Should Smallville be able to get a Season 10, the fourth episode of it would be the show’s 200th. Is being so close to a 200th episode helpful or important at all for a veteran show being more likely to continue? Or does that only come into play with the 100 episode milestone? A 22 episode Season 10 would net Smallville it’s 200th episode and 218 total which would out-do current American genre record holder Stargate SG-1 (214 episodes). I was just curious as to whether or not being close to such records would be favorable to the show or if it’s not something that has an effect one way or the other.

Thank you for your posts and articles!

I hear you and agree that it was moved to Friday because it doesn’t fit the CW target. It make sense to me.

And although, I think they could run some targeted romantic Lois/Clark promos during their women oriented shows to see if they could improve their numbers a little, I can see why they wouldn’t bother. The show is near the end.

I honestly think as an outsider that the only reason this show survives like the unwanted guest who won’t leave is because the parent company, WB, makes money and wants it. This, in my opinion is because of the Superman brand, it is a recognizable product.

I think it was a smart move for the CW to move Smallville to Friday, the success of Vampire Diaries is a testament to that decision.

I just think there a lot of other factors in play beyond meeting CW target demos. Especially if they’re only asking for one more year (anything beyond, in my opinion is ridiculous)

Anyway, thanks for all your work and analysis. As viewer habits change, it’s fascinating to read all the thoughts from those who know much more about this stuff than I do!

Some will say CW is developing so many shows that it will need Fridays for W18-34 too, but most development projects don’t wind up on the schedule and as it is, out of 10 hours a week of current programming, 2 hours are encores — they’re already programming 20% of their schedule with reruns.

He went a little further in sharing some of his thoughts on this matter:

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/10/12/cw-dvr-1/30239#comment-137784

The TV Guide Magazine seems to think there isn’t much concern either:

http://www.tvguidemagazine.com/ask-matt/ask-matt-ncis-twisted-history-2770.html

I found the explanation why thrfeed thought Smallville was endangered interesting as opposed to how this site looks at it interesting. In particular Smallville’s weaker demos in the CW target range (young women).

And even though I personally enjoy the show,I could see if it was in it’s infancy, it wouldn’t last another year. That it’s got a proven track record (DVD,etc) has to mean something beyond not meeting the CW’s target demo.

http://www.thrfeed.com/2009/10/tv-series-survival-guide-.html#disqus_thread

I still don’t agree. I think this site explained it well. Unless something really really out of left field happens, I don’t see why they won’t give it it’s final 10th, especially if the WB wants it.

And unlike the US auto industry, the more expensive a show is, the more likely it is to be under pressure for poor ratings.

The CW has ordered 9 more scripts for The Vampire Diaries and I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before the network makes the back nine order official.

For the week of 9/21-9/27, CW averaged a .40 gain with adults 18-34 when going from L+SD to L+7, Melrose Place was slightly below that with a .38 gain.

You could use “most-current”, which will soon be mostly live+7 without any lag times, but I think the live+SD is cleaner. Plus, I’d much rather you spend your time figuring out how to add up, down and sideways trending indicators!

I also don’t view this in the same light as Privileged. The CW didn’t put nearly as much promo effort into Privileged as it did Melrose Place. They didn’t seem to try to get more people on board with it the way they have with 90210 and Melrose. I see them judging things a bit differently. They seem to want Melrose to take off, whereas it seemed like they would be happy if Privileged had, but weren’t preoccupied with it happening.

Just a thought.

W 18-34 averages:

Through first 5 episodes: GG 2.84, Vampire 2.72, Model 2.52, 90210 2.32, Hill 2.22, Place 1.75, Supernatural 1.56

GG 2.84, Vampire 2.7 2.73, Model 2.52, 90210 2/5 2.28, Hill 2.2 2.23, Place 1.6 1.79, Supernatural 1.63

The problem with her being cast, though, is it wasn’t from the beginning, like in 90210′s case. That generated initial interest in the show; whereas this will probably see a SLIGHT interest.

I HIGHLY doubt anybody outside of Dawn’s brain thinks this will increase the show’s ratings exponentially.

That said, with that kind of W18-34 index, I just can’t see MP sticking around, even with Ostroff staying.

Melrose Place 0.66
One Tree Hill 0.93
90210 1.00
America’s Next Top Model 1.09
Vampire Diaires 1.14
Gossip Girl 1.19

My bet is the CW is judging performance of the shows targeted at W18-34 only vs. the performance of other shows targeted at the same group.

America’s Next Top Model – R 0.39
Smallville 0.43
Melrose Place – R 0.48
The Beautiful Life 0.51
Supernatural 0.82
Melrose Place 0.86
One Tree Hill 1.22
90210 1.31
America’s Next Top Model 1.42
Vampire Diaries 1.50
Gossip Girl 1.55