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Were The Networks Wrong To "Abandon" Saturday Nights??

J

Joseph_Gallant

As readers of this board are aware, it has been several years since any broadcast network had broadcast high-appeal first-run programming (other than sports) in prime-time on Saturday nights.

Any first-run entertainment shows aired in prime-time on Saturdays are "dumped" there because they got low ratings in their previous, midweek time periods.

However in Britain, the season finale of "Britain's Got Talent", which was broadcast on June 8th on the commercial ITV network, managed to become the most-watched program on British TV this year to that point (it was beaten out by the men's finals at the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament on July 7th, in which Andy Murray became the first British man to win the title in 77 years); but it still remains the most-watched TV entertainment show in the UK so far in 2013.

Media Guardian report: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/jun/10/britains-got-talent-final-tv-ratings .

And remember, "Britain's Got Talent" this past season was broadcast in prime-time on Saturday nights!

This isn't the first case; I have previously read on websites of British papers that other shows broadcast on ITV or BBC-1 on Saturday nights have gotten very good ratings.

I wonder why there are still smash-hit prime-time TV shows on Saturday nights in the UK and not here.

In fact, I wonder that if the networks here in the 'States get as aggressive about Saturday prime-time as BBC-1 and ITV have, if they too could draw lots of viewers.

I am of the opinion that there is an audience that would watch TV on Saturday nights; but that the key to getting them to stay home is programming they want to see.
 
In the US, shows such as "The Love Boat", "Fantasy Island", "Diff'rent Strokes" and "The Golden Girls" were very popular on Saturday nights. And in syndication, many stations carried "Hee Haw" and lawrence Welk on Saturday nights. But now, the networks and stations ACT like no one watches TV that night.
 
Among the shows that ran on Saturday nights ....

The Jackie Gleason Show
Perry Mason
The Defenders
Your Show of Shows
Perry Como
Get Smart
All In The Family
MASH
The Jeffersons
Bob Newhart
Mary Tyler Moore
Carol Burnett
Gunsmoke
Hollywood Palace
Saturday Night at the Movies
Saturday Night Live

Give people a reason and they'll stay home, or at least program their DVRs.
 
Joseph_Gallant said:
As readers of this board are aware, it has been several years since any broadcast network had broadcast high-appeal first-run programming (other than sports) in prime-time on Saturday nights.

Any first-run entertainment shows aired in prime-time on Saturdays are "dumped" there because they got low ratings in their previous, midweek time periods.

However in Britain, the season finale of "Britain's Got Talent", which was broadcast on June 8th on the commercial ITV network, managed to become the most-watched program on British TV this year to that point (it was beaten out by the men's finals at the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament on July 7th, in which Andy Murray became the first British man to win the title in 77 years); but it still remains the most-watched TV entertainment show in the UK so far in 2013.

Media Guardian report: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/jun/10/britains-got-talent-final-tv-ratings .

And remember, "Britain's Got Talent" this past season was broadcast in prime-time on Saturday nights!

This isn't the first case; I have previously read on websites of British papers that other shows broadcast on ITV or BBC-1 on Saturday nights have gotten very good ratings.

I wonder why there are still smash-hit prime-time TV shows on Saturday nights in the UK and not here.

In fact, I wonder that if the networks here in the 'States get as aggressive about Saturday prime-time as BBC-1 and ITV have, if they too could draw lots of viewers.

I am of the opinion that there is an audience that would watch TV on Saturday nights; but that the key to getting them to stay home is programming they want to see.
Click to expand...


Networks stopped putting strong programming in Saturday prime because HUT levels were declining, not vice-versa. Even if you packed Saturday night with the biggest shows in TV, at most you'd see a spike in DVR usage. Commute times being what they are in major American cities, Friday's not as good a night for going out as Saturday. Sunday's out for most people with work on Monday morning....Saturday's the only night.

As to the above examples of "it used to be...". Those 18-49 year olds are 58-89 now. Their social habits as adults were different than today's 18-49 year olds.
 
I've often wondered if the people who DVR/Tivo/VHS?/rewind TV series throughout the week end up watching them on Saturday nights and just don't admit to it.....
 
skippercollector said:
I've often wondered if the people who DVR/Tivo/VHS?/rewind TV series throughout the week end up watching them on Saturday nights and just don't admit to it.....
Click to expand...

If it's a DVR or Tivo and they're a Neilsen household, playback is automatically logged.
 
As illustrated by the examples from the United Kingdom, in countries outside of the United States, Saturday is often seen as a good night for high-appeal events or specials to air on TV. Actually, what is arguably the most highly viewed international non-sporting event of the year, the Eurovision Song Contest Final, airs on a Saturday evening every year and all in all gets Super Bowl-sized ratings. Overseas there just doesn't seem to be as much of a stigma with airing new programming on Saturday evenings as there has been in the United States the last decade or so.

As for why the US networks largely abandoned Saturday evenings, I've wondered for a while if part the reason isn't related to the present ownership situations of the major networks. Just consider that...

  • ABC is owned by Disney, also a major film studio
  • CW is owned partially by Warner Brothers, also a major film studio
  • Fox is owned by Fox Entertainment Group, which also owns 20th Century Fox, a major film studio
  • NBC is a division of NBCUniversal, which also includes Universal Studios, a major film studio
  • Around the time CBS gave up on Saturday evenings with the exception of 48 Hours, the network was owned by Viacom, which also owns Paramount Pictures, a major film studio

Could the large-scale abandonment of prime time programming on Saturdays be connected to the conglomeration of the major networks such that they all are (or were, in the case of CBS) owned by a company that is also a preeminent film producer and distributor? I can see how in order to avoid one leg (the TV portion) of a major company trampling on another leg (the film portion) of the same company, the TV leg might just acquiesce to the film leg on what is a highly important and profitable day of the week for that leg. This could also explain why TV programming on Friday evenings, also an important day for the film studios, has been getting weaker over the years and in the future could potentially follow in the footsteps of what happened to Saturday evenings.
 
blizzard59 said:
As illustrated by the examples from the United Kingdom, in countries outside of the United States, Saturday is often seen as a good night for high-appeal events or specials to air on TV. Actually, what is arguably the most highly viewed international non-sporting event of the year, the Eurovision Song Contest Final, airs on a Saturday evening every year and all in all gets Super Bowl-sized ratings. Overseas there just doesn't seem to be as much of a stigma with airing new programming on Saturday evenings as there has been in the United States the last decade or so.

As for why the US networks largely abandoned Saturday evenings, I've wondered for a while if part the reason isn't related to the present ownership situations of the major networks. Just consider that...

  • ABC is owned by Disney, also a major film studio
  • CW is owned partially by Warner Brothers, also a major film studio
  • Fox is owned by Fox Entertainment Group, which also owns 20th Century Fox, a major film studio
  • NBC is a division of NBCUniversal, which also includes Universal Studios, a major film studio
  • Around the time CBS gave up on Saturday evenings with the exception of 48 Hours, the network was owned by Viacom, which also owns Paramount Pictures, a major film studio

Could the large-scale abandonment of prime time programming on Saturdays be connected to the conglomeration of the major networks such that they all are (or were, in the case of CBS) owned by a company that is also a preeminent film producer and distributor? I can see how in order to avoid one leg (the TV portion) of a major company trampling on another leg (the film portion) of the same company, the TV leg might just acquiesce to the film leg on what is a highly important and profitable day of the week for that leg. This could also explain why TV programming on Friday evenings, also an important day for the film studios, has been getting weaker over the years and in the future could potentially follow in the footsteps of what happened to Saturday evenings.
Click to expand...

No.

As noted above, the HUT (households using television) levels began dropping while there was still strong programming on Saturday nights. The shift was a reaction to the drop in available viewers, not vice-versa.

It's a factor of a new generation of American adults, a significant percentage of whom insist on having at least one "date" or "party" night per week, with Saturday being the only likely option for most.
 
A key factor to keep in mind with regards to Hagerty's first post: Europeans tend to live in cities. Americans love our sprawl. Now, there are some people in the US who are jealous of Europe's cities, or who feel that global warming requires us to move to cities regardless, so we'll see if that changes in a generation.
 
azumanga said:
In the US, shows such as "The Love Boat", "Fantasy Island", "Diff'rent Strokes" and "The Golden Girls" were very popular on Saturday nights. And in syndication, many stations carried "Hee Haw" and lawrence Welk on Saturday nights. But now, the networks and stations ACT like no one watches TV that night.
Click to expand...

the advertisers think no one under 50 is home during Saturday evening, isn't British TV government run or subsidized?
 
The US and UK are just very different countries when it comes to our entertainment options. People here are just not watching TV as much on Saturday nights as they used to. Certain event programming can keep people home on a Saturday night. (Fox got 23 million with a World Series game a couple of years ago) In its heyday Fox might have been able to get big ratings for American Idol by putting it on Saturday nights, but there would be no reason to do that.
 
Morgan Wick said:
A key factor to keep in mind with regards to Hagerty's first post: Europeans tend to live in cities. Americans love our sprawl. Now, there are some people in the US who are jealous of Europe's cities, or who feel that global warming requires us to move to cities regardless, so we'll see if that changes in a generation.
Click to expand...

I don't think cities vs sprawl is the issue. Distances in the USA are far greater than in the UK and Europe. In addition they have developed a comprehensive mass transport system while ours was developed around the automobile.

I have visited Paris, Munich, Amsterdam, London, Toronto and Montreal and see very little different in how those people live vs how most of us big city dwellers live in the USA. Paris has some of the worst commute traffic I've ever seen and traffic in Munich, London, Toronto and Montreal is equally as bad as in L.A. and other large metro areas here. London, in fact, has special zones within the city where commuters in cars are taxed or otherwise penalized for driving into the area during peak hours. And it also have a very efficient subway and bus system so go figure.
 
blizzard59 said:
As illustrated by the examples from the United Kingdom, in countries outside of the United States, Saturday is often seen as a good night for high-appeal events or specials to air on TV. Actually, what is arguably the most highly viewed international non-sporting event of the year, the Eurovision Song Contest Final, airs on a Saturday evening every year and all in all gets Super Bowl-sized ratings. Overseas there just doesn't seem to be as much of a stigma with airing new programming on Saturday evenings as there has been in the United States the last decade or so.
Click to expand...

I noticed that in Mexico as well; quite a few major music specials on the Televisa channels aired on Saturday nights.
 
landtuna said:
Morgan Wick said:
A key factor to keep in mind with regards to Hagerty's first post: Europeans tend to live in cities. Americans love our sprawl. Now, there are some people in the US who are jealous of Europe's cities, or who feel that global warming requires us to move to cities regardless, so we'll see if that changes in a generation.
Click to expand...

I don't think cities vs sprawl is the issue. Distances in the USA are far greater than in the UK and Europe. In addition they have developed a comprehensive mass transport system while ours was developed around the automobile.
Click to expand...
I think that last sentence was essentially what I was getting at.

Another factor to consider is that Nielsen doesn't measure bar viewing.
 
The networks could, and should, be trying at least with Saturday. This could be a slot to experiment and allow shows to develop. Instead we get reruns from the prior week and proven shows (Cops, AMW) dumped in favor of some sports content.
 
umfan said:
The networks could, and should, be trying at least with Saturday. This could be a slot to experiment and allow shows to develop. Instead we get reruns from the prior week and proven shows (Cops, AMW) dumped in favor of some sports content.
Click to expand...

Because the HUT levels simply are not there to support it. Experimentation costs money. Developing shows need an available audience. Saturday is what it is and it has nothing to do with there being nothing good on TV. It's the one night of the week when a significant portion of the money demo chooses to turn off the tube, go out and live life . That's actually a healthy thing. And for the diehard couch potatoes, in a 500-channel universe, does it really matter if five of them are a little lamer than they are the other six nights?
 
blizzard59 said:
Could the large-scale abandonment of prime time programming on Saturdays be connected to the conglomeration of the major networks such that they all are (or were, in the case of CBS) owned by a company that is also a preeminent film producer and distributor?
Click to expand...

No. The history of this really goes back a long way. Yes at one time these film companies feared TV, in the way the record companies feared airplay of recorded music. But by the 1950s, both realized the promotional value of broadcasting. In fact, by the late 60s, both Paramount and Universal were producing regular weekly series that ran Saturday nights on CBS and NBC, many years before either had an ownership relationship.

I think one reason why it doesn't matter is that for most movies, there is more money to be made AFTER the theatrical release.
 
Whatever happens I hope the networks keep something on Saturday nights, whether it's sports, reruns, or movies. If the time is ever turned over to the local stations a lot of them will do nothing but fill it with infomercials. Some stations even pre-empt Saturday night programming now to run them. That would be the worst possiblity. :p
 
In the interest of experimentation, it would certainly shake things up if Super Bowl Sunday ever became Super Bowl Saturday. But then, of course, all the competing stations would REALLY throw in the towel, because no one has successfully counterprogrammed the Super Bowl (or even tried to) in many years. Right now, Saturday evenings in February belong to college basketball (for those stations that carry it).

But never say never when it comes to breaking tradition. The Super Bowl used to be in mid-January. Now it has moved to early February.
 
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