# Networks - Can't you give a show a chance before you cancel it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 22, 2002, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/networks-cant-you-give-a-show-a-chance-before-you-cancel-it/138077 "2002-11-22T02:50:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/networks-cant-you-give-a-show-a-chance-before-you-cancel-it/138077/21 "2002-11-22T19:15:45Z")
_sigh_ I miss _ **Cupid** _. Damn ABC (Already Been Cancelled) StG] ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/networks-cant-you-give-a-show-a-chance-before-you-cancel-it/138077/22 "2002-11-22T19:51:33Z")
… and I’m still not recovered from the cancellation of _SportsNight_. Sniff. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/networks-cant-you-give-a-show-a-chance-before-you-cancel-it/138077/23 "2002-11-22T20:30:26Z")
SportsNight, we miss you. One thing up in Canada-- the networks try to base their Id on news and current affairs programming, and everything else is up for grabs. Thus Survivor and Friends run on the same network… As for overnights-- well, Neilsen has its flaws, namely that it actually excludes lotsof ubder-35s because you can’t get a box if you rent… ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/networks-cant-you-give-a-show-a-chance-before-you-cancel-it/138077/24 "2002-11-22T20:37:11Z")
Bring back _Brimstone!_ ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/networks-cant-you-give-a-show-a-chance-before-you-cancel-it/138077/25 "2002-11-22T20:41:55Z")
I’ll beat you all. I still haven’t forgiven Fox for cancelling _Alien Nation_ thirteen years ago. The problem with _Firefly_ isn’t that it takes awhile to build up an audience. It took me one episode to get hooked. The problem is that no one knows this show exists! I haven’t seen a single advertisement for it yet. Not one. How do they expect people to watch the show when no one knows it exists? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/networks-cant-you-give-a-show-a-chance-before-you-cancel-it/138077/26 "2002-11-22T22:29:49Z")
I loved _Alien Nation_, too. Network bastards. Give me my 500 cable channels, already! ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/networks-cant-you-give-a-show-a-chance-before-you-cancel-it/138077/27 "2002-11-22T22:35:50Z")
Psst…_Sports Night_ fans - you may not be able to see anything new, but DVD for the existing episodes, baby! And although I know it’s a dollars and cents issue, it all still stinks. How can we make a show successful for a network if they won’t even give it time for us to get attached to it! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/networks-cant-you-give-a-show-a-chance-before-you-cancel-it/138077/28 "2002-11-22T23:24:17Z")
In the early 80’s, shows like _Cheers_ & _Night Court_ were kept alive because NBC was in the toilet and figured it had nothing to lose by keeping low rated shows. ---
**Author:** ![WSLer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@WSLer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WSLer)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2002, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/networks-cant-you-give-a-show-a-chance-before-you-cancel-it/138077/29 "2002-11-23T01:57:00Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by SpoilerVirgin \* > [BMoney factors into the style decisions as well. I remember reading an article that said that each Dawson’s Creek viewer was worth four times as much money from advertisers as each Nash Bridges viewer, because of the age difference in their audiences._\* That article is bullshit. The average Nash Bridges viewer has A LOT more money to spend then the average Dawson’s Creek viewer. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2002, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/networks-cant-you-give-a-show-a-chance-before-you-cancel-it/138077/30 "2002-11-23T03:03:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by WSLer \* > \*\*That article is bullshit. The average Nash Bridges viewer has A LOT more money to spend then the average Dawson’s Creek viewer. \*\* This is one of the things that makes the television industry seem so nonsensical to the average viewer. The decisions that advertisers make about how much to spend on an individual program are **NOT** based on total amount of income available for spending. Yes, it would seem logical that the older viewers, with the higher incomes, would be the most highly prized by advertisers. But this is not the case. The most highly prized demographic is in fact women ages 18-35. These ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2002, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/networks-cant-you-give-a-show-a-chance-before-you-cancel-it/138077/31 "2002-11-23T03:14:02Z")
Whoops – now the board really is too fast. I hit a key and somehow that submitted before I even had time to blink. Is it too soon to start complaining that we need to slow this puppy down? To continue… Advertisers believe (whether rightly or wrongly is the subject of much debate) that their best chance of actually convincing someone to buy stuff based on advertising is to target them when they are young. People over 35, and especially people over 50, are presumed to be pretty much impervious to advertisements. They already know what they want, and seeing the ad for the latest cereal or soap is not going to change their buying habits. The goal of the advertisers is to hook the teenagers and those just starting to run a home or build a family on their particular products. This doesn’t mean that there isn’t niche advertising for different groups. During golf tournaments, for instance, you will see mainly ads for financial investments, luxury cars, and golf-related products. That’s because the advertisers know that their audience consists almost entirely of men over 35 (and me), and these are the only products that the old guys are likely to buy based on ads. But advertising rates are skewed tremendously by demographics, and the highest rates are paid for impressionable minds, rather than high amounts of disposable income. I’m off to search for a few cites about ratings, demographics, and advertising rates. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2002, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/networks-cant-you-give-a-show-a-chance-before-you-cancel-it/138077/32 "2002-11-23T03:27:23Z")
Here’s a good article about [Media Ageism](http://www.asaging.org/at/at-218/Media.html) > [@](#): > > While older people have most of the money and spend a lot of it, mass-media advertising influences them the least. A number of high-end or specialty magazines cater to their tastes. The young women who control the family purse are the biggest target for mass media, so advertisers pay a premium to get their attention > [@](#): > > {A 1995 study} concluded that ageism was a secondary effect of the industry-wide practice of estimating numbers of household units, especially those in which young, June Cleaver-type mothers make family buying decisions, rather than calculating audience size and buying power by per-capita income. Using per-capita estimates would place a spotlight on today’s more affluent older audiences, according to Lee, but force advertising agencies to abandon the household unit, which, though as outmoded as the Leave It to Beaver image of the American family, more easily enables advertisers to claim they are reaching mass audiences that command high advertising rates. > [@](#): > > the Wall Street Journal (October 24) reported in a page-one story that NBC had lost ground in competition for “the coveted 18\_49 age group.” The article stressed, “In the past three years, the median age of NBC’s audience has risen to 45 from 41, a bad omen for advertising revenues.” The Nash Bridges audience may have had a lot more money than the Dawson’s Creek audience, but that in no way negates my assertion that _advertisers paid more for the Dawson’s Creek audience._ ---
**Author:** ![Hazel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Hazel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazel)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2002, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/networks-cant-you-give-a-show-a-chance-before-you-cancel-it/138077/33 "2002-11-24T16:56:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RealityChuck \* > \*\*Simple economics. If a show isn’t making them enough money, then they need to replace it with something that will. > > Remember, the point of TV is to sell ads. And ad income is tied to ratings. \*\* But history seems to show that a program often takes a while to establish itself. Better, I would think, not to be too hasty. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/networks-cant-you-give-a-show-a-chance-before-you-cancel-it/138077.md?page=1)