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

[nelsonincharlotte]

It's not a bad idea. They've floated the concept of moving prime time an hour earlier on the coasts (7-10 PM, with late local news at 10 and Letterman/Leno/Kimmel at 10:35) on the theory that people have to get up earlier and earlier to deal with longer morning commutes.

I don't think the East Coast stations would want to lose that extra prime access hour for shows such as Jeopardy and Wheel. But it would be nice for the ABC, NBC and CBS stations to have news at 10 instead of 11 (Fox at 9 instead of 10). That's where it evens out with the Central/Mountain Time stations.

 

[SixtiesGuy]

I'm sure the networks don't at all mind that Saturday night evolved into, and is accepted as, "garbage time" (maybe a bit harsh, but it's the phrase used to describe the time that second-string players are put in the game in the NBA). If you think about it, they can get away with spending less for programming Saturday night while still hauling in decent ad revenue. In some respect it's comparable to the current practice of devoting far more of each broadcast hour to ad time than was the case decades ago. Arguably, with the increased number of ads in a given hour, the less any individual ad stands out, and the less valuable that ad time is to the sponsor. Yet the networks charge more for that time than ever before. Then there's the fact that the number of original episodes considered to constitute a "season" of a given series is far fewer than it was years ago. I suppose it all comes down to whatever they can get away with. If they could make the same revenue by showing Davy and Goliath reruns or a test pattern, you can bet the farm they would.

 

[SixtiesGuy]

duplicate post

 

[landtuna]

Andy Grove, the past CEO of Intel Corp. used to say "only the paranoid survive". He was, of course, saying that in the context of electronics manufacturing but it could be applied to a variety of efforts.

Were I the CEO of any major broadcasting concern I would be greatly afraid of giving up any real estate to a competing venue voluntarily. For a network to abdicate one whole viewing evening, which was once very popular, is, to me, asinine. For once given up it becomes lost forever.

Even if a network had to put a loss leader in place to retain a portion of the former audience it would make sense (based upon the numbers of course) not to let my competition get a foothold without a fight.

But then, these are network suits we're talking about.

 

[bpatrick]

Now, if an American network were courageous, they would consider handing 9 PM-11 PM on Saturday back to their affiliates, and program family friendly fare from 5-6 PM and 7-8 PM instead. The right shows in those time slots will attract viewers before most people head out for the evening, or convince those who are staying at home to perhaps stay tuned for the prime offerings.

I have thought that same thing a few times.

In 1992 ABC tried to duplicate its success with "TGIF" on Friday nights with a block called "I Love Saturday Night." It consisted of an animated show called "Capitol Critters," "Who's The Boss?," "Growing Pains," and "Perfect Strangers." "Boss" and "Pains" were about to get canceled, and ABC had decided that "Perfect Strangers" no longer appealed to the 10-18-year-old crowd that was the backbone of "TGIF." "I Love Saturday Night" was gone in five weeks, although ABC did go on to try a couple more sitcoms, one with Julie Andrews and one with Billy Connolly which became part of "TGIF" for a short time. The only Saturday show that worked for ABC at the time was definitely not family-friendly: "The Commish." And nobody has tried a family-friendly block on Saturday since (except the occasional Disney movie on ABC). Makes me wonder if family programming can ever work on Saturdays.

 

[landtuna]

Makes me wonder if family programming can ever work on Saturdays.

The answer is in your post. You stated two or more of the shows were about to be cancelled. That must mean there was already a problem in their normal time slots and they were being sent to Saturday purgatory to be forgotten.

You can't attract an audience, even on Saturday evenings, with junk. Junk, you have to put on cable.

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

Weekly syndicated shows don't work anymore.

That's more due to the fact that many syndicated "strips" (like "Jeopardy!", "Wheel Of Fortune", "Extra", "Access Hollywood", etc.) intended for "prime access" (7-8 P.M. ET/PT) now have six episodes a week (although the former two consist of reruns and the latter two often "recycle" segments from the weeknight shows), making it all but impossible for a once-weekly syndicated show to get lots of "prime access" clearances on weekends.

Stations like the "sixth weekly episode" of an "access time" strip for they don't have top find something for Saturday nights from 7 to 8. But it also blocks potential weekly shows from starting-up.

 

[nomadcowatbk]

Now, if an American network were courageous, they would consider handing 9 PM-11 PM on Saturday back to their affiliates, and program family friendly fare from 5-6 PM and 7-8 PM instead. The right shows in those time slots will attract viewers before most people head out for the evening, or convince those who are staying at home to perhaps stay tuned for the prime offerings.

I have thought that same thing a few times.

In 1992 ABC tried to duplicate its success with "TGIF" on Friday nights with a block called "I Love Saturday Night." It consisted of an animated show called "Capitol Critters," "Who's The Boss?," "Growing Pains," and "Perfect Strangers." "Boss" and "Pains" were about to get canceled, and ABC had decided that "Perfect Strangers" no longer appealed to the 10-18-year-old crowd that was the backbone of "TGIF." "I Love Saturday Night" was gone in five weeks, although ABC did go on to try a couple more sitcoms, one with Julie Andrews and one with Billy Connolly which became part of "TGIF" for a short time. The only Saturday show that worked for ABC at the time was definitely not family-friendly: "The Commish." And nobody has tried a family-friendly block on Saturday since (except the occasional Disney movie on ABC). Makes me wonder if family programming can ever work on Saturdays.

NBC was still getting good ratings on that in 1992

 

[nomadcowatbk]

Weekly syndicated shows don't work anymore.

That's more due to the fact that many syndicated "strips" (like "Jeopardy!", "Wheel Of Fortune", "Extra", "Access Hollywood", etc.) intended for "prime access" (7-8 P.M. ET/PT) now have six episodes a week (although the former two consist of reruns and the latter two often "recycle" segments from the weeknight shows), making it all but impossible for a once-weekly syndicated show to get lots of "prime access" clearances on weekends.

Stations like the "sixth weekly episode" of an "access time" strip for they don't have top find something for Saturday nights from 7 to 8. But it also blocks potential weekly shows from starting-up.

they would probably love put on an infomercial on just before primetime, KSHB does that

 

[justpassingthough]

I was a kid in the late 80s/early 90s and remember staying home with my parents to watch TGIF and the Golden Girls/Empty Nest NBC sitcom on Saturdays- as they were appointment TV. I also remember crying once because I got grounded and my punishment was to miss TGIF that week (ouch!). My parents rarely ever went out for "date" night- maybe 3 or 4 Saturday nights a year they would get a babysitter and do something with their friends.

Now that I'm an adult, I can't imagine staying at home on a Friday or Saturday to watch anything. I purposefully don't plan on watching any of the network shows on those nights because I don't want to ever have to stay home. Friday and Saturday nights, the whole weekend really, is for living life and not watching television. Its not just partying either (although I've done my fair amount). Its about being away from home, decompressing from the week, participating in social activities with friends who you don't get to see during the week because of hectic schedules, and its about being outside and being physically active. I think this represents a shift that most of society has been fine with- don't turn on the tv after work on friday and leave it off until Sunday night TV (sports programming being the exception but weekend sports programming can often be a social event where people gather to watch together). Sundays, interestingly, always a strong network night, are also a strong cable and premium cable night- like we are being corraled back to our normal boring weekday lives now that we are only 12 hours away from working again (but at least you get to watch Dexter or True Blood or Homeland or Breaking Bad or Sunday Night Football, first)

 

[michael hagerty]

I was a kid in the late 80s/early 90s and remember staying home with my parents to watch TGIF and the Golden Girls/Empty Nest NBC sitcom on Saturdays- as they were appointment TV. I also remember crying once because I got grounded and my punishment was to miss TGIF that week (ouch!). My parents rarely ever went out for "date" night- maybe 3 or 4 Saturday nights a year they would get a babysitter and do something with their friends.

Now that I'm an adult, I can't imagine staying at home on a Friday or Saturday to watch anything. I purposefully don't plan on watching any of the network shows on those nights because I don't want to ever have to stay home. Friday and Saturday nights, the whole weekend really, is for living life and not watching television. Its not just partying either (although I've done my fair amount). Its about being away from home, decompressing from the week, participating in social activities with friends who you don't get to see during the week because of hectic schedules, and its about being outside and being physically active. I think this represents a shift that most of society has been fine with- don't turn on the tv after work on friday and leave it off until Sunday night TV (sports programming being the exception but weekend sports programming can often be a social event where people gather to watch together). Sundays, interestingly, always a strong network night, are also a strong cable and premium cable night- like we are being corraled back to our normal boring weekday lives now that we are only 12 hours away from working again (but at least you get to watch Dexter or True Blood or Homeland or Breaking Bad or Sunday Night Football, first)

That is a perfect description of the shift in habits and attitudes I was trying to convey.

 

[Morgan Wick]

It also makes me wonder how much of it has to do with our schedules themselves becoming more hectic, especially with more women entering the workplace, leading to two-income households and the death of soaps. Don't most European countries have more vacation time, both during the day and throughout the year?

 

[SixtiesGuy]

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.....

I'll admit to it. I began to time-shift with a VCR in the '90's, then moved on to a DVR (currently a Hopper - which is the best invention since Color TV, by the way, and in addition to its automatic ad-skipping capability, also captures the output of the four broadcast networks from 8 PM - 11 PM every day). With the exception of a few live events or sports, I'm at the point where I don't really know or care when a show is broadcast.

 

[landtuna]

Don't most European countries have more vacation time, both during the day and throughout the year?

Generally, yes. European nations typically have government-specified benefits which include time off: vacations (typically in August), maternity leave (for both husbands and wives) and working hours (Bavaria, Germany for instance typically works a half-day Friday).

 

[azumanga]

Back on topic -- one show I believe is doing great on Saturday nights is "Sabado Gigante" on Univision, which I believe is still one of the network's most-popular shows.

 

[Morgan Wick]

Back on topic -- one show I believe is doing great on Saturday nights is "Sabado Gigante" on Univision, which I believe is still one of the network's most-popular shows.

US Spanish-language television is almost like a completely different country overlaid on top of our own.

 

[michael hagerty]

Back on topic -- one show I believe is doing great on Saturday nights is "Sabado Gigante" on Univision, which I believe is still one of the network's most-popular shows.

US Spanish-language television is almost like a completely different country overlaid on top of our own.

And David Eduardo could probably tell us if Spanish-speaking US residents have different weekend social habits from English-speakers.

 

[Sammi Brie]

Back on topic -- one show I believe is doing great on Saturday nights is "Sabado Gigante" on Univision, which I believe is still one of the network's most-popular shows.

US Spanish-language television is almost like a completely different country overlaid on top of our own.

Sentiment agreed. US Spanish-language television is a lot more like the rest of the world; less local news output, much tighter standardization, network controls the rest of the schedule.

 

[bpatrick]

Now, if an American network were courageous, they would consider handing 9 PM-11 PM on Saturday back to their affiliates, and program family friendly fare from 5-6 PM and 7-8 PM instead. The right shows in those time slots will attract viewers before most people head out for the evening, or convince those who are staying at home to perhaps stay tuned for the prime offerings.

I have thought that same thing a few times.

In 1992 ABC tried to duplicate its success with "TGIF" on Friday nights with a block called "I Love Saturday Night." It consisted of an animated show called "Capitol Critters," "Who's The Boss?," "Growing Pains," and "Perfect Strangers." "Boss" and "Pains" were about to get canceled, and ABC had decided that "Perfect Strangers" no longer appealed to the 10-18-year-old crowd that was the backbone of "TGIF." "I Love Saturday Night" was gone in five weeks, although ABC did go on to try a couple more sitcoms, one with Julie Andrews and one with Billy Connolly which became part of "TGIF" for a short time. The only Saturday show that worked for ABC at the time was definitely not family-friendly: "The Commish." And nobody has tried a family-friendly block on Saturday since (except the occasional Disney movie on ABC). Makes me wonder if family programming can ever work on Saturdays.

NBC was still getting good ratings on that in 1992

NBC did have two shows in the top 30 on Saturday nights at the time: "Empty Nest" (tied for 22nd with "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air") and "The Golden Girls" (tied for 30th with "In The Heat of the Night"). But "The Golden Girls" moved to CBS that fall, renamed "The Golden Palace," and the highest-rated show on Saturday nights in the 1992-93 season was "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" on CBS (23rd). Since then, only "Walker, Texas Ranger" has cracked the top 30 (to my knowledge), although "Cops" has a sizable audience of 18-34-year-old males. And neither of the latter two shows are what I would call family-friendly.

Until recent years the rule of thumb has been to program kid-friendly shows on Friday nights (besides the "TGIF" block, ABC had "Ozzie And Harriet" when David and Rick were young, "The Brady Bunch," and "The Partridge Family"), shows appealing to older viewers on Saturday (Lawrence Welk hung in for 16 years on ABC as proof of that). I know, there have been exceptions; "Dallas" didn't hit the top of the ratings until it moved to Friday, but the networks over the years have not actively courted the older crowd on Fridays or the younger crowd on Saturdays, knowing that the latter is "date night." And I think the movie studios know that, since they like to program previews of films opening on Friday on Thursday night.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

Now, if an American network were courageous, they would consider handing 9 PM-11 PM on Saturday back to their affiliates, and program family friendly fare from 5-6 PM and 7-8 PM instead. The right shows in those time slots will attract viewers before most people head out for the evening, or convince those who are staying at home to perhaps stay tuned for the prime offerings.

I have thought that same thing a few times.

In 1992 ABC tried to duplicate its success with "TGIF" on Friday nights with a block called "I Love Saturday Night." It consisted of an animated show called "Capitol Critters," "Who's The Boss?," "Growing Pains," and "Perfect Strangers." "Boss" and "Pains" were about to get canceled, and ABC had decided that "Perfect Strangers" no longer appealed to the 10-18-year-old crowd that was the backbone of "TGIF." "I Love Saturday Night" was gone in five weeks, although ABC did go on to try a couple more sitcoms, one with Julie Andrews and one with Billy Connolly which became part of "TGIF" for a short time. The only Saturday show that worked for ABC at the time was definitely not family-friendly: "The Commish." And nobody has tried a family-friendly block on Saturday since (except the occasional Disney movie on ABC). Makes me wonder if family programming can ever work on Saturdays.

NBC was still getting good ratings on that in 1992

NBC did have two shows in the top 30 on Saturday nights at the time: "Empty Nest" (tied for 22nd with "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air") and "The Golden Girls" (tied for 30th with "In The Heat of the Night"). But "The Golden Girls" moved to CBS that fall, renamed "The Golden Palace," and the highest-rated show on Saturday nights in the 1992-93 season was "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" on CBS (23rd). Since then, only "Walker, Texas Ranger" has cracked the top 30 (to my knowledge), although "Cops" has a sizable audience of 18-34-year-old males. And neither of the latter two shows are what I would call family-friendly.

Until recent years the rule of thumb has been to program kid-friendly shows on Friday nights (besides the "TGIF" block, ABC had "Ozzie And Harriet" when David and Rick were young, "The Brady Bunch," and "The Partridge Family"), shows appealing to older viewers on Saturday (Lawrence Welk hung in for 16 years on ABC as proof of that). I know, there have been exceptions; "Dallas" didn't hit the top of the ratings until it moved to Friday, but the networks over the years have not actively courted the older crowd on Fridays or the younger crowd on Saturdays, knowing that the latter is "date night." And I think the movie studios know that, since they like to program previews of films opening on Friday on Thursday night.

And on Fridays past for the kids-- on CBS, don't forget the Dukes! (Especially before the Coy and Vance season fiasco). Plus "The Incredible Hulk" to some extent too. Plus didn't "Touched by an Angel" and "Walker, Texas Ranger" do very well in the ratings for CBS in the mid/late '90s on Saturday nights?