Blogging about or Visiting Your Favorite Shows Webpage May Just Save It From Cancellation This Coming Season!

The way we communicate, heck the way we do everything has so evolved in the last few years it's amazing. It's no wonder that the internet is changing TV. The industry may finally be catching up.

We first noticed the internet playing a part when the writers went on strike in the 2008-2009 season. One of their bones of contention was getting more rights to the online portion of proceeds from their show. And, they have every right to that. Internet is changing the way we watch TV and networks capitalize.

Many shows are available for download on the net. P2P platforms even have "leaked" pilots that you can download and view before their air date (I've signed up to a few so that I can keep my eyes open for leaked pilots and blog about them). In its opening season, for example, 'Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles' was leaked via P2P platform. Some say it is purposefully leaked by the networks to start the "buzz". However, online popularity does not always translate into a hit on TV. Shows that got a lot of attention via the net have still ended up canceled from major networks.

That may be about to change. As reported by THR.com, the website creation service Webpaint has launched a measurement system that tracks fan interest in popular TV shows via the web.

Why is this so important? Well, it makes sense from a marketing perspective. The ability of a TV show to stay on air always had a large part to do with how many people were watching. The higher the rating, the more valuable the ad space to advertisers. Low ratings doesn't generate enough ad revenue to keep the show alive. But what if that show had a strong fan base that spent time on the networks website and the TV shows actual page on their net? Or their fan pages on social networking sites like Facebook, Myspace or Twitter? That right there is a huge magnet of clicks to a networks sites, thereby increasing the advertising value and revenue to the networks through ad space, DVD sales, etc.

I say finally. I'm tired of good shows with a solid fan base like 'Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles' being cancelled. According to information from the first week of Fandex rankings , 'Terminator' is the six most popular show among Internet users ('True Blood' from HBO topped the list). Perhaps if this tool was actually in place last season we may have seen shows like 'Terminator' saved from cancellation.

So, if you like a show this season please be sure to buzz about it somewhere on the Internet or visit the shows web page. If it's not getting the ratings on air, it's fan base on the Internet may just be able to keep some good shows on TV and out of the TV Wasteland!

To View the top Fandex Shows on the net you can go to www.fandex.com

NBC's Kings; A Great Show People Weren't Watching

Last night I was watching 'Kings', another canceled show that started showing up on my DVR. I truly enjoy the show, and as I was watching it I couldn't help think why wasn't this show a hit?

If you haven't watched the series, it is about a fictitious country Gilboa who is at war with neighboring Gath. It is ruled by King Silas with his wife , his son and daughter at his side. His son, next in line for the throne is, on the outside, the "playboy". We find out, however, that his antics with woman are only a disguise and he is indeed gay. He has an army at his command and is saved by another young soldier, David Shephard. Shephard finds himself a hero, having saved the Prince, and is brought into the world of his King and its politics.

What is really cool about it is that Gilboa resembles modern America, only with a monarch. Even down to health care issues , with the princess championing the cause of reform for the people with her father. There is a history there in the country of Gilboa and in Gath, the neighboring enemy. There are also very spiritual type mythical undertones that I found really fascinating.

This show started out the gate with lots of dimension and depths to be explored. Yet, the American public didn't really tune in to the premiere back in March and it only opened to an audience of 6.3M viewers. That sounds like a lot , but by major network standards it's not. It finished fourth in it's time slot. It dipped 19% in it's second week. The show was eventually canceled and it's remaining episodes will be aired on NBC through July 25th.

I really did like the fantasy tied in with the soap operatic element. The Princess, who is promised to another (and that promise was actually revealed to us in last nights episode), and the regular everyday hero who enters the Kings world, of course falls in love. It is a love that can not be because of the promise of the Princess to another. The prince whose father knows of his gay affairs and who, as a result, treats him with some disdain , treats Shephard more like the eventual air to the thrown then he does his own son. Who are the people of Gath and why are the two countries at war? How did these two countries form and Shenandoah come to be? It hurts to watch because those questions may never be answered, as the series has been canceled. I just hope that NBC is nice enough to redo the last episodes of what was to be the first season so that there are some answers and some conclusion.

One more thing I wanted to point out. I was a big fan of Jericho on CBS (another series that was cancelled, but thanks to rabid fans CBS brought it back and brought the series to some conclusion for us) . What I found interesting, and is probably completely unrelated, is that Jericho left off with the United States divided into two separate governments; one that was emerging from the ruins of the nuclear attacks and the other the re-emerging government of the U.S trying to gain footing and hold on to its Constitution. In Kings, I noticed that it felt somewhat like it was in the U.S with two different governments at the end of Jericho, almost as if it picked up years in the future from where Jericho left off. Again, they are probably unrelated, but I couldn't help note that feeling or idea that came to me.

Some shows I don't really miss when they get canceled. This one, however, will be. I want more. I want to know more and delve more into the story. On that note, here's an idea for a new network. How about a network that picks up all the canceled series from the other networks and keeps them goin?. I'm sure that they would be happy with all those millions that stopped watching those shows gathering on their networks to watch. It can be like a TV series purgatory.

MORE BREAKING GREY'S NEWS: George is Dead

Yes, it was officially confirmed today by ABC. George O'Malley is dead, according to THR.com. The following is a quote from T.R Knight on his departure ;

"Leaving 'Grey's Anatomy' was not an easy decision for me to make," Knight said in a statement. "I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to play this character and will miss my fellow cast and crew very much. I continue to wish them the very best, and wholeheartedly thank all of the fans who have supported me and the show with such passion and enthusiasm."

As I blogged yesterday, it's no surprise that it was officially confirmed. And, it makes me even more certain of my former- 'Lost' -cast- member -coming- to- the- show theory. Oh.. I can't wait for the new season!

The O'Malley character will be missed. He is the adorable guy. The sweet sensitive counter to Alex's insensitive jerk. How fitting that George exits as a hero. For the record, if George O'Malley had smiled at me at the bus stop I would have smiled back and not looked around for a hotter guy. If you watch the show, you know what I mean.

R.I.P George O'Malley and the best of luck to T.R Knight. I'll be looking to see what show /shows you pop up in next!

In true fan fashion, if you have a favorite memory of the George O'Malley character, post it here in the comments and share. I don't have one particular favorite, I just generally liked the character.

DVR ALERT - Eli Stone Remaining Episodes to Air Starting This Saturday

As I mentioned in a previous blog a few weeks ago, ABC is going to burn off the remaining episodes of the canceled Eli Stone starting this Saturday at 10PM. They have been running the remaining episodes of Pushing Dasies in that time slot. There are only 4 episodes remaining, as it is set to end on 7/11. The remaining episodes of the canceled 'Dirty, Sexy, Money' will be taking it's place through August.

If you haven't noticed 'Samantha Who' has been popping up in your DVR if you haven't canceled it's season pass. I also thought I saw 'The Chopping Block' on my Guide set to record this past week, although I haven't looked to see if it actually recorded. That show was terrible, by the way. Hell's Kitchen is so much better.

Speaking of Hell's Kitchen, it's set to premier at July 21 at 8pm. I do feel like we just finished the last seasons and it's back so fast. I hope they have a better crop of chef's this time. Last season they all seemed terrible, at least at first. I kept waiting for someone to stand out to me as the probable winner and not one did until the very end.

I guess Ramsey's 'Kitchen Nightmares' wasn't making ratings as that show disappeared. Disappointing. I liked that one too.

How Does the DVR Affect TV Viewing and Advertisers - I Was Always Curious

Ever since I received my first DVR as a surprise gift from my husband, the way I view TV has never been the same. Thanks to the freedom the DVR offers I was able to watch more than one program in a competing time slot. Yeah, if I was really desperate and there were two good shows on at the same time I may have been inclined to record one of the programs on my VCR. But those things were so cumbersome and the quality was, well, not good.

VCR's. Wow. That feels like such a long long time ago. Yet the DVR only came into my life about 5 years ago. Now you can't give away a VCR at a garage sale. I remember my mom taping all her soap operas on the VHS tapes and using the same tape over and over and the snowy lousy value of the picture. It's so comedic when you think about it. And it's absolutely amazing how far we have come.

The DVR allows us to watch more but also watch less as we can skip the commercials, something I am truly grateful for. It is interesting, however, that while we are fast forwarding we must pay close attention so that we can hit the play button dead on so as not to move too far forward or not far enough. I'm proud to say I'm quite skilled at that and 9 times out of 10 I hit the play button square on. Go me! If I could turn my skills at the remote into money, I'd be rich. As it turns out I'm actually speed watching commercials as I can pretty much tell what products are being advertised. Even last night, while watching the Listener on NBC, I caught a glimpse of Conan in some weird outfit doing something strange. I actually stopped the fast forward and rewound to see what that was all about. It was a Bud Light commercial and a funny one to boot. (Kudos to the advertisers who actually captured my attention in my fast forward frenzy enough to make me do exactly what I did).

The DVR has probably challenged the advertising industry like they've never been challenged before. They used to have 30 seconds to capture our attention, now they have maybe 3 to 5 seconds, depending on how many times we hit that fast forward button (I usually hit it the max of 4x's to get the max speed). There are times, however, when I'm multi tasking and half watching a program I recorded that I do not actually fast forward and allow the commercials to play.

So, I always wondered what affect DVR has had on TV and it's advertisers. If you think about it there are some positives. Prior to the DVR we would most likely use the commercial time for bathroom breaks or to run to the kitchen for a snack, or even discuss the business of the day with our spouses or family. Now, we actually watch (speed watch) commercials as we fast forward through them. So in one sense the audience they may never have captured, they now have the attention of. I went in search of some articles on exactly that topic.

According to an article published in July of 2008 marketwatch.com the following quote touches upon what I mentioned above;

"If I look at what segment of the commercial audience was lost to time shifting, they ranged from 13% to 35%," Notarianni said of research he conducted on behalf of several clients. "But the interesting part is that, based on the same clients ... we found that the effectiveness of TV in that period climbed. That is, TV actually yielded more [sales] response."

Basically, it says exactly what I had observed about my own TV watching habits. They are actually gaining an audience for their commercials, as those most likely to fast forward are those that would have left the room or simply not payed any attention to them anyway. So, so far, DVR has not affected advertisers so much.

Nielsen does keep track of DVR viewing in three different ways; Live, Live +Same Day and Live + 7 Day. According to TVByTheNumbers.com most of the shows recorded that are watched the same day are Reality TV shows. Shows that air between 10pm - 11pm are most likely watched the next day.

But watching your favorite shows via DVR may not exactly save the show. The reason is that advertising is sold based on same day +3 numbers (SD and +3 are usually very similar results). Anything beyond the 3 days is deemed to have little to no advertising value. In some cases, however, DVR viewing may actually help a show stay on the air. Dollhouse, which was surprisingly renewed by FOX, actually received a high DVR showing with over 40% of it's audience in the 18 -49 demo watching the show via DVR and 32% viewership overall. It had the greatest percent of DVR viewing and the greatest increase in viewers via the DVR for all broadcast shows. That is most likely what prompted Fox to renew the series. (Personally I'm not a fan, but my husband does watch it when he has a chance on the DVR).

So, it will be interesting to watch how TV evolves as more and more homes get the DVR ( I believe currently only approx 25% of homes have them). For now it seems to be having a pretty even affect, helping some shows and hurting others.

Just thought if you were ever curious like me, you'd enjoy the little blog about it.