Thursday, December 21, 2006

TV Tidbits...

Following yesterday's post, here is a short article highlighting several new CBS shows that have been given an order to go to pilot, including 'Swingtown' - that 'swingers' series I'm still keeping an eye on as it resembles something I helped pitch earlier this year to Canuck nets but was 'pow'! shot down.

And here is a fascinating article about the ins and outs of Nielsen ratings from the Washington Post including the top rated 'time-shifted' programs from 2006, why 'Studio 60' is still on the air though it seems like nobody is watching, and 'I did not know that' info like:

"American Idol," meanwhile, had the most product placements on broadcast TV this year with -- you want to be sitting down -- 4,086 occurrences in calendar 2006, which in the case of "Idol," really means between January and May. "Idol" is the Mount Everest of product placement. Nothing else touches it. The No. 2 show on the 2006 Product Placement Top 10 is "The Amazing Race" with a mere 2,790 occurrences, followed closely by "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" with 2,701.

We're guessing about 3,346 "Idol" product placement occurrences come in the form of those three insidious red Coca-Cola cups prominently placed in front of judges Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson. Every time the camera cuts to Paula sitting at the judges' desk drinking "whatever" out of that Coke cup, it counts as one "occurrence," a nice Nielsen spokeswoman explained to The TV Column.


Isn't that fascinating? I dunno...I thought so. Someone must really be raking in the dough with that show though.

And look, another cool video....




...Fatboy Slims 'Weapon of Choice' starring Christopher Walken.

Very kewl.

11 comments:

EditThis said...

I don't particularly like that song, but I've always enjoyed watching the video with Walken in it. Too funny. People forget he has a dancing background.

Mef said...

interesting data about the time-shifting. I wonder if bbm is supplying that info in Canada.

and i like cats. so no eye-rolling

Mark

Diane Kristine Wild said...

I have a total girl crush on Lisa de Moraes, that Washington Post reporter. She's funny and obsessed with weird arcana like the minutia of ratings.

I haven't heard BBM does any stats on time shifting. I did read something about the carriage fees issue in passing that had one sentence suggesting maybe they don't:

"Timeshifting costs broadcasters because the ratings agencies generally do not count out-of-market tuning when calculating audience figures."

Cunningham said...

Simon Cowell makes around $20M per year on the "Idol" franchise. He of course, gets paid for all of them - American Idol. pop idol, Deutsche Idol, etc...

Piers said...

Ah, that's such a great video.

Watch it several times before you go to bed and dream of flying.

You can mix it up with Björk's "It's Oh So Quiet" should you feel like a change.

ME said...

Ah, Simon Cowell. Bill's right ... I aspire to create formats that will rake in the dough worldwide whilst I sit on my keester under a palm tree with my margaritas.

Cunningham said...

another part of the Mediaweek link has gone unspoken by anyone...

Degrassi:TNG has gone to daytime syndication here in the states.

Care to comment?

ME said...

Bill, my Degrassi comment is ...

It is a great show, simple as that. It proves that if you write it and cast it well and treat your cast and crew with respect and like family, it all works.

It has been produced with tender loving care by the two most decent and humble people I know in television anywhere in the world. The attention to detail that is put into the work speaks for itself. I am a big believer in karma and Stephen and Linda truly deserve all of their successes and then some. They are incredibly generous people, in life and in business. Through their volunteerism and mentoring, they have shown time and again that they care about Canadian culture and the survival of the industry as much as they do their own business interests. I applaud them and the show and wish them all the best.

How's that?

I think we did talk about it a while back, can't remember at who's place, though.

Cunningham said...

Caroline,

That's the exact response I was looking for. I've seen the show a couple of times and thought it was excellent. I also thought it was REALLY smart of them to have Kevin Smith on the show. Great marketing.

ME said...

Bill, he asked to be on. He was a huge fan of the original series. He's working on the movie with them as well, possibly directing, depending on his schedule.

Cunningham said...

I know he asked, it's just nice when the higher ups agree to things like that which boost the ratings and PR and create "appointment television."

There's just not enough of that these days...