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 Who's To Blame For The Cancellation Of A Popular TV Show?? 
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Post Who's To Blame For The Cancellation Of A Popular TV Show??
http://popwatch.ew.com/2012/01/06/chuck ... +Latest%29

This is a good article I just came across from EW discussing who's really to blame for the cancelling of popular TV Shows, shows such as COMMUNITY and now CHUCK.. This article suggests that it's the Nielsen's fault more than the viewer, that it's not an accurate representation of just how many folks are watching certain shows.. What's say you KJ..


Quote:
Who's to blame when a rabid Internet fanbase doesn't help a show?

by Mandi Bierly

There’s been good news and bad news coming out of NBC’s day at the TV critics’ semi-annual press tour. NBC entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt assured reporters that Community will return this season — he’s just not sure when. Asked about its odds of renewal for a fourth season, however, he became cagey: “I don’t know. Those are hard questions to answer at this point … we’ll make that decision closer to the upfront.” His views on Chuck, which airs its series finale Jan. 27, were more clear. “Did you see the ratings?,” he asked when questioned about the decision to burn episodes over the holidays. “That rabid fanbase going crazy on the net didn’t come to the show. Chuck’s time had come. Chuck is over, let’s alert the masses.”

If you’re a fan of Chuck, those words are tough to take. You will have invested roughly 91 hours in the show, and while you can understand why the network bean-counters looking at the big picture would see it as “over,” that doesn’t diminish your disappointment and loss. Why’s it so hard to accept?

Aside from the investment issue and the saving/resurrection of shows like Friday Night Lights and Arrested Development, I think it’s fundamentally difficult for us to believe that Nielsen numbers accurately represent the following of a show when our Twitter and Facebook feeds tell us so many people we know are watching it. (It also doesn’t help that some people, like me, know that their sister was once asked to be a Nielsen viewer, but she declined because she doesn’t actually watch a lot of TV. In fact, now she only uses her flatscreen to watch the occasional Blu-ray or DVD.)

We’ve also witnessed the power of persuasion and conversion through social media: I know I finally read enough tweets about Downton Abbey to marathon it over the holidays and now I’m all-in for Sunday’s season 2 premiere. But does the intensity of an online fan community’s passion mask the fact that a show is largely ignored by the masses, or is Nielsen just not reaching the most avid TV viewers?

If Nielsen does have an accurate, reliable cross-section, then the question becomes: Is that Internet fanbase actually tuning in and watching their beloved program in ways that it can be measured? In competitive time slots, I know I factor in which shows will appear on Hulu or elsewhere online the next morning. But if my show is truly at risk, I’d like to think I’d make the effort to watch it in real time. Greenblatt’s comments were harsh, but he has a point: Do we have no one to blame but other fans?

Read more:
‘Community’ will return this season (but might get a new time slot)
NBC confesses: ‘We had a really bad fall’

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Sat Jan 07, 2012 10:21 am
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Post Re: Who's To Blame For The Cancellation Of A Popular TV Show
Classic example of whoever talks the loudest isn't always right. Thanks to the internet, many of the shows that would be long gone years ago get a reprieve due to internet chatter, especially if critical opinion is in their corner, like with Community.

As for Chuck, NBC did way more for Chuck and its fans than Chuck ever did for NBC. Look over those ratings for five seasons. Then think that, not only will the show reach 91 episodes, it's going to have a proper conclusion. Most shows and their fans only dream of such treatment.

And as for Nielsen numbers, I don't really know. If I knew more about the science of it, I'd probably tend to think it's inaccurate. It does seem like an almost archaic way to measure ratings. But what's the solution? Installing Nielsen boxes in every home? People don't want other people knowing what they watch.

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Sat Jan 07, 2012 10:44 am
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Post Re: Who's To Blame For The Cancellation Of A Popular TV Show
Mister Ecks wrote:
And as for Nielsen numbers, I don't really know. If I knew more about the science of it, I'd probably tend to think it's inaccurate. It does seem like an almost archaic way to measure ratings. But what's the solution? Installing Nielsen boxes in every home? People don't want other people knowing what they watch.

I could see it in the past working well, as there was only 3 channels, and a representative sample would be easier to get.

But now... there are hundreds, thousands of channels, with a vast array of different interests over millions of Americans. That right there would make it 10 times harder to get accurate ratings than it would be 20 years ago.

I'm assuming they at least use the actual viewership numbers from cable since that would at least be available?


Sat Jan 07, 2012 12:19 pm
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Post Re: Who's To Blame For The Cancellation Of A Popular TV Show
"Chuck" fans were so annoying, and this is coming from someone that watched the show for three seasons. NBC supported the hell out of that series and never got any credit for it, AND are giving it a proper final season and two-hour series finale. As far as things go NBC is one of the better networks in terms of letting things find an audience, and I do believe they will renew "Community" for another year (probably because it's so close to syndication and this is the kind of show that could easily find an audience there airing on a network like Comedy Central).


Sat Jan 07, 2012 12:22 pm
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Post Re: Who's To Blame For The Cancellation Of A Popular TV Show
The problem with Nielsen ratings, with regards to Internet-friendly shows in particular, is that most people probably don't watch it live. They record it, or watch it online, or download it. Shows like Community really are that popular, they just don't show through in the ratings because people don't watch it live on their TV. But since Nielsen ratings are what determines ad money and commercial revenue, there's no way around using it, unless they fundamentally re-tool network television. Which I can't see them doing.

And the reason NBC is so good to their lower-rated shows is that they have so few certifiable hits that they can't afford to cancel anything with an audience. Community and Chuck wouldn't have lasted a season on CBS (of course, CBS never would've picked them up).

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Sat Jan 07, 2012 2:21 pm
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Post Re: Who's To Blame For The Cancellation Of A Popular TV Show
The Community cast is always telling fans on Twitter to watch it live, or wait and watch it on DVR within a week. I believe.

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Sat Jan 07, 2012 2:49 pm
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Post Re: Who's To Blame For The Cancellation Of A Popular TV Show
Yeah, the Chuck fans really have no room for outrage or anything. It ran a pretty long time despite never having good ratings, and wasn't moved around the schedule constantly or consistently dumped or something.


Sat Jan 07, 2012 3:59 pm
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Post Re: Who's To Blame For The Cancellation Of A Popular TV Show
The two reasons why Chuck is where it is and both of those was just having to be at the right place and right time:

1. The implosion of Heroes. If Heroes didn't drop as much as it did, NBC wouldn't have kept Chuck over Heroes.

2. The implosion of NBC in general. From that point it was a smooth sailing for Chuck to season #5.

Bottom line is: If you're on NBC and terribly rated there's always a half of dozen shows with worse ratings than you.


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Post Re: Who's To Blame For The Cancellation Of A Popular TV Show
Makes it all the funnier when shows like The Playboy Club and Free Agents are canceled after a few weeks. If you can't make it on NBC, you can't make it anywhere.

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Sun Jan 08, 2012 9:40 am
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Post Re: Who's To Blame For The Cancellation Of A Popular TV Show
Lol Firefly had to brought into the conversation.

Sometimes its simply the stupidity of the executives.

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Sun Jan 08, 2012 10:19 am
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Post Re: Who's To Blame For The Cancellation Of A Popular TV Show
I know at least Chuck is going to have a conclusion. A great example of fan loved show is Sliders, and Fox screwed it moving it around, bringing in a dumb blonde actress, killing off the most popular character, and moving it around. It never was properly finished and died on SYFY channel. Chuck fans are really lucky.


Sun Jan 08, 2012 10:33 pm
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Post Re: Who's To Blame For The Cancellation Of A Popular TV Show
Only old people watch television when its actually on. Who wants to reschedule their lives and sit through commercials? Not me. NBC knows that the money will come in syndication and future DVD sales for Community.


Tue Jan 10, 2012 3:38 pm
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Post Re: Who's To Blame For The Cancellation Of A Popular TV Show
Yeah, there's probably nothing wrong with Nielsen live ratings data or analysis, but if you don't have a model that factors in dvd sales or recorded shows, you clearly don't have a very good model, let alone a complete one.

I watch 99% of my tv either when it is released on dvd or recorded from dvr when I want to watch it - live tv is mostly for people with too much time on their hands or who don't understand technology.

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Tue Jan 10, 2012 4:11 pm
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Post Re: Who's To Blame For The Cancellation Of A Popular TV Show
Proud Ryu wrote:
Yeah, there's probably nothing wrong with Nielsen live ratings data or analysis, but if you don't have a model that factors in dvd sales or recorded shows, you clearly don't have a very good model, let alone a complete one.

I watch 99% of my tv either when it is released on dvd or recorded from dvr when I want to watch it - live tv is mostly for people with too much time on their hands or who don't understand technology.


that isn't true, some people can't afford DVRs, I know people who don't have one.


Wed Jan 11, 2012 11:42 am
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Post Re: Who's To Blame For The Cancellation Of A Popular TV Show
I don't have a DVR but subscribe to Hulu Plus and catch up on most of my shows through that.


Wed Jan 11, 2012 11:51 am
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