It's just a little smack, but we so rarely see this kind of direct competitive ratings talk from TV execs that I had to call it out.
[Broadcasting & Cable] ...we haven’t seen any new big reality franchises come along in several years, and this summer nothing popped. How come?
[Mike Darnell, President of Alternative Entertainment for Fox] ... What you said about reality shows [not popping in recent years] you can say about scripted. What was the last scripted hit? House.
[Broadcasting & Cable] I’d argue The Mentalist.
[Darnell] Let’s talk about demo, what we really care about. House does an 18 share, Mentalist does a 10. Mentalist is a success not a Smash.
via Broadcasting & Cable.
It depends on what people care about and what looks better. Nearly breaking 20 million looks a lot better than getting around 13 million.
Of course, Grey’s Anatomy (which was ranked #5 vs House’s #7 in 2008-2009) did start several months after House. So, House still isn’t the latest scripted hit.
Well what do you expect the FOX exec to say. A series that premiered 5 years ago or another series that began last season. Grey’s Anatomy and The Mentalist have been the only hits since House with CSI NY, Lost and Desperate Housewives premiering a few months earlier. My Name is Earl, Heroes and Ugly Betty started out like hits but then dropped severely after the next few seasons. A hit can be considered a show that performs considerably better than most the other series on that network. So Everybody Hates Chris was a hit for UPN averaging 5 million viewers, Burn Notice is a hit for USA, True Blood is a hit for HBO….etc
So a show has to do better than House to be considered a hit? What does that make House? The worst of hit shows? LOL
The1337, well, to be fair, The Mentalist wasn’t even in the top 20 18-49 shows last season. But The Office is on there, and it’s another show that started after House, along with Rules of Engagement.
It depends on what people care about and what looks better. Nearly breaking 20 million looks a lot better than getting around 13 million.
Indeed 20 million looks better than 13 million if you just look at the number. But would you rather have 20 million quarters or 13 million dollars?
Those comments didn’t even qualify as smacktalk to me. It was truth-talk. In financial terms he’s right, Mentalist was a success last year, not a smash. And he was clearly speaking in terms of ad sales potential.
Bill, this is a war our website will likely never win, so I think you should have framed this not as smacktalk, but rather “see, total viewers DON’T MATTER!”
If he wanted to talk about ad sales potential, he shouldn’t have been using the DVR numbers. House averaged a 14 share last year in Live+SD. It’s highest share was 16, only for the premiere.
Speaking of which, how much *is* a demo point worth vis-a-vis a household point in terms of ad dollars? (I know there are a lot of other variables, but holding all things equal…) Is the ratio really 4:1, as Bob is intimating? Thanks
Patrick, NO! And I wasn’t trying to intimate that those were the ratios!
But my understanding is that the advertising is bought against the 18-49 demo numbers (and in CBS case, perhaps sometimes 25-54) and the ad deals aren’t done based on P2+ or HH ratings which doesn’t really come into play. So I’m not sure it’s possible to establish a ratio between A18-49 and HH or P2+
I have heard people say that that a show that has a 3.2 A18-49 and 20 million P2+ can sell for a little bit more per spot than a show with say a 3.2 and 12 million, but based on what we hear (and have seen based on ad spot cost estimates by show) it’s pretty much alll about the 18-49
House wasn’t in the top 20 its first year either. Comparing The Mentalist’s first year to a show that’s been on five years seems silly to me.
House had an advantage of AI lead when it was starting out. What did The Mentalist have? A show that had been on for 5 years (and getting better).
This is sort of off topic, but while we are discussing ad buys, why is Thursday the best night for advertising? I assume that this is the case as the networks put all their best shows on Thursday night. (Sorry if this is a FAQ, but I searched this site and google for the answer and got bupkus)
Zeker, because movies and sales happen starting Friday and the weekend. So Thursday is the last best chance to promote movies and weekend sales.
Zeker, primarily because of weekend movie advertising.
Ah, thanks, that makes sense.
oooo
as jeff would say
“Reality Snap!” (it’s a stretch I know…)
is house considered a smash hit by anyone besides fox?
DJM, very likely yes. at least in the sense that advertisers pay more to air commercials on HOUSE than for shows that draw far fewer adults 18-49.
Personally I’d consider anything in the top 20 for 18-49s – or top 10 even – to be a smash hit.
But kind of depressing how the networks haven’t been able to come out with a true hit since like 2005.
BS The Mentalist gets lots of ratings in total viewers.
And the Mentalist probably rules the trailer park residents, the people who flunked out of high school, and the 80+ demo. (Certainly, mental infirmity among the viewers could help explain The Mentalist’s success, such as it is.) The moment that its viewership starts drawing serious advertising dollars, The Mentalist will be a big hit.
Andrew D, The Mentalist is certainly a hit by current standards and I’m sure it draws advertising dollars in close proportion to its adults 18-49 ratings (as do most shows) which are very good.
FYI “people who like this show are idiots” argument is roughly translated to “I don’t like this show, so those who do must be idiots”. Not terribly persuasive.