mid-May, even two separate shows even though it was on during the same Television year (September to May).

Plus, most reality show do not do well in Syndication since they are based on the element of surprise. In other words, if you know how the ending turns out, are you going to watch it again?