Help me understand the US TV system for Jan pls

[Helaman]

I am in Australia and have been dumbfounded at times by breaks taken in US TV shows... typically any shows that clash with the Superbowl are postponed a week for obvious reasons but there seems to be a gap in November (iirc) and then there is this 2 week odd gap for January.

Is there a special US event around this time of year that makes all the networks hold their good programing for a week or two?

[Andrew Turner]

Often a show will move into a repeat schedule in December and January simply because it's still in production. Traditionally, shows go into repeat cycle around the big holidays because less Americans find themselves available (due to travel and family get-togethers) to watch the shows. This is also when shows might change nights and times. I think this is less true in 2013 than it was in 1983, though, because so many of us watch shows online or off-schedule thanks to DVR tech.

[Helaman]

Shows like Castle, Elementary etc are scheduled to show the week after so its not as though the show is in production. Its ready to go now.

I used to work in an Aussie TV station about 15 years ago and at the time we'd get the good shows off the live feed from the US and put them to tape so to be broadcast at a later time (I suppose so the customary US breaks didn't interfere with local viewing continuity).

Is there a special set of events in the last 2 weeks of January that typically has less viewers etc?

[Kalshane]

I know part of the issue is networks wanting to be sure to have their most "attractive" (most likely to draw an audience) episodes of their programs on during the Sweeps periods in November, February and May. (Sweeps is a 1-2 week period in each of those months when the Neilsen TV Ratings service conscripts a bunch more viewers than usual to track what they watch and what they think of it. "Winning" the sweeps period means more advertising dollars for the network.)

Also, the typical US TV broadcast season runs about 30-something weeks (late September to May) but the typical season of a program is only 22 episodes. Which means you end up with about 10 weeks of reruns somewhere during the season. Typically these breaks take place around the holidays and just prior to the sweeps periods.

[ericthecleric]

That's interesting, Kalshane. Maybe that explains why (in the UK), Channel 4/E4 shows the first ten or so episodes of a new series of The Big Bang Theory, then has a break and shows the remaining episodes a few months later!

[meatrace]

Also, sweeps.

[Helaman]

Kalshane wrote:

I know part of the issue is networks wanting to be sure to have their most "attractive" (most likely to draw an audience) episodes of their programs on during the Sweeps periods in November, February and May. (Sweeps is a 1-2 week period in each of those months when the Neilsen TV Ratings service conscripts a bunch more viewers than usual to track what they watch and what they think of it. "Winning" the sweeps period means more advertising dollars for the network.)

Also, the typical US TV broadcast season runs about 30-something weeks (late September to May) but the typical season of a program is only 22 episodes. Which means you end up with about 10 weeks of reruns somewhere during the season. Typically these breaks take place around the holidays and just prior to the sweeps periods.

Picture is clearer but there would still be BBT, HiMYM etc eps if they ran thru Jan... but looking at wiki it seems that season finale's happen in May.

Therefore they need to find a few empty weeks here and there to save broadcasting eps in order for November, Feb and May to all line up.

Bastards :)

Anyways thanks everyone, I understand now. What it also looks like is collusion (call it market best practice if you want but it stinks of collusion) on the part of the broadcasters on WHAT weeks will be slated for crap instead of individual networks jockeying for ratings between sweeps by putting their good shows when their competitors are broadcasting crap.

[Krensky]

No, it's because those sweeps weeks are used to set advertising rates.

If you show reruns during sweeps while the other networks are showing their new stuff and big events you loose money the rest of the year because you can't charge as much for a spot, regardless of what the weekly numbers are.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nielsen_ratings#Sweeps

[Helaman]

No I mean all shows seem to be 22 eps. Ratings series runs 30 odd weeks... you need to save good shows to make sure they are running Nov, Feb and May... cool. Thats your money shot.

But ratings are captured outside of the three sweeps periods as well and there is still benefit in having the best ratings during a particular time slot.

The networks could move their 8 weeks of crap broadcasting around so it doesn't fall on the same weeks of their competitors and try to capture time slots in the times their competitors are playing crap AND still have eps ready for the key months but the timing of the 8 or so weeks of crap seems to be exactly the same on each network.

[Krensky]

That relates to when advertisers place orders.

It also relates to aspects of broadcasting going back to the early days of radio that had to do with balancing broadcasting of fiction vs sports and the schedule of stage and vaudville.

It''s also typically vieewed as better for your ratings to suck when every one else's are crappy then to be great for a little bit when others are poor but suck when they're high. They hold back new episodes for sweeps because that's when rates are calculated. If you air your new stuff and don't have anything to show then you're hosed.

It also relates to the practice of only buying 10 to 13 episodes to see how a show does and then picking it up for another 10 to 13 episodes. It also allows time for mid-season replacements for shows that weren't picked up.

It also should be noted that there's a gap in November for Thanksgiving (a holiday) and usually there's a fair amount of preemption in October during Presidential election years.

Most shows go on hiatus sometime around the middle of December and come back for January sweeps because of Christmas and sports.

[Ambrosia Slaad]

It helps once you understand that most executives in charge of programing schedules are qlippoths.

[Helaman]

ahhhh - NOW it makes sense