I'd predicted that Mad Men would finally eke out a 1.0 rating with adults 18-49 in its fourth season premiere, but it was not to be.
While the 2.918 million viewers set a new viewing record, the 0.9 ratings with adults 18-49 tied it's previous high set during last year's premiere (and also tied the high for AMC sibling Breaking Bad).
Oh well. At least it's retention from the previous season is solid. How long until the renewal announcement for season five?
I think the show already got a fifth season renewal before this season started. I remember reading somewhere that they wanted to sign creator Matthew Weiner to a sixth season.
Matt Weiner's contract has expired. Negotiations between Lionsgate and AMC are on-going before they even get to trying to re-up MW.
I couldn't find any info about a fifth-season renewal. I know I've read that Matthew Weiner doesn't want the show to go beyond six seasons, but beyond that, I think that's the extent of the information currently available about the show's potential beyond this season.
Mad Men has the highest income viewers on TV. Half make more than $100K. In terms of efficiency, upscale sponsors like BMW, Heineken, etc. are fighting over spot availabilities.
It would be crazy for the show to keep going into the 70s. I wonder how that would work out.
Mad Men is an amazing show. AMC really hit the jackpot with MM and Breaking Bad
I saw the report about half of Mad Men's viewers being in homes w/more than $100K annual income. However, rather than noting that the competition to air on Mad Men was so fierce that it caused a bidding war, that story pointed out how little Mad Men's spots cost.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_dis…
I'm a big Mad Men fan but it doesn't seem like in that case that the high income viewers offset relatively few 18-49 viewers overall.
The spot cost doesn't take into effect the extra dollars MM garners through product placement which is more than most other programs. Also, the many repeats at different times throughout the week on AMC is a mutltiple of not only network shows but cable dramas as well. Finally, other than CNBC or Sunday morning talk (MTP, etc) there are few venues where a BMW can reach upscale viewers. And MM is received in a relaxed, entertainment environment whereas a spot while the Dow is fluctuating or the news is bad is not.
I don't think it would be crazy at all Eric. As a matter of fact, the most fascinating thing about Mad Men is to see how everyone has changed since just 1960. The time between 64 and 70 had a great amount of cultural change and to see them go into 1970 would be a great study on how much of a change there really was in America during this time period. I think Weiner's vision probably was six seasons leading into the late 60's/1970.
AMC has a “hit” with Mad Men and Breaking Bad. If by nothing else a hit with critics and profile of their network. I predict Rubicon will be their first step back and that the Walking Dead will be their first hit to break into that coveted 18-49 mark.
If you have any real data to support that either product placement is more or that the number of reruns on Mad Men average out to be a multiple versus the number of episodes of Burn Notice, etc. over the course of the year, I'd love to see that.
Love MM. Very cleaver how the real Dove commercial that ran during the show looked like it was part OF the show – got me to watch it !
Well, according to the AMC Mad Men website, 17 broadcasts of Mad Men both new and old are scheduled in August. Of course, you know how well the DVDs of Seasons one, two, and three are selling here, but evidently they're big around the world http://www.clivejames.com/mad-aboutmadmen. Bottom line, Robert, it all comes down to production costs vs anticipated revenue and when you total all the ancillary revenue streams MM is immensely profitable. Oh yes, the product placement: http://www.metronews.ca/toronto/scene/article/1…
sorry, but no. there are about twice as many Burn Notice telecasts over the next 10 days as Mad Men (roughly 25 to 12). So, there is no multiple of telecasts versus other cable dramas.
I hope for AMC that Mad Men *is* profitable, and I understand why they are going the original programming route even if it isn't directly profitable. But, you haven't documented any of the ancillary revenue and as far as DVD and licensing international and syndication, that all goes to Lionsgate.
Well, I'll see that and raise you six since we're still in July. In this month AMC has shown five epidodes each of Seasons 1, 2, and 3 with the arc repeated in the overnight hours. That's 30 plus the one original epidode. I do believe that the totals from the ancillary will always be proprietary but would note that in an article you just wrote that the MM season 3 DVD took in $6 million in gross sales just last week. Most estimates put MM's amortized budget at between two and three million.
Finally, I have a friend who's an exec at Universal who once told be that the total profits for ET were much greater than stated and that their accountant had “buried the bookkeeping” and then added it back in during bad times. According to him, they spliced in revenue streams for nine years in order to “smooth things out.” I suspect that Lions Gate (the first studio named after a bridge) will be doing the same as well if only to keep Carl Icahn off their back and not knowing their real worth.
Just go to TVGuide.com's listings and then search on “Mad Men” and “Burn Notice.” You're just plain wrong about the notion that Mad Men has a multiple of telecasts versus other cable dramas.
Again, the DVD sales go to Lionsgate (who makes the show) not to AMC, though the ancillary revenue opportunities for Lionsgate surely factor into licensing price negotiations by AMC.
Well, I don't think the debate was ever about who gets what ie. Lionsgate vs. AMC. But AMC does flog the number of showings of old MM episodes before, during, and just after the MM season. Also, don't know if you've noticed but when you go to the Demand feature on cable to select a MM episode you get it with commercials before, during, and after. Assume that revenue also goes to AMC. Both entities are thrilled with MM because of its profitability, it's critical huzzahs, and the platform it gives both of them to attract quality projects in the future. For LG, it's a long way from Tyler Perry and Saw IV and for AMC it's a lot better than the 10th rerun of an old John Wayne movie.
They're thrilled with Mad Men being profitable? That's funny. Especially since I can't even get AMC to go on record that is the case. That doesn't mean it isn't the case, but presumably if it was, they wouldn't have any problem just saying so. But I'll let it drop.
AMC doesn't derive any additional revenue directly from On Demand viewing YET (and neither does anyone else). However there are plans in the future (current plans call for Q1 of next year) that will count any On Demand viewing within 3 days of original airing into the C3 ratings used to broker advertising, provided that the same ads are used as the TV telecast.
Also, and not yet noted. is that MM was the second most time-shifted program of 2009 on both cable and broadcast. When those numbers come in, MM's final numbers could be significantly higher.