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WHICH TV NIGHT(S) ARE A WASTE ?

Starbucks said:
They tried that already during the summer. As far as testing shows that did not workout during the weeknight, it still had a small audience , because right away along with the small promotion of the evening....people assume it's still second tier programming. Or they'll air a show that's been cancelled....but three episodes were never shown , and they'll try it out for Saturday and still gets low results.
Movies? I'll go to Netflix, Showtime, AMC, TNT etc. PLEASE! Give up already...... quit trying to save things like AM radio, turntables, newspapers, cassette recorders, soap operas, Facsimile and Shortwave receivers, I Love Lucy etc. Your reading this on the internet... now move on.
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Agreed. I stated earlier in this thread that if you have a DVR, there's no such thing as a bad TV night. I record a lot of programs from basic cable, and a few from the traditional networks during the weekdays (Monday thru Thursday), but I don't have time to watch all of them until the weekend. In fact, I usually end up deleting a few recordings because I never find the time to watch them.

Then add in internet streaming, regular NetFlix (by mail), a trip to one of my remaining local video stores (there are still a few) or Red Box, On Demand (if you have cable), there is no reason that every TV consumer can't have hundreds of choices on any given night - including Friday and Saturday.

Do I miss those great 70s Saturday nights with Mary Tyler Moore, Rhoda, Bob Newhart, etc? Yes - a little, I guess. But at the time, I was a young adult, and most weekend nights, I was out on the town in music clubs, hanging out with friends, or watching a movie in the theater. The fact is, I know most of those shows from seeing the weekday reruns in the 80s.
 
Starbucks said:
Movies? I'll go to Netflix, Showtime, AMC, TNT etc. PLEASE! Give up already...... quit trying to save things like AM radio, turntables, newspapers, cassette recorders, soap operas, Facsimile and Shortwave receivers, I Love Lucy etc. Your reading this on the internet... now move on.
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I'd say there's still a place for movies on network TV. Most people don't have Netflix or premium cable. Many don't have DVR's either. There's probably a pretty good demand for some big name hollywood movies on free TV. With nothing else seemingly working on Saturday night, it seems like it might be a decent option.
 
Like I was saying earlier, have Netflix sponsor one of the Saturday night movie blocks and get advertisement in return
 
tested said:
There's probably a pretty good demand for some big name hollywood movies on free TV. With nothing else seemingly working on Saturday night, it seems like it might be a decent option.
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Saturday evening (early) seems like an ideal time to broadcast movies or special for families. Parents could watch with their kids.

Saturday evening (later) seems like a reasonable time to feature fare for teens and/or adults (especially older adults who don't tend to go out). SNL seems to attract a decent rating. They could even make it a nostalgia night with old variety shows or classic TV series.

Would either make money? I don't know but it doesn't seem like it would cost a lot to give it a decent try. Sure beats repeats.
 
ABC tried resurrecting the World Of Disney thing on Saturdays with family films. Didn't move the needle.

It may be hard to believe, but companies with billions of dollars in revenu actually evaluate the market, meaning there are very good reasons the so-called wisdom of the message boards is not acted upon.
 
imhomerjay said:
ABC tried resurrecting the World Of Disney thing on Saturdays with family films. Didn't move the needle.

It may be hard to believe, but companies with billions of dollars in revenu actually evaluate the market, meaning there are very good reasons the so-called wisdom of the message boards is not acted upon.
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Might as well shut the message boards down then and just leave it all to the experts to pontificate and opine about.
On the other hand, perhaps the ideas are here sandwiched in between a bunch of non-sense. Just because it's been tried and dis-proved, once, twice, three times, doesn't, necessarily mean it shouldn't be tried again. Where the rubber hits the road, television, like all media, should be very interested in ANYTHING that might garner, build and hold an audience.
 
imhomerjay said:
ABC tried resurrecting the World Of Disney thing on Saturdays with family films. Didn't move the needle.
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Or perhaps it means that some parents, or their kids, just don't like the constant shilling ABC does for corporate parent Disney. I wouldn't watch the Disney pap either.

imhomerjay said:
It may be hard to believe, but companies with billions of dollars in revenu actually evaluate the market, meaning there are very good reasons the so-called wisdom of the message boards is not acted upon.
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Then can you explain why after one success there is a stampede by the remainder to follow the leader? Sorry, but I don't buy your 'evaluation' theory. I'm guessing the programmers get those gigantic bucks for nothing more than tossing darts against the target. How else can one explain the utterly stupid decisions and ginormous money paid to the very few programs that are successful?
 
And your suggestion they aren't is comical. Even more comical is the visceral reaction on the boards every time a network strays from what they did 20, 30, or 40 years ago.

There is not some huge pool of people out there waiting for CBS to run a big ticket movie or ABC to re-float the Love Boat. The public moved on; much of this board notwithstanding.
 
jsu5381m said:
Sunday used to be movie night on the networks.
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Yes - it did - I fondly recall NBC Saturday Night at the Movies with Donald Rickles, speaking. I'm a TV nerd. But that doesn't mean I have any interest - after 30 + years of watching unedited movies on DVD (and VHS before that) - in watching movies on network TV - edited for content and length - and interrupted constantly by commercials.

When I was growing up in the 60s, the only way to see theatrical films was at my local movie theater, and on TV. Thank God those days are over.
 
imhomerjay said:
And your suggestion they aren't is comical. Even more comical is the visceral reaction on the boards every time a network strays from what they did 20, 30, or 40 years ago.
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There is a reason those days were called "TV's Golden Era". Granted, there were fewer choices for entertainment then than now but I think most would tell you that programming was better then than now as well.

imhomerjay said:
There is not some huge pool of people out there waiting for CBS to run a big ticket movie or ABC to re-float the Love Boat. The public moved on; much of this board notwithstanding.
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I didn't think we were talking about a huge pool of TV watchers on Fri/Sat evening. I thought we were talking about broadcasting some cost-effective material and making a small profit as opposed to puking out stale reruns or crap that drives viewers to cable and destroys your audience forever.
 
imhomerjay said:
And your suggestion they aren't is comical. Even more comical is the visceral reaction on the boards every time a network strays from what they did 20, 30, or 40 years ago.

There is not some huge pool of people out there waiting for CBS to run a big ticket movie or ABC to re-float the Love Boat. The public moved on; much of this board notwithstanding.
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Not exactly Einstein! We are waiting for the networks to do something, anything that is compelling and entertaining. Period. That's all. What they did 20, 30 and 40 years ago WORKED because they were competing against each other NOT other forms of media. Now, as I sit on my lap-top with the NCAA on CBS in the background, I am drawn to this. Not only are the games available on network television, they are also being streamed on-line. Television MUST get BACK to what made it great. ORIGINAL PROGRAMMING that is COMPELLING AND ENTERTAINING, anything less will keep us on-line or on our IPod's and the like.
 
It's called the golden era by a bunch of dinosaurs who seldom take off the rose colored glasses. If I were a betting person, I'd not bet a cent on the notion of subsequent generations fawning over the shows of the '50s or '60s. Show us any data that says the majority of 20 somethings yearn to see Gunsmoke and consider it vastly superior to what they enjoy today.

Reruns are one cost effective strategy...precisely makimg my point. Small audience, a little bonus cash. COPS and AMW would be another option that works for Fox. But does anyone believe the old coot brigade wouldn't be just as critical of low-cost non-scripted fare on the big three as they are of reruns? (Apparently they've never heard of getting a DVD player, let alone something more advanced in the rest home).

The other option is investing in scripted fare, which long ago stopped being cost effective.

You can not buy the fact that research goes on that proves out the strategy. But opinions don't trump reality except in one's own mind.
 
When I was growing up in the 60s, the only way to see theatrical films was at my local movie theater, and on TV. Thank God those days are over.
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It was quite different then...An A-list movie didn't hit TV till it was at least 3 or 4 years old. Now, it's at the video store, Netflix, or on demand on cable in 6 months, sometimes even less.
 
Not exactly Einstein! We are waiting for the networks to do something, anything that is compelling and entertaining. Period. That's all.

>>>>Well I hate to tell you, that you'll be waiting for a long time. It's like waiting for AM radio to return to it's Top 40 format.

What they did 20, 30 and 40 years ago WORKED because they were competing against each other NOT other forms of media. Now, as I sit on my lap-top with the NCAA on CBS in the background, I am drawn to this. Not only are the games available on network television, they are also being streamed on-line. [/i]Television MUST get BACK to what made it great. ORIGINAL PROGRAMMING that is COMPELLING AND ENTERTAINING, anything less will keep us on-line or on our IPod's and the like.

>>>>>Which you kinda answered your own question....they can continue to keep competing against the other forms of media...and there gonna continue to lose. Most of all, lose money. That's why there not gonna try. It's like the government....no new increase of taxes, well they'll just cut back on departments and municipal programs.
 
Before the invention of the VCR, yearly airings of movies like The Wizard of Oz got huge ratings. If you missed it in March 1974, you had to wait until March 1975 to see it again. The over 50 crowd is accustomed to waiting until the evening for the news and expecting quality programming on nights when those young hoodlums that advertisers want are out
 
Good for the dinosaurs. Their day, though, is drawing to a close.
 
imhomerjay said:
Good for the dinosaurs. Their day, though, is drawing to a close.
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Older people watch more TV. The average age a Network TV viewer is over 45. A new generation of dinosaurs will replace them.
 
Older people watch more TV. The average age a Network TV viewer is over 45. A new generation of dinosaurs will replace them.
[/quote]

Exactly.....with Netflix, Ipods, Smart TV...etc
 
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