Movie Box Review

With network on-air promotion activity tracked in hit summer shows (those near or above a 2.0 Adult 18-49 rating) for about seven weeks since mid-July, the networks' promotional priorities are summarized below.


As we head into Premiere Week starting Monday, September 19, NBC has put the vast majority of on-air promotion time in recent days toward Up All Night, which gets an early preview this Wednesday (September 14) at 10:00 pm after the season finale of America's Got Talent.  Up All Night is now up to 840 promotional seconds within hit summer programs on NBC, still clearly the #1 new show priority for the network.  Free Agents follows Up All Night on Wednesday at 10:30 and has received only 200 seconds since mid-July.  NBC is obviously hoping Free Agents benefits from a pumped-up lead-in, but comedy at 10:30 has always proved difficult as people rapidly turn off the television and prepare for bed during the 10 pm hour.  Look for a steep drop at 10:30, although the final verdict on both comedies can't be determined until they have settled into their regular 8:00 and 8:30 pm time periods for several weeks.    




ABC continues to heavily push Revenge (now up to 735 promotional seconds since mid-July).  This kind of massive bombardment can often boost the rating of the first episode, but if the show does not live up to the advertising, the audience declines in weeks two through four can be massive, making all the promotional activity a waste of time.  In fact, regardless of how much marketing support a new show gets, it is wise to not pay undue attention to the premiere telecast.  As noted above, weeks two through four (and sometimes six) provide the best indication of how a show will fare throughout the fall and the entire season, if the new show makes it that far.  


CBS continues to place almost equal bets on Person of Interest and Unforgettable (each with 500-540 promotional seconds).  Please note, the promo totals for each show are not directly comparable across networks because the number of hours measured for each network varies.  (That is, some networks have more hit-level hours than others do.)  Nonetheless, the promo-second counts are indeed comparable within a network's list of shows.

FOX on-air promotion tallies are unchanged from last week due to DVR error.   


 

With network on-air promotion activity tracked in hit summer shows (those near or above a 2.0 Adult 18-49 rating) for about six weeks since mid-July, the networks' promotional priorities are summarized below.

There were no changes in the promotional priority rankings for the broadcast networks this week.  However, two networks have doubled-down on their number one priority.  NBC has poured on the promo time for Up All Night, which now boasts 575 seconds of promo time in hit shows since mid-July, breaking away from second-place Whitney (now 445 seconds).   For example, Up All Night received two full minutes of time in the Sunday Night Football preseason game between New Orleans and Oakland (four :30 spots in a game that earned over a 3.0 rating with Adults 18-49).      


At ABC, it has been all about Revenge.  With 555 seconds of promo time in hit ABC summer shows (thanks to many high-impact 60-second spots), Revenge is far ahead of second-place Charlie's Angels (335 promo seconds).  At the other end of the spectrum, Tim Allen's Last Man Standing remains the bottom priority.  In all likelihood, ABC must really like what it sees in later-episode scripts and dailies from Revenge, and it might not be as enthralled with post-pilot episodes of Last Man.

 
     ON-AIR PROMOTION SCORECARD
   Fall Series Promos (in seconds)
  In Hit Summer Shows since July 19

FOX      X-Factor            880
         New Girl            800
         Terra Nova          610

NBC      Up All Night        575
         Whitney             445
         Prime Suspect       415 
         Playboy Club        365
         Sing-Off            240
         Free Agents         180

CBS      Unforgettable       410
         Person of Interest  330
         2 Broke Girls       270
         A Gifted Man        140
         How Be Gentleman     60

ABC      Revenge             555
         Charlie's Angels    335
         Suburgatory         300
         Pan Am              255
         Once Upon a Time    120
         Last Man Standing   105

Note: New fall series not listed
have not been promoted in hit summer
shows during this date span.

To see the list of shows in which
promotion activity is tracked, see
the Summer Broadcast Ratings update. 

With network on-air promotion activity tracked in hit summer shows (those near or above a 2.0 Adult 18-49 rating) for about four weeks since mid-July, the networks' promotional priorities are summarized below.

FOX priorities remains the same, with X-Factor leading the pack.  But the big difference came with New Girl and a shift in the creative.  Much to the delight of faithful FOX viewers, the network has all but retired the spots featuring Zooey Deschanel's goofy antics in the pilot (moving her glasses back and forth when she sees a cute guy as if her eyes are bugging out or dancing awkwardly).  Cute the first 47 times, the clips became extremely played out and annoying.  Now the marketing department is rolling out specially shot scenes just for the promos.  Zooey/Jess talks to the camera and tells us what it is like to live with a bunch of guys.  Not perfect but far less annoying.     


NBC continues to blast away at Up All Night with two :30 promos, one featuring Christina Applegate and one with Will Arnett seductively talking to the camera about their fantasy, which at first sounds romantic and sexual and quickly turns into a plea for relief from the rigors of parenting a newborn.  Kind of an obvious tactic, but it's very well executed.  On the drama side, Prime Suspect has moved back ahead (slightly) of Playboy Club.


ABC continues to put the most chips on the roulette table's space for Revenge.  Because it does not have a pre-sold concept (like Charlie's Angels), Revenge needs longer former promos (always :30s or :60s and never :15s).  Tim Allen's Last Man Standing actually received a :30 in the hit Bachelor Pad (rather than its usual short-form :15).  Perhaps Tim Allen's agent and management are starting to call ABC to show more support for the show.  Yes it has a big star and an easy to communicate, simple concept, but the network still needs to get the word out for what is now its bottom priority.     

The CBS numbers are unchanged from the last update.  DVR failure pure and simple.  But hey, the good news was not having to slog through multiple hours of Big Brother. 

Next week we will have a fresh update, including CBS's promo activity in its hit shows and any promo activity in NFL preseason games.


     ON-AIR PROMOTION SCORECARD
   Fall Series Promos (in seconds)
  In Hit Summer Shows since July 19

FOX      X-Factor            850
         New Girl            755
         Terra Nova          610

NBC      Up All Night        455
         Whitney             370
         Prime Suspect       325 (up one place)
         Playboy Club        305
         Free Agents         180
         Sing-Off            180

CBS      Unforgettable       185
         Person of Interest  180
         2 Broke Girls       160
         A Gifted Man         50
         How Be Gentleman     10

ABC      Revenge             420
         Charlie's Angels    305
         Suburgatory         240
         Pan Am              195
         Once Upon a Time    120
         Last Man Standing    90

Note: New fall series not listed
have not been promoted in hit summer
shows during this date span.

To see the list of shows in which
promotion activity is tracked, see
the Summer Broadcast Ratings update. 

With about one week of network on-air promotion activity tracked in hit summer shows (those at or above a 2.0 Adult 18-49 rating), each network's marketing strategies are starting to emerge.

FOX is putting its chips on X-Factor and New Girl, and to some extent Terra Nova with shorter form spots.  The table below summarizes the number of seconds devoted to on-air promotion within hit summer shows (Hell's Kitchen, MasterChef and So You Think You Can Dance in FOX's case).  FOX is taking the strategy of promoting a few shows relentlessly so far.



In contrast, NBC is promoting more shows (and it has more to support) more equitably.  Prime Suspect is narrowly in the lead, with Up All Night, Whitney and Playboy Club forming a second tier. 

We really need more time to discern the CBS strategy, as their on-air promotion for new fall series was quite low this week.  A large amount of promo time this past week was devoted to Sunday's premiere of Same Name (a celebrity -- David Hasselhoff in the premiere episode -- switches places with a regular person with the same name and both learn valuable life lessons in the process).  Given the low premiere numbers for Same Name, this choice backfired.

At ABC, Revenge leads the way, but please note the sample includes only one Monday night (Bachelorette and Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss), a night which was interrupted by President Obama and Speaker Boehner to boot.

Keep checking back each week, as these numbers will be updated cumulatively.


     ON-AIR PROMOTION SCORECARD
   Fall Series Promos (in seconds)
  In Hit Summer Shows since July 19

FOX      X-Factor          135
         New Girl          125
         Terra Nova         90

NBC      Prime Suspect      75
         Up All Night       65
         Whitney            65
         Playboy Club       60
         Free Agents        40
         Sing-Off           15

CBS      Person of Interest 50
         Unforgettable      30
         2 Broke Girls      30

ABC      Revenge            60
         Charlie's Angels   30
         Suburgatory        30
         Pan Am             30

Note: New fall series not listed
have not been promoted in hit summer
shows during this date span.

To see the list of shows in which
promotion activity is tracked, see
the Summer Broadcast Ratings update.