May 18 2009
"DVR viewing can save low-rated programs".
So says FOX Business, quoting Fox exec Kevin Reilly in reference to Dollhouse. More quotes from Kevin about Dollhouse and Joss can be found here. Fox additionally say: "DOLLHOUSE delivers an educated audience, surpassing its Total U.S Adults 18-49 average in "Adults 18-49 with 4+ Years of College" and that "DOLLHOUSE [is] the #1 most time-shifted show on network television".
Simon | May 18, 09:32 CET
gossi | May 18, 09:33 CET
Simon | May 18, 09:34 CET
@theonetruebix | May 18, 09:34 CET
"If we cancelled his show, I would have had hundreds of emails from his fans this morning," says Reilly. "That audience has a core you can work with."
C. A. Bridges | May 18, 09:37 CET
Septimus | May 18, 09:37 CET
@theonetruebix | May 18, 09:39 CET
Jaymii | May 18, 09:42 CET
MattK | May 18, 09:43 CET
MattK | May 18, 09:45 CET
gossi | May 18, 09:46 CET
chazman | May 18, 09:46 CET
* DOLLHOUSE ranks #1 in its Friday 9pm time period among Adults 18-34 and Men 18-34 and #2 with Adults 18-49, Adults 25-54, Women 18-34, and Men 18-49/25-54.
* DOLLHOUSE delivered FOX’s highest-rated Friday series premiere in over four years (since 1/14/05) among Adults 18-49 and Adults 18-34.
* DOLLHOUSE delivers an educated audience, surpassing its Total U.S Adults 18-49 average in “Adults 18-49 with 4+ Years of College.”
* DOLLHOUSE averages a +40% increase from Live + Same Day to Live + 7 Day, making it the #1 most time-shifted show on network television.
So it's doing relatively well with younger viewers ("#1 in its (...) time period among Adults 18-34") and among more educated viewers; that probably gives them the ability to charge reasonable ad rates despite the low overall numbers.
[ edited by Tristan on 2009-05-18 20:09 ]
Tristan | May 18, 09:56 CET
It's a nice surprise, I didn't expect FOX to change their thinking so quickly to a new paradigm. Perhaps the current economic difficulty is forcing them to think outside the old box and accept that TV is changing.
PaulfromSunnydale | May 18, 09:59 CET
Now if we can just get them to count some form of online viewing we'll be set for an accurate viewer count for all tv shows...
This is amazing.
mariec | May 18, 10:44 CET
Many of the people on the call could properly be considered part of the fan base. Also, many of them were legitimate questions, fan or not. (That said, most of the questions apparently were about Dollhouse, but now I can't remember where I just read that.)
@theonetruebix | May 18, 10:48 CET
bonzob | May 18, 10:53 CET
dnlmglhs | May 18, 10:59 CET
ETA: Sorry, watching Smallville.
[ edited by Jayme on 2009-05-18 20:34 ]
Jaymii | May 18, 11:29 CET
(Although I still wonder why Virtuality was dropped).
AnotherFireflyfan | May 18, 11:39 CET
Holger | May 18, 11:51 CET
So in my interpretation, Fox isn't saying Dollhouse attracts smarter people (though I think Joss Whedon attracts smarter people) - the fact that Dollhouse is lumped in with American Idol, which I consider to have an educated audience but has little to no potential to make any of its viewers actually think about anything of significance - means that Fox is looking at numbers, not meaning. They're not saying "Whedon viewers are smart," they're saying "Whedon viewers have college degrees" which can be interpreted as a statistic.
the ninja report | May 18, 13:31 CET
IrrationaliTV | May 18, 13:38 CET
Hey, run-on sentence.
CrazyKidBen | May 18, 14:37 CET
IrrationaliTV | May 18, 14:39 CET
AB - higher (A) or intermediate (B) managerial, administrative or professional
C1 - supervisory or clerical and junior managerial, administrative or professional
C2 - skilled manual workers
D - semi-skilled and unskilled workers
E - state pensioners, casual or lowest grade workers
Advertisers take this very seriously. A show that gets 1m AB viewers is worth vastly more than 2m D viewers in most cases.
If you're selling something aimed at C2 and D people then it's different.
[ edited by zz9 on 2009-05-18 23:40 ]
zz9 | May 18, 14:40 CET
CrazyKidBen | May 18, 14:54 CET
There already are people popping up on Twitter saying things along the lines of, "Now that it's renewed and I won't be left hanging, I'll finally check it out."
@theonetruebix | May 18, 14:58 CET
Let Down | May 18, 15:05 CET
Ronald_SF | May 18, 15:49 CET
It seems to me that all those demographic and DVR facts are also true for T:SCC, the main difference is that Fox owns the studio with Dollhouse, so it is an overall win for the company.
Call me cynical, but I'm guessing that Fox won't announce any screening of Epitaph One before the DVD is released either, as a favour to the studio.
To me, the most interesting thing about the renewal decision is that it implies (ok, may imply, but I'm an optimist, and I like to speculate) a couple of directions for network tv: 1) Shows will get cheaper; and 2) Shows that can make money through multiple streams have an advantage (esp. if their network and studio have a relationship).
I don't care much about cost, most of the shows I love are cheap, and i think shows with a strong fan following provide more interesting TV, on the whole, than those who excel in the casual viewer. So for me, so far, all good.
sojourner | May 18, 16:57 CET
I guess they haven't heard?
sumogrip | May 18, 18:32 CET
No shite, Sherlock. What gave you the clue?
A lot of us have been talking about Time Shifting for a few YEARS now. Where ya been, genius?
Honestly. These people actually get paid money to be so clueless?
Yeesh.
AmazonGirl | May 18, 19:07 CET
@theonetruebix | May 18, 19:16 CET
sumogrip | May 18, 19:21 CET
Let Down | May 18, 19:21 CET
[ edited by The One True b!X on 2009-05-19 04:30 ]
@theonetruebix | May 18, 19:30 CET
Let Down | May 18, 19:37 CET
" I have already assigned Dollhouse as a way of engaging students in discussions about identity, gender, power, science, feminism, etc. . . . Most of my classes feature an ongoing extra-credit assignment if Whedon has a current project, and students love this . So I engage hundreds college students/year in watching Whedon shows. . . . I teach smart, serialized television--shows that take up serious issues while telling great stories, shows we can watch the way we read literature. Lots of professors use shows this way. We bring a lot of "in the demo" eyeballs to your shows, students then buy DVD sets, tell their friends, have watching parties, etc.. I don't know how this audience would be measured.
I don't know that any of my students watch Dollhouse during its timeslot. What college student is watching TV on a Friday night? They all have computers, they all stream or DVR timeshift. There *must* be a way of counting these viewers! Plus, they are "long-term" committers. I hear almost every day from people who got hooked on one show or another in my class . . ."
I just hope all this newfound power doesn't corrupt us all absolutely. I've heard that can happen.
bunnykitty | May 18, 22:08 CET
Let Down | May 18, 22:10 CET
Its cause I'm socially handicapped, and my priorities do not resemble Earth priorities... they are more advanced. But yes, as a rule, most college students tend not to watch TV on Fridays. But I don't think to many dorm TVs have Nielson boxes anyway...
SteppeMerc | May 18, 22:41 CET
bonzob | May 18, 19:53 CET
A little vindication for b!x seems in order here. :)
Shey | May 19, 03:48 CET
bunnykitty | May 19, 05:04 CET
Of course it had to make economic sense to them, but I think the vocal - but not in a rude way - fans and Joss himself had a part in the decision-making. I did point out in my e-mail that I found Dollhouse so riveting, even from the first episode, that I didn't take my eyes of the screen during the entire episode, including commercials! I wouldn't even let people talk to me during the ads. :D
samatwitch | May 19, 17:42 CET
SoddingNancyTribe | May 19, 20:50 CET
@theonetruebix | May 19, 21:03 CET
SoddingNancyTribe | May 20, 05:50 CET
The One True b!X | May 20, 06:03 CET
My bad. I was indeed confused about who doggedly reminded everyone at every opportunity that "this is not Firefly's FOX".
All apologies, zeitgeist. (It's good to be the "right" guy, yeah?) ;)
Shey | May 20, 03:42 CET
zeitgeist | May 20, 06:08 CET
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