# Why do so many TV shows have their season premieres in November?! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 16, 2006, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-tv-shows-have-their-season-premieres-in-november/380625 "2006-11-16T02:49:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-tv-shows-have-their-season-premieres-in-november/380625/1 "2006-11-16T02:49:03Z")
I just tuned in _Medium_ and was quite astonished it’s a rerun; the show’s website says the season premiere is November 15. How did this happen? It used to be reruns were a **summer** thing and every show’s season began in September. ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-tv-shows-have-their-season-premieres-in-november/380625/2 "2006-11-16T02:53:46Z")
I think in this particular case _Medium_ was thrown in to fill the hole left by the cancellation of _Justice_. More generally, November is a sweeps month so you want to put your strongest shows on in that month. If you don’t have any breakout hits yet in the season, it may make sense to throw something in that you are betting on and hope for the best. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-tv-shows-have-their-season-premieres-in-november/380625/3 "2006-11-16T02:58:37Z")
Minor reason: the World Series causes shows on that network to be pre-empted. So they don’t even bother doing first-run eps during that time, until Novemeber rolls around. Major reason: the typical seasonal run of a series has dropped significantly. IIRC Star Trek’s first season (Kirk & co.) had 33 episodes. A modern series will be lucky to clear 20, and most of those will be clustered around the sweeps months (and November not too surprisingly is a sweeps month). So for your favorite series which starts in September it is a matter of anxiously waiting for the new eps while getting bored during the many reruns in between. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-tv-shows-have-their-season-premieres-in-november/380625/4 "2006-11-16T03:40:01Z")
[QUOTE=John DiFool] Major reason: the typical seasonal run of a series has dropped significantly. [/QUOTE] Why is that? ---
**Author:** ![Lips\_Obsession](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bbce88/32.png) [@Lips\_Obsession](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lips_Obsession)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-tv-shows-have-their-season-premieres-in-november/380625/5 "2006-11-16T04:26:23Z")
It’s becoming a bit more common for networks to not re-run shows during the season. Some shows just don’t do very well in re-runs. For example (at least according to The Soup last week), Lost is now on hiatus until February (I don’t watch the show). I know the same thing happens during the summer now, where they used to re-run shows, and now they show new programs. Same thing here - they show new shows with limited (shorter) commitments during the “break” times. If they pan out, then they get an additional commitment with a longer run next time. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-tv-shows-have-their-season-premieres-in-november/380625/6 "2006-11-16T04:32:37Z")
The reason for fewer episodes is, of course, money. Shows are expensive, so they’ve been cutting back the number for quite some time. The reason they have fewer reruns is that a lot of shows today have ongoing plotlines. If you already know how the plotlines resolve, there’s not as much incentive to watch the show again. At best, it will only attract new viewers, and, if the show is a hit, this is going to be a smaller number than normal. You can see certain shows rerun all the time: The CSI and L&O franchise are shown in rerun whenever they need to fill time. But these are stand-alone shows. A show like **Lost** , with an ongoing plot, is not going to draw the same, especially when viewers already know the plot twists. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-tv-shows-have-their-season-premieres-in-november/380625/7 "2006-11-16T04:36:13Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] The reason for fewer episodes is, of course, money. Shows are expensive, so they’ve been cutting back the number for quite some time. [/QUOTE] But are they (adjusting for inflation) any more expensive than they were in the '60s? If so, why? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-tv-shows-have-their-season-premieres-in-november/380625/8 "2006-11-16T04:44:36Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] But are they (adjusting for inflation) any more expensive than they were in the '60s? If so, why? [/QUOTE] My guess is that they are more expensive even adjusting for inflation, because of the increased competition. Competition from the increased number of TV channels, movies on DVD, video games, the internet, etc. Shows need to be flashier to grab attention, therefore, more money is spent on most shows.