# What is it with American TV schedules? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 28, 2011, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-with-american-tv-schedules/576325 "2011-03-28T23:05:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-with-american-tv-schedules/576325/21 "2011-03-29T17:31:12Z")
> [@BDoors](#): > > Are they ever going to drop this emphasis on the “sweeps” periods? I can’t believe it’s actually necessary these days. They surely have access to accurate ratings all year round? Not in the foreseeable future. As has been discussed in other threads here (which I’m too lazy to look up now), while Nielsen provides ratings year-round (using their set-top boxes), it’s only during the sweeps periods that Nielsen supplements the set-top boxes (which cover thousands of households) with paper diaries (which cover hundreds of thousands of households). The paper diaries (or, more precisely, the larger sample size which the paper diaries provide) are needed to provide statistically-reliable samples for individual markets, as well as for narrower demographic definitions – all of which the advertisers and networks want to see. There’ll likely be a time when Nielsen collects that more detailed information via set-top boxes (or some other automated, year-round technology), and that’ll be the end of sweeps periods. It’d be expensive to implement, and unless the advertisers and networks demand it, it’s not happening any time soon. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-with-american-tv-schedules/576325/22 "2011-03-29T18:16:51Z")
> [@BDoors](#): > > Regarding the supposed British practice of six episodes a year: (a) it is often more than six episodes; (b) it’s per season (or “series” as we call it, because our system is less seasonal), not per year. \*The IT Crowd \*is an extreme case; other shows can have more than one series in a year What are examples of shows with more than one series a year? Of the few British shows I watch that have been sucessful enough for multiple series, they’ve all shown their 6-10 episodes once a year, with the sole exception of \*\*Primeval \*\*having a second series later this year (but I’m sure that has more to do with missing a year between being canceled and un-canceled than anything else). There are a ton of UK shows Americans never get to see, so it’d be interesting to know which are popular enough in the UK to generate multiple series the same year. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-with-american-tv-schedules/576325/23 "2011-03-29T18:18:03Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > What are examples of shows with more than one series a year? Of the few British shows I watch that have been sucessful enough for multiple series, they’ve all shown their 6-10 episodes once a year, with the sole exception of \*\*Primeval \*\*having a second series later this year (but I’m sure that has more to do with missing a year between being canceled and un-canceled than anything else). There are a ton of UK shows Americans never get to see, so it’d be interesting to know which are popular enough in the UK to generate multiple series the same year. Well _Doctor Who_ has two series of 6 and 7 eps (plus an Xmas Special) each this year. ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-with-american-tv-schedules/576325/24 "2011-03-29T18:35:03Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I can only think of four shows total that are aired that way, two on USA, two on TNT. (Psych, Saving Grace, Monk, The Closer) > … Add Men of a Certain Age and Hot in Cleveland to that list. They’re both on a break right now. I’d prefer that a series runs without such long breaks, but I do see why they do it to stretch out a season. ---
**Author:** ![BDoors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BDoors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BDoors)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-with-american-tv-schedules/576325/25 "2011-03-29T18:42:03Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > What are examples of shows with more than one series a year? Of the few British shows I watch that have been sucessful enough for multiple series, they’ve all shown their 6-10 episodes once a year, with the sole exception of \*\*Primeval \*\*having a second series later this year (but I’m sure that has more to do with missing a year between being canceled and un-canceled than anything else). There are a ton of UK shows Americans never get to see, so it’d be interesting to know which are popular enough in the UK to generate multiple series the same year. \*Top Gear \*and \*Have I Got News For You \*spring to mind. I’m not sure about dramas. They do seem to be on more of a yearly schedule, but surely some of them are more than 10 episodes. \*Doctor Who \*seems to run for months and months, before returning for a special or two. ---
**Author:** ![Fugazi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@Fugazi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fugazi)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-with-american-tv-schedules/576325/26 "2011-03-29T19:01:34Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > With the exception of 2010’s Christmas episode, Eureka’s epsiodes have all aired mid-summer through early fall. Yeah, but with huge gaps. The 1st 2 seasons were only 12 & 13 episodes respectively, so no gaps. In the 3rd season though, the 8th episode aired Sept 23, 2008. The 9th wasn’t until July 10, 2009. The current season is on break right now. The 10th episode aired Dec 7, 2010 (the xmas episode). The last regular episode was Sept 10, 2010. Still don’t know when they’re going to show the 11th. Probably Jul through Sept again, which really sucks. They call it a single season but spread it over 2 years. ---
**Author:** ![Chopper9760](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Chopper9760](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chopper9760)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-with-american-tv-schedules/576325/27 "2011-03-29T19:12:04Z")
TV schedules are annoying. I can’t believe that the collective ‘they’ think that Nielson ratings are still an effective measure of viewership. It seems to me that DVR units could be used as the new Neilson boxes provided that the telecom companies could agree that they had a mutual interest in the data. The consumer would be automatically enrolled and could opt out if they had privacy concerns. I wonder how many families have Nielson boxes vs. the total number of families with DVR units. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-with-american-tv-schedules/576325/28 "2011-03-29T19:18:52Z")
**Chopper9760** , one problem with your idea may be that people with DVRs are more likely to skip the commercials. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-with-american-tv-schedules/576325/29 "2011-03-29T19:19:18Z")
> [@Chopper9760](#): > > I wonder how many families have Nielson boxes vs. the total number of families with DVR units. (Market researcher who works in advertising here) It’s not a matter of numbers (and I guarantee you that far, far more households have DVRs, as opposed to Nielsen boxes). It’s a matter of statistical representation. Nielsen very carefully selects who’s going to be in their panel, in an effort to create a panel which can be projected up to be reasonably representative of the national TV-watching population. Now, whether or not you believe that Nielsen does a good job of that is another discussion entirely, but that’s another discussion. At any rate, if you can assume that the sample is reasonably representative, you honestly do not need millions of households in your sample for it to be statistically valid – a sample of a few thousand is more than sufficient. (And, just FYI, because you asked…according to numbers I saw recently, IIRC, household penetration of DVRs is still only around 1/3 of U.S. households.) ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-with-american-tv-schedules/576325/30 "2011-03-29T19:34:43Z")
Futurama is in partnership with Comedy Central now. The way FOX handled that show (they scheduled it at 7PM on Sunday for most of the run and put it on during football season, which meant that 9 out of 10 times, they would simply not air it so that they could show James Brown & Terry Bradshaw talking about the game that just finished — infact so many episodes didn’t air that they were able to make a FIFTH airing season even though only 4 seasons of episodes were made), I doubt Groening & co would ever let them touch it again. South Park is one show that does split seasons. They’ll air 6 or 7 episodes in the spring, and 6 or 7 more in the fall. It’s such a rarity to see a new South Park episode that it feels like a holiday whenever a new run of 6 episodes starts up (Nov 17, 2010 was the last new one, and April 27 will be the next new one…by then Charlie Sheen will be a distant memory!) I personally do ALL of my TV watching via “underground” methods. No commercials, no bullshit/hassle (aside from a random “look for the password on this website to unlock the file” disguised as a real episode) and no radar. I also tend to watch shows in marathons, not week to week. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-with-american-tv-schedules/576325/31 "2011-03-29T20:11:37Z")
> [@Aeris](#): > > Really American TV sucks? What about British tv? I have to wait years to get a new 6 episode season of The IT Crowd!! > > Season 3:2008 > Season 4: 2010 Quantity is no guarantee of quality. I love the IT crowd and I’d hate to have more episodes than Graham Linehan can handle, because that would mean the quality would drop or he’d have to bring in other writers and it would no longer be _his_. This goes for Fawlty Towers, Blackadder, Big Train, The day today (and Alan Partridge spin-offs) The Office (UK edition) and all the greats. Less is more. When you look at the godawful mess that something like “Lost” or “24” or “Friends” turned into I’d say it is a good thing that shows have a limited exposure and a finite life. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-with-american-tv-schedules/576325/32 "2011-03-29T21:11:55Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > But isn’t Futurama on Fox? No, Futurama is currently on Comedy Central. After a series of direct to DVD movies, which were aired episodically on Comedy Central and constitute the fifth production season, it made its full return in June 2010 with an order of 26 episodes. The first 13 episodes, which have aired, and the second 13, which will begin airing in June, make up season 6. Futurama has just been picked up for 26 more episodes, as season 7. The first 13 episodes of season 7 will begin airing in 2012 with the second 13 episodes to air in 2013. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-with-american-tv-schedules/576325/33 "2011-03-29T21:23:42Z")
Edit - never mind. Already covered in a previous post. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-with-american-tv-schedules/576325/34 "2011-03-29T21:43:43Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > Well _Doctor Who_ has two series of 6 and 7 eps (plus an Xmas Special) each this year. That’s not two series, at least not in how \*\*elfkin \*\*is asking. That’s one series of the normal 13 episode run that is being shown in two parts. It’s all considered Series 6. ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-with-american-tv-schedules/576325/35 "2011-03-30T02:27:24Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > What are examples of shows with more than one series a year? [Top Gear.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Top_Gear_episodes) ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-with-american-tv-schedules/576325/36 "2011-03-30T10:50:59Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > That’s not two series, at least not in how \*\*elfkin \*\*is asking. That’s one series of the normal 13 episode run that is being shown in two parts. It’s all considered Series 6. But twice the length of a “normal” series/season for a British show. So either it goes against the norm by having two series/seasons or it breaks the norm by having a longer series/season. Whichever it is, it breaks the norm. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-with-american-tv-schedules/576325/37 "2011-03-30T11:04:33Z")
I remember this first being done around 1974 with “Rhoda”. They repeated the premiere during Christmas, which I was grateful for in those pre VCR days since I missed the original to watch Monday Night Football. Sometimes the heavy use of repeats gets parodied. “Moonlighting”, a show famous for running repeats when it was on because of production delays, once started a new episode with a “stop the press, people are rejoicing, it’s a new Moonlighting” montage. Or some shows like “Alias” and “24” will delay their season until January so they have a full season to run without reruns. But yeah, it’s frustrating. Or would be, if I cared to watch any shows now. ---
**Author:** ![Chopper9760](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Chopper9760](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chopper9760)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-with-american-tv-schedules/576325/38 "2011-03-30T14:00:31Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > **Chopper9760** , one problem with your idea may be that people with DVRs are more likely to skip the commercials. That’s a problem for advertisers to be certain but assuming ‘they’ did full data collection on DVRs, they’d be able to see which programs people were willing to sit through advertising rather than waiting to view later. Plus they’d get all kinds of info about our habits, how many times we’ll watch a recorded program, how long people save programs before viewing. > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > (Market researcher who works in advertising here) > > It’s not a matter of numbers (and I guarantee you that far, far more households have DVRs, as opposed to Nielsen boxes). It’s a matter of statistical representation. Nielsen very carefully selects who’s going to be in their panel, in an effort to create a panel which can be projected up to be reasonably representative of the national TV-watching population. > > Now, whether or not you believe that Nielsen does a good job of that is another discussion entirely, but that’s another discussion. At any rate, if you can assume that the sample is reasonably representative, you honestly do not need millions of households in your sample for it to be statistically valid – a sample of a few thousand is more than sufficient. > > (And, just FYI, because you asked…according to numbers I saw recently, IIRC, household penetration of DVRs is still only around 1/3 of U.S. households.) Wow, 1/3 is MUCH lower than I imagined, I can see why Nielsen would still seem like a better spread. Data collection and processing is so much easier (comparatively) than it used to be that I fell into the trap of thinking, “Why a sample when we could know everything!” ---
**Author:** ![Aeris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Aeris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeris)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-with-american-tv-schedules/576325/39 "2011-03-30T20:51:01Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Less is more. When you look at the godawful mess that something like “Lost” or “24” or “Friends” turned into I’d say it is a good thing that shows have a limited exposure and a finite life. I don’t necessarily agree. IMO, 24 and Friends were doomed from the start simply because they weren’t very good. Lost was only bad in the end because the writers weren’t good enough to plan ahead or think of some way to end it other than with a half-assed, lame-o ending. The IT Crowd has good writers, this we know. But how does this explain why the seasons are so friggin far apart . Or just combine seasons or something like instead of having two 6 episode seasons, have one 12 episode season. These little snip-it seasons are such a tease. It’s like…like waiting 2 hours to eat your favorite meal and then only being allowed to eat one bite. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-with-american-tv-schedules/576325/40 "2011-03-30T21:06:42Z")
> [@Aeris](#): > > IMO, 24 and Friends were doomed from the start simply because they weren’t very good. And, yet, they managed to run for 8 and 10 seasons, respectively. If “doomed from the start”, they managed to escape their doom for an unbelievably long time, in an industry where getting renewed for even a second season is exceptional. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-with-american-tv-schedules/576325.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-with-american-tv-schedules/576325.md?page=3)